Tebogo's winning streak rolls on in Zurich
Botswanan, Holloway, Nuguse impress with noteworthy victories in Weltklasse meet
On a rainy and mild night when Grant Holloway of the U.S. became the most prolific high hurdler in history and compatriot Yared Nuguse won a highly-anticipated 1,500-meter clash that featured the top four finishers from an historically fast Olympic final, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana posted another come-from-behind victory in the 200 in the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich on Thursday.
Olympic champion Tebogo trailed the American duo of Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton coming out of the turn, but he worked his way past Knighton midway down the home straightaway before passing Bednarek with about six or seven meters left in the race.
Tebogo’s time of 19.55 was the third fastest of his career, while Bednarek’s 19.57 clocking was his third personal best of the year and moved him into a tie for eighth on the all-time performer list.
Knighton finished third in 19.79 and he was followed by compatriot Fred Kerley in 19.81 and the Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando in 19.87.
The 21-year-old Tebogo had set an African record of 19.46 while winning the Olympic title, but he led that race as he entered the straightaway.
“What was different [between this race and the Olympics] was the curve,” he said in quotes on the meet website. “Today, I didn't run the curve, I only ran the home straight - but with the Olympic final I ran throughout the whole race.”
After capping the Olympics with a scintillating 43.04-second anchor leg for Botswana’s silver-medal winning team in the 4 x 400-meter relay, Tebogo had run 19.64 and 19.83 in winning respective Diamond League races in Lausanne, Switzerland, on August 22 and Chorzow, Poland, on August 25.
He then clocked 9.87 to win the 100 in the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet in Rome last Sunday when he got off to one of the best starts of his career before easing up in the final three or four strides of the race while defeating a field that included second-place Christian Coleman of U.S. in 9.92 and third-place Kerley in 9.95.
The ease with which he ran that time led him to talk about doing something really special in the 200 in Zurich, but his mediocre curve prevented that from happening. Nonetheless he seemed confident of rectifying things for the Diamond League final that will be held in Brussels on Sept. 13-14.
“That is something I will do… because there is still more inside me,” he said. “I mean, it's all about taking risks. Without risks there is no rewards, so I am taking all the risks that I have got. As long as I finish the season healthy, then I am good to go.”
While the conditions in Zurich were far from ideal for sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, and throwers, Holloway ran 12.99 seconds to win the men’s 110-meter high hurdles and run under 13 seconds for a career-high sixth time this year. But more importantly, it was the 12th time he had dipped under 13.00 during his career, the most ever.
With an Olympic gold and silver medal to his credit, as well as three consecutive World titles, Holloway is one of the most decorated high hurdlers in history. But he is also a historian of the event and a stat guy.
As recently as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June, he had said that American Allen Johnson, the 1996 Olympic champion and a four-time World champion, was the greatest high hurdler in history, no questions asked. Yet Johnson was the performer he surpassed with his 12th sub-13 clocking on Thursday.
Interestingly, the race was not typical for Holloway as compatriot and Olympic silver medalist Daniel Roberts beat him out of the blocks and was in the lead over the first hurdle. But Holloway recovered nicely and had taken the lead by the third hurdle and he continued to widen his advantage over the field until about the eighth hurdle.
Sasha Zoya of France, who was running four lanes to the left of Holloway, began to make up some ground on the American at that point in the race, but he still finished .11 seconds behind him when he crossed the finish line in a personal best of 13.10. Freddie Crittenden of the U.S. placed third in 13.15, followed by 2021 Olympic champion Hansel Parchment of Jamaica and Roberts, who each ran 13.18.
“I did not react well to the gun but that is track and field so I had to accelerate in the finish,” Holloway said in quotes on the meet website. “The main thing for me was to run the most sub 13 and I did that so it is surreal. Nobody had ever done that many sub 13, ever. And now, I am on the top of that list so I am pleased.
“That was something I wanted to accomplish this season. I just kept trying and trying and trying for so long. So to run 12.99 just feels great.”
Just as Holloway was beaming after his effort in the high hurdles, Nuguse was all smiles after outkicking Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway to win the 1,500.
Nuguse had passed a fading Ingebrigtsen in the final 20 meters of the Olympic final to garner the bronze medal, but the Norwegian had bounced back to win the gold medal in the 5,000 four days later and then ran 3:27.83 to win the 1,500 in the Athletissima meet in Lausanne when he finished more than two seconds in front of Olympic gold medalist Cole Hocker of the U.S.
He followed that with a scintillating performance in the 3,000 three days later when he took more than three seconds off the world record with a 7:17.55 clocking in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow.
The 25-year-old Nuguse had not run a track race since lowering his personal best to 3:27.80 in the Olympics, and the one race he did contest was a road mile in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sept. 1 in which he finished second in 3:51.9. Therefore, he felt rested he he entered the Weltklasse meet and was focused on running a smart race in which he would keep himself in a good tactical position throughout the contest.
As expected, Ingebrigtsen ran in third place behind pacesetters Zan Rudolf of Slovenia and Elliot Giles of Great Britain for the first 800 meters of the race, and after Rudolph pulled off the track, he was in second place behind Giles before the Brit dropped out with about 370 meters remaining.
