Cuban discus thrower Yaime Perez (© AFP / Getty Images)
Cuba’s Yaime Perez produced the longest discus throw in the world since 1989 to triumph at the Oklahoma Throws Series meeting in Ramona with a stunning 73.09m throw on Saturday (13).
On a day when discus throwers were blessed with perfect conditions, most competitors added a few metres to their lifetime bests. Perez, the 2019 world champion, not only smashed through the 70-metre barrier for the first time, she also threw beyond 71, 72 and 73 metres.
After opening with a foul, the Olympic bronze medallist launched her discus out to 71.96m, smashing her previous lifetime best of 69.39m, set back in 2019. She threw even farther in round three, producing her winning mark of 73.09m. The 32-year-old rounded out her series with a 69.13m effort, then 71.50m before finishing with a foul.
With her winning mark, Perez smashed Valarie Allman’s North American record of 71.46m and she now climbs to 10th on the world all-time list.
USA’s Veronica Fraley was second with 67.17m and Lithuania’s Ieva Gumbs was third with 64.98m, both women setting huge PBs.
Sears sizzles to 10.77 in Gainesville
Swift sprint times were the order of the day at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, where USA’s Jacious Sears sped to a lifetime best of 10.77 (1.6m/s) in the 100m.
The 22-year-old dominated the race to win by more than a quarter of a second from Kaila Jackson (11.10).
In another section, Tamari Davis won in a photo finish from Melissa Jefferson, both women clocking 10.94.
World champion Noah Lyles opened his outdoor campaign with a victory in the 100m, but Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek made his compatriot work for it.
They were almost inseparable as they crossed the finish line, both clocking 10.01 (1.7m/s), but in a photo finish Lyles was given the win by just five thousandths of a second.
There was another close finish in the women’s 100m hurdles. USA’s 2019 world champion Nia Ali pipped Tonea Marshall to the line, 12.44 to 12.45 (-0.8m/s). Christina Clemons was third in 12.51 and world champion Danielle Williams was fifth in 12.57.
In the heats earlier in the day, Ali and Marshal had been involved in another close finish as both women clocked a wind-assisted 12.47 (2.5m/s).
World champion Grant Holloway took the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.21 (-1.4m/s), having clocked a wind-assisted 13.10 in his heat.
Elsewhere, teenager Kaylyn Brown smashed her PB to win the 400m in 49.95 from Aaliyah Butler (50.05) and Great Britain’s Amber Anning (50.08).
Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams, the fastest man of all time indoors, won the men’s 400m in an outdoor PB of 44.91, finishing 0.07 ahead of Auhmad Robinson.
There was a speedy US 1-2 finish in the women’s 4x100m. A quartet comprising Mikiah Brisco, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini and Aleia Hobbs won in 41.94, finishing just ahead of another US quartet (Tamari Davis, Anavia Battle, Kiara Parker and Melissa Jefferson), who clocked 41.99.
It was just the second time in history that two teams from one nation have finished inside 42 seconds in a 4x100m.
An international ‘Empire Athletics’ team won the women’s 4x400m, thanks in part to an anchor leg from Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo. The Bahamian brought the team home in 3:23.83, finishing ahead of a US quartet (3:24.09).
Yan throws world U20 record
At the age of just 15, China’s Yan Ziyi threw 64.28m* to break the women’s world U20 javelin record at the National Athletics Grand Prix 2 meeting on Sunday (14).
Yan, who has surpassed 60 metres in four of her five competitions so far this year, threw her previous best of 62.23m in Chengdu at the start of this month.
But she added another two metres to that mark on Sunday to improve both the ratified world U20 record of 63.86m set by Cuba’s Yulenmis Aguilar in 2015 and the unratified 63.96m achieved by Elina Tzengko of Greece in 2020.
Yan opened with a throw of 60.83m and followed it with 59.53m from her second attempt. She then fouled in the next three rounds but ended the series on a high, launching the implement 64.28m to win the competition, set a world lead and break the U20 record.
With that throw, Yan defeated three-time world medallist Lu Huihui, who threw 61.95m, also in the final round.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
