PicoBlog

Mondo Duplantis of Sweden set the seventh world record of his career in the men’s pole vault in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday afternoon. Yet the performance of the day, in my humble opinion, was turned in by Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia as she slashed nearly five seconds off the world record in the women’s 5,000 meters in the meet at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

While the 23-year-old Duplantis cleared 6.23 meters (20 feet 5¼ inches) in the pole vault to add a centimeter to his 6.22 (20-5) world record he had set in an indoor meet in Clermont-Ferrand, France in February, that mark did not have the same wow factor in my eyes as the 26-year-old Tsegay’s time of 14 minutes 0.21 seconds in the 5,000.

Tsegay’s performance, which came on the second — and final — afternoon of the two-day meet that served as this year’s Diamond League Finals, bettered the previous world record of 14:05.20 set by Faith Kipyegon of Kenya in June. It also came in Tsegay’s first race since she had faded to 13th place on the final lap of the 5,000 in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 26.

The Ethiopian had used her typically strong kick to win the 10,000 on the opening night of the World Championships on August 19 after Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands had fallen to the track with about 25 meters left in the race while trying to fend off a fast-closing Tsegay. But that finishing surge was nowhere to be found on the last lap of the 5,000 a week later.

However, she entered the Prefontaine Classic intent on taking a crack at Kipyegon’s mark, which would require her to run an average pace of 2:49 per kilometer.

After American pacesetters Sinclaire Johnson and Elise Cranny had come through 1,000 and 2,000 meters in 2:48.08 and 5:37.24, respectively, Ethiopian Birke Haylom led Tsegay and Beatrice Chebet of Kenya though 3,000 in 8:26.03.

Haylom dropped out shortly after that and Tsegay proceeded to run the next two laps in 68.26 and 67.99 seconds.

World cross country champion Chebet ran close behind Tsegay at that point in the race, but she began to fall back a lap later after the Ethiopian had run 67.73 for the 400-meter split from 3,800 to 4,200 meters.

Tsegay’s lead over Chebet was two seconds and growing with 600 meters left in the race and she was starting to put some distance between herself and the green lights on the inside railing of the track that were set to world-record pace.

With the crowd urging her on, Tsegay hit the bell lap in about 12:55 and it was then that it became clear something truly special was happening. That not only was Kipyegon’s record about to fall, but a sub-14 time was possible.

Running with a determined and resolute grimace on her face for much of the last lap, the cadence of Tsegay’s stride never shifted. But she never slowed down either as her winning time crushed her previous best of 14:12.29 which she had run in winning a Diamond League meet in London on July 23.

It also made Tsegay the fourth Ethiopian to hold the world record in the women’s 5,000 and the first since Letesenbet Gidey had run 14:06.62 in 2020.

Chebet finished second in 14:05.92, the third-fastest time in history, and Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia was third in 14:21.52.

In quotes on the meet website, Tsegay said “My focus today is world record.”

She added that a leg injury had slowed her in the 5,000 in Budapest, but Sunday was a “very happy” day for her.

Duplantis was a model of efficiency in setting the second world of his career at Hayward Field.

His first world mark at the facility had come in last year’s World Championships when he cleared 6.21 (20-4½) by a comfortable margin on his second attempt at that height and on his eight vault of the competition.

He easily cleared 5.62 (18-5¼) and 5.82 (19-1) on his first attempts on Sunday, before making 6.02 (19-9) on his initial try, although he grazed the bar as he cleared it.

With no one else left in the competition, he had the bar raised to 6.23. And although he again grazed the bar enough to leave it quivering on the pegs on the standards, it wasn’t enough to dislodge it and he bounded out of the pit and set off on a celebration that saw him end up in the arms of fellow competitor and 2017 and ‘19 World champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S.

“I don’t remember the jump,” Duplantis said when Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports asked him to describe the world record vault. “I’m dead serious. It’s like it happened just a few minutes ago, and honestly, I barely remember. I just knew that it was going to be really close and I stayed on a little bit smaller pole than I thought might be necessary to make it so I knew when I was over the bar just not to panic because I knew I was gonna have to kind of squeeze over a little bit.”

While the world records by Tsegay and Duplantis were the top marks produced on Sunday, there were several other superb performances, with the top ones coming from Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway in the men’s 3,000 meters, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica in the women’s 200, Athing Mu of the U.S. in the women’s 800, and Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the women’s 400 hurdles.

Ingebrigtsen, who had run the third-fastest time in history in winning the mile in 3:43.73 on Saturday, won an absolutely thrilling 3,000 on Sunday in which he outleaned Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia by a hundredth of a second at the finish line.

After pacesetter Greg Nowak of the U.S. had led the field through the first kilometer in 2:27.55, the 22-year-old Ingebrigtsen had taken over the lead about two laps later and came through 2,000 meters in 4:59.12.

That split projected to a final time of 7:28.68. But the pace was picking up at that point as Ingebrigtsen ran 61.47 for the split from 1,800 to 2,200 meters, and 59.76 from 2,200 to 2,600.