After Rudolph had come through the first lap in 55.61 seconds and past two laps in 1:51.17, Ingebrigtsen led the field through 1,200 meters in 2:48.07. Nuguse was a stride behind him at that point in the race, but there was a gap of three to four meters to Olympic silver medalist Josh Kerr of Great Britain, who was being closely followed by Hocker and 19-year-old Niels Laros of the Netherlands.
Hocker had moved past Kerr heading into the final curve, but Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse were six or seven meters ahead of him and he never got close enough to them to figure in the battle for first place.
Instead, Nuguse moved to the outside of Ingebrigtsen’s right shoulder entering the home straightaway and began to gradually make up ground on him. The two of them ran together for about 20 meters at one point before Nuguse began to pull in front with about 40 meters left in the race.
He smiled broadly and pumped his right fist as he crossed the finish line in 3:29.21, followed by Ingebrigtsen in 3:29.52. Hocker placed third in 3:30.46, with Laros fourth in 3:31.23 and Kerr fifth in 3:31.46.
“This race was so highly anticipated and I knew that it was going to be quick in the end,” Nuguse said in quotes on the meet website. “Everyone could have got this race. I am glad I was still able to win. From the beginning, I just tried… not to do any wrong move and to be where I wanted to be. And then you need to be ready for the end.”
Ingebrigtsen had said before the race that he wasn’t at full strength after dealing with an illness following his world record in the 3,000, but he was glad he ran.
“It was worth it to come here and race,” he said. “But one more week of recovery would have been better for me and given me more stimulation. Everything is about experience. My gut feeling is always right. With how I felt yesterday, today's race wouldn't have been so fast.”
While Tebogo, Holloway, and Nuguse produced three of the most noteworthy performances of the meet, others were turned in by Beatrice Chebet of Kenya in the women’s 5,000 meters, Ryan Crouser of the U.S. in the men’s shot put, Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. in the women’s 100, and Jasmine Camacho Quinn of Puerto Rico in the women’s 100 hurdles.
The women’s 5,000 was set up to give Chebet an opportunity at breaking the world record of 14:00.21 set by Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, last September.
In an effort to accomplish that feat, the plan was for Katie Snowden of Great Britain to come through 1,000 meters in 2:48.00 and 2,000 meters in 5:37.00 before fellow pacesetter Georgia Griffith of Australia would lead the race through 3,000 meters in 8:25.00, a time that was less than a second off her personal best of 8:24.20.
Snowden was very close to the desired pace when she came through the first kilometer in 2:48.23, but she was unable to hold that tempo through the second kilometer and it was Griffith who passed two kilometers in 5:37.17.
Unfortunately, she could not maintain that tempo for much longer and Chebet found herself in the lead, with no one left to push her, with seven laps to go.
The 24-year-old Chebet, who won Olympic titles in the 5,000 and 10,000, was very close to world record pace when she came through 3,000 meters in 8:25.72, but she began to fall off the desired tempo not long after that and her split of 11:19.16 at 4,000 meters was five to six seconds slower than where she had hoped to be.
Although she continued to lose ground to the pace lights on the inside railing of the track during the final kilometer of the race, her final time of 14:09.52 was a meet record, the fastest in the world this year, the second fastest of her career, and the seventh fastest ever run.
Ethiopians Ejgayehu Taye and Tsigie Gebreselama finished second and third, respectively, with times of 14:28.76 and 14:39.05.
“I really wanted to run the world record, but I missed it, this is due to the weather,” Chebet said in quotes on the meet website. “And the pacemaker was supposed to pace until 3000m. But she dropped from earlier. I used a lot of energy to push. It wasn't easy.”
For the second meet in a row, the 31-year-old Crouser had the top six marks of the competition while winning the men’s shot put.
After taking the lead with a put of 21.87 (71-9) in the first round, the three-time Olympic champion unleashed his top effort of 22.66 (74-4¼) in the second. He then hit 21.88 (71-9½), 22.04 (72-3¾), 22.52 (73-10¾), and 22.36 (73-4½) on his final four attempts in a competition in which Leonardo Fabbri of Italy finished second at 21.86 (71-8¾).
Payton Otterdahl of the U.S. finish third at 21.38 (70-1¾), with fellow American and three-time Olympic silver medalist Joe Kovacs fourth at 20.90 (68-7).
“Tough conditions, a lot of rain, but I am very happy with my performance,” Crouser said in quotes on the meet website. “It was probably one of my best meets this year. Technically, making changes in the rain is tough, so I was very pleased. You get a little bit unbalanced, and I couldn't be as aggressive so tried to get some good positions instead. Technique was spot on today, so I am excited to finish the season like this.”
Richardson had finished a well-beaten second to Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia in the Olympic final that was run in the rain, but she was victorious in the rematch in Zurich.
A much better start played a big role in the turnaround.
Alfred had raced to a significant lead over Richardson after the first 30 meters in Paris, but Richardson was not far behind her at the same point this time around.
Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain had gotten off to a terrific start, but Richardson began to close in on her after passing the midway point of the race.
According to stats on the meet website, Asher-Smith was six hundredths of a second ahead of Richardson at 60 meters, but her lead had been reduced to .03 seconds at 80 meters and she was hundredth of a second behind the hard-charging American 10 meters later.
Richardson crossed the finish line in 10.84 seconds, followed by Alfred in 10.88 and Asher-Smith in 10.89.
The women’s 100 hurdles had one of the strongest fields in the meet as it included the top five finishers from the Olympic final.
Following a false start by Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland, reigning World champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica led the getaway on the second try. But Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico had taken the lead by the fifth flight of hurdles and she never trailed again as she crossed the finish line in 12.36 seconds, followed by Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France in 12.40 and Olympic champion Masai Russell of the U.S. in 12.47.
Grace Stark of the U.S. finished fourth in 12.49, followed by Nadine Visser of the Netherlands in 12.54.
Other winners included Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles, Mary Moraa of Kenya in the women’s 800, Mondo Duplantis of Sweden in the men’s pole vault, Wayne Pinnock of Jamaica in the men’s long jump, Shiann Salmon of Jamaica in the women’s 400 hurdles, Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine in the women’s high jump, and Anderson Peters of Grenada in the men’s javelin.
The race in the intermediate hurdles was expected to include Karsten Warholm of Norway and Alison dos Santos of Brazil, the silver and bronze medalists in the Olympic Games. But Warholm scratched from the race shortly before the start due to a tight hamstring and dos Santos pulled up before the sixth hurdle.
In the race itself Clement Ducos of France was in first place after the first six flights of hurdles, but Abderrahman Samba of Qatar had taken the lead over the eighth hurdle before Clarke moved into first place after clearing the ninth barrier.
The Jamaican looked to have the victory in hand after negotiating the final hurdle, but he had to withstand a late charge from Samba before crossing the finish line with a 47.49 to 47.58 victory.
Rasmus Magi of Estonia and Ducos both ran 48.02 while finishing in third and fourth place, respectively.
Moraa ran her second-fastest time of the season in the 800 with her 1:57.08 clocking and the decisiveness of her victory was impressive as she finished well clear of second-place Georgia Bell of Great Britain, who ran 1:57.94, third-place Addy Wiley of the U.S., who clocked 1:58.16, and fourth-place Jemma Reekie of Great Britain, who timed 1:58.49.
That trio had lowered their respective personal bests to 1:56.28, 1:56.83, and 1:55.61 within the last two months, but they were unable to keep pace with Moraa over the last 150 meters of the race.
The Kenyan, who set a world best of 1:21.63 for 600 meters in the ISTAF meet in Berlin on Sunday, trailed Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent and Wiley heading down the backstretch on the second lap. But she surged into the lead heading into the final curve and had a two-stride advantage over second-place Wiley entering the home straightaway.
Bell was in sixth place with 200 meters left in the race, but she closed better than anyone, except for Moraa, in the home straightaway.
The wet conditions made things particularly challenging in the men’s pole vault and it was not surprising that two-time Olympic champion and 10-time world record-setter Duplantis recorded his lowest mark of the outdoor season with a winning height of 5.82 (19-1) after having cleared 6.00 (19-8¼) or higher in his nine previous meets.
Like Duplantis, Sam Kendricks of the U.S. cleared 5.82 on his first attempt, but he finished second because he had a miss earlier in the competition and Duplantis had cleared 5.62 (18-5¼) and 5.82 on his first tries.
After both vaulters passed at 5.92 (19-5), neither of them could clear 6.02 (19-9).
Kendricks missed all three of his attempts at that height and Duplantis called it a day after one unsuccessful try.
Pinnock’s victory in the men’s long jump snapped the eight-meet winning streak of Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, as his best mark of 8.18 (26-10) topped the two-time Olympic champion’s leading effort of 8.02 (26-3¾).
Olympic silver medalist Pinnock recorded his best mark in the second round and ended up passing his final three attempts of the competition.
In the women’s 400 hurdles, Salmon became the 26th member of the sub-53 club when she used a strong homestretch finish to record a personal best of 52.97 that left her two tenths of a second in front of second-place Anna Cockrell of the U.S.
Cockrell, the Olympic silver medalist, led the race for the first five flights of hurdles before running neck and neck with compatriot Shamier Little as they cleared the sixth barriers.
Little then led second-place Cockrell over hurdles seven, eight, and nine, but Cockrell had a small lead over Salmon and Little after clearing the 10th barrier. However, she could not repel Salmon’s charge and the Jamaican overtook her with about 20 meters left in the race.
Little, the silver medalist in last year’s World Championships, finished third in 54.07.
Olympic champion and world record-holder Mahuchikh won the women’s high jump at 1.96 (6-5) in a competition in which Olympic silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers of Australia finished second at 1.93 (6-4).
Iryna Gerashchenko of Ukraine, a co-bronze medalist in Paris, also cleared 1.93, but she finished third because she made that height on her third attempt and Olyslagers did it on her first try.
After missing her first two attempts at 1.93 on Thursday, Mahuchikh passed on her final try at that height. But when she made 1.96 on her next attempt, she went from a tie for third place to first in the standings.