Charlton shines, Duplantis reigns supreme at world indoors
Devynne Charlton bettered her own 60m hurdles world record, Mondo Duplantis once again ruled supreme in the pole vault and there were second golds for Femke Bol and Alexander Doom on the third and final day of the world indoor championships on Sunday.
In another scintillating night of track and field at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena, US sprint star Noah Lyles also played a cameo, running the third leg of the US men’s 4x400m relay ultimately thwarted in their bid for gold by Doom’s Belgium.
Charlton credited a mental reset as she stole the show with a blistering 7.65 seconds to win the hurdles.
“This mean a whole lot because I have set myself goals,” said the Bahamian, who improved by three-hundredths the previous best she set at last month’s Millrose Games in New York.
Also showing mental application was Duplantis, who had two nervy failures at 5.85m before overcoming his demons for a dominant win with a best of 6.05 metres.
The US-born Swede went close in three efforts at what would have been 1cm beyond his own world record of 6.23m, but it was not to be.
“I had my back against the wall quite a few times today,” Duplantis said.
“I try not to overthink it and learn from the mistake I made on the first two and put it all together. I was able to pull it out of the bag today.”
While Duplantis will be one of the main pin-ups for this summer’s Paris Olympics, there is no doubt that joining him will be Bol.
The two-time world 400m hurdles champion bettered her own indoor 400m record when winning gold on Saturday and again provided a crucial anchor run to steer the Dutch team to gold in the 4x400m relay.
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“I feel so tired, but the championships are like this,” said Bol.
“These girls give me so much energy to run and especially if they give me the baton (when we’re) in first place. It is such a great team, you cannot let them down.”
Perfect position
There was also a second gold for the unlikely figure of relative unknown Doom.
The Belgian produced a stunning anchor leg to scupper Lyles’ bid for an elusive gold after the American was pushed into silver by teammate Christian Coleman in the 60m on Friday.
Doom, who outsprinted Norway’s Karsten Warholm for the 400m crown on Saturday, produced a last-gasp push for the line as Belgium trumped the Americans by six-hundredths.
“The guys put me in the perfect position,” said Doom. “I knew there was something possible at the end.”
Lyles, who is targeting an Olympic sprint treble, said he felt “like I got the job done… I’m very positive about Paris.”
In a high-octane session of back-to-back track action, American Bryce Hoppel pulled out the stops to snatch gold in the men’s 800m in 1:44.92 from Sweden’s Andreas Kramer, with Belgium’s Eliott Crestan taking bronze.
Jemma Reekie’s hopes of women’s 800m glory on her home track were dashed but the Scot still came away with a silver behind Ethiopian winner Tsige Duguma (2:01.90). Benin’s Noelie Yarigo rounded out the podium.
New Zealander Geordie Beamish then barrelled down the outside of the home straight to pass four athletes for an exceptional gold in the men’s 1500m, in a personal best of 3:36.54.
Americans Cole Hocker and Hobbs Kessler claimed the lesser medals in that event, as did Nikki Hiltz and Emily Mackay in the women’s 1500m won by Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu in 4:01.46.
Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer edged Norway’s Sander Skotheim by just 11 points for gold in the men’s heptathlon.
Ehammer timed 6.73sec in the 60m, managed bests of 8.03m, 14.39 and 1.95 in the long jump, shot put and high jump, before clocking 7.62sec in the 60m hurdles, clearing 5.20m in the pole vault and timing 2:46.03 for the 1000m.
That gave him 6,418 points to Skotheim’s 6,407, Estonia’s Johannes Erm rounding out the podium (6,340).
In the absence of all-conquering Venezuelan and defending champion Yulimar Rojas, American Tara Davis-Woodhall took long jump gold with a best of 7.07m ahead of teammate Monae’ Nichols (6.85m) and Spain’s Fatima Diame (6.78).