With a lap to go, Ingebrigtsen was leading a six-runner lead pack that included Ethiopians Kejelcha, Telahun Haile Bekele, Selemon Barega, and Berihu Aregawi, and American Grant Fisher. However, it had become a two-man battle for first place with 200 meters left in the race as Ingebrigtsen and Kejelcha were seven meters up on their closest pursuers.

Ingebrigtsen had the lead entering the home straightaway, but the lanky Ethiopian began to close in on him with 50 meters left in the race and the two of them were basically tunning together for the final 20 meters of the contest before they both leaned across the finish line.

Ingebrigtsen’s lean was so exaggerated that he fell to the track after crossing the line, but the finish photo showed that he had run 7:23.63 to Kejelcha’s 7:23.64.

Fisher used a strong finish to place third in 7:25.47, with Bekele at 7:25.48, and Barega at 7:26.28.

Ingebrigtsen’s time lowered his own European record of 7:24.00 that he had run while on his way to a world best of 7:54.10 for two miles in July and it was also the third fastest in history behind the world record of 7:20.67 set by Daniel Komen of Kenya in 1996 and the 7:23.09 effort by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.

Kejelcha ran the fourth fastest time ever while breaking the former Ethiopian record of 7:25.09 set by Haile Gebrselassie in 1998.

Fisher’s time bettered his previous North American record of 7:28.48 from last year and moved him to eighth on the all-time performer list while Bekele moved to ninth and Barega to 13th.

“I was definitely a little bit tired from yesterday,” Ingebrigtsen told Johnson of NBC Sports. “But that’s probably the good thing about being in a good shape that you recover faster. So I was not as tired as I was fearing, so that was good.”

Jackson, who won the women’s 100 in 10.70 in Saturday, concluded the meet on Sunday with a runaway victory in the 200.

Running in lane seven, the two-time defending World champion had made up the stagger on Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas in lane eight midway through the curve and she expanded that advantage as she powered down the home straightway to cross the finish line in 21.57.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast finished second in 22.10, followed by Strachan in 22.16.

Although Jackson’s time fell short of the world record of 21.34 set by Florence Griffith-Joyner of the U.S. in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, it was her third fastest of the season, the fifth fastest of her career, and the eight fastest in history.

Olympic 800 champion Mu had finished a disappointing third in the World Championships behind Mary Moraa of Kenya and Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain. But she looked like a rejuvenated runner on Sunday as she set a North American record of 1:54.97 while turning back the national-record efforts of Hodgkinson (1:55.19) and Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica (1:55.96).

Pacesetter Kaylin Whitney of the U.S. came through the first 400 in 55.90, but she was a good 7-8 meters ahead of second-place Hodgkinson at that point.

The Brit took over the lead down the backstretch and she was closely followed by Mu, Moraa, and Goule-Toppin entering the second turn.

Defending World champion Moraa began to fade midway through the curve. But Mu was in close pursuit of Hodgkinson as she entered the home straightaway and Goule-Toppin reluctantly began to lose ground.

Mu first drew alongside Hodgkinson with about 80 meters left in the race. She then inched in front of her for the next 50 to 60 meters before opening up a little more separation in the final part of the race.

She threw her head back and let out a celebratory yell shortly after crossing the finish line and then broke into a wide smile that had not been seen during the World Championships. The 21-year-old Mu had run in Budapest, but it was under unusual circumstances as her coach, Bobby Kersee, had told the Los Angeles Times on August 2 that a decision had not yet been made about whether Mu was going to defend her World title from 2022 or bypass the global championships to focus on training for the Olympic Games in Paris next August.

Mu’s time on Sunday bettered her previous North American record of 1:55.04 that she had set in the 2021 Prefontaine Classic and solidified her hold on eighth on the all-time performer list.

Hodgkinson moved into a three-way tie for 10th on the all-time performer list with her effort and Goule-Toppin became the 30th woman to break 1:56 in the 800. Moraa finished a distant fourth in 1:57.42 after winning the World Championships in 1:56.03.

“It’s just what I’ve been missing, I think just this whole year,” Mu said when Johnson asked her about the joy on her face after the race. “Thinking abut Worlds, I was kind of really upset and taken back about the fact that I just didn’t enjoy any day there honestly… Waking up every day, I’d feel like I was pretty joyful. But then I know deep down it was more so being forced than just a natural and genuine feeling.”

She then added that in the three weeks since the World Championships, she had a chance to “take back the whole entire me and really believe in what I could do… and where I want to be in the sport and where I want to take take it from here.”

Bol capped the best season of her career with another dominant victory in the women’s 400 hurdles.

Shamier Little of the U.S., the silver medalist behind Bol in the World Championships, gave her a run for her money for the first nine flights of hurdles in the 10-hurdle race on Sunday. However, the 23-year-old Bol sped away from her for the remainder of the contest while recording a 51.98 to 53.45 victory over the American.

The undefeated Bol’s time was the 10th fastest in history, as well as the third best of her season and her career.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Bol told Johnson when he asked her how she felt about her year, that also included an indoor world record of 49.26 in the 400 and an indoor world best of 1:05.63 in the 500. “I wish I could end it with a 51. And I did, which I didn’t expect so it’s been a great year… I did a big change. I went from 16 to 14 strides [between hurdles] and I’m feeling really good so I’m happy.”

The five other particularly noteworthy winners on the final day of the meet were Hansle Parchment of Jamaica in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles, Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya in the men’s 800, Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine in the women’s high jump, Joe Kovacs of the U.S. in the men’s shot put, and Tobi Amusan of Nigeria in the women’s 100 hurdles.

Olympic champion Parchment had finished second in the World Championships when Grant Holloway of the U.S. won his third consecutive title in the high hurdles. But the Jamaican lowered his personal best to 12.93 seconds on Sunday while finishing well ahead of Holloway in 13.06 and fellow American Daniel Roberts in 13.07.

It was Parchment’s second consecutive victory over Holloway since the World Championships and he accomplished that feat by running down the fast-starting American over the last four flights of hurdles.

The time was the fastest in the world this year for the 33-year-old Parchment and it moved him to into a tie for 13th on the all-time performer list with none other than Renaldo Nehemiah of the U.S., who had become history’s first sub-13 high hurdler when he clocked 12.93 in the 1981 Weltklasse meet in Zurich.

Wanyonyi, 19, won a thrilling homestretch duel in the men’s 800 meters as he edged past World champion Marco Arop of Canada in the final 20 meters of the race to record a 1:42.80 to 1:42.85 victory as both men broke 1:43 for the first time in their careers.

Pacesetter Navasky Anderson of Jamaica was well ahead of the field when he came through the first lap in 49.19, but Arop was in the lead as he entered the backstretch after Anderson had dropped out.

He had about a three-meter lead over Wanyonyi when he came through 600 in 1:15.87, but the Kenyan and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria pulled even with him with about 40 meters left in the race before the trio ran together for a few strides.

Sedjati began to fall back with about 30 meters to go, but Wanyoni was unshakable as the World Championship silver medalist ran the fastest time in the world this year. Despite his brilliant run, the depth of 800 running in Kenya is so deep that Wanyonyi’s time only ranks him 11th on the all-time national performer list.

Arop set a Canadian record with his time and Sedjati finished third in a personal best of 1:43.06.

Mahuchikh capped off a superb season with her victory in the high jump as she and second-place Nicola Olyslagers of Australia each cleared a yearly world-leading mark of 2.03 (6-8).

The 21-year-old Mahuchikh won eight of 10 meets during the outdoor season, including the last four that were comprised of victories in the World Championships, in Diamond League meets in Xiamen, China and Brussels, and in the Diamond League Final on Sunday.

She was nearly perfect through the winning height at Hayward Field as she cleared 1.91 (6-3¼), 1.95 (6-4¾), 1.98 (6-6), and 2.01 (6-7) on her first attempts before making 2.03 (6-8) on her second.

Olyslagers set a national record with with clearance at 2.03, but she finished second in the competition because it took her three ties to make that height.

Both jumpers missed all three of their attempts at 2.05 (6-8¾).

Kovacs has not had a great season by his high standards in the men’s shot put, but he handed fellow American and two-time Olympic and two-time World champion Ryan Crouser his first loss of the season on Sunday.

The 34-year-old Kovacs, who had finished third in the World Championships, unleashed a season-best put of 22.93 (75-2¾) in the fourth round to surpass Crouser’s best of 22.91 (75-2) from the second round.

Crouser was competing in his first meet since the World Championships when he won his second consecutive title with the second-best put in history (23.51/77-1¾) while competing with a pair of blood clots in his lower left leg.

The 26-year-old Amusan had finished a disappointing sixth in the women’s 100 hurdles in the World Championships but she ran a season best of 12.33 seconds to win the event on Sunday.

World champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica got out of the blocks ahead of Amusan. But the world-record-holder had taken the lead by the third flight of hurdles and she was never seriously challenged for the victory after that.

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico made her typical late-race rush over the last four flights of hurdles, but she finished second in 12.38, followed by Keni Harrison of the U.S. in 12.44 and Williams in 12.47.

In other events on Sunday, Olympic champions Valarie Allman of the U.S. won the women’s discus at 68.66 (225-3) and Andre De Grasse of Canada took the men’s 200 in 19.76.

World champions Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won the women’s 400 in 49.58 and Ivana Vuleta of Serbia took the women’s long jump at 6.85 (22-5¾).

Vuleta and Ese Brume of Nigeria each had a best of 6.85, but Vuleta was declared the winner because her second-best jump of 6.77 (22-2½) was better than Brume’s 6.69 (21-11½).

Simon Ehammer of Switzerland and Tajay Gayle of Jamaica also tied for first place in the men’s long jump with best of 8.22 (26-11¾), but Ehammer was declared the winner because his second-best jump of 8.12 (26-7¾) was better than Gayle’s No. 2 leap of 8.08 (26-6¼).

Matthew Denny of Australia was an upset winner in the men’s discus as his national-record throw of 68.43 (224-6) topped the 67.64 (221-11) best of World Championship silver medalist Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia and the 67.36 (221-0) mark of World champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden.

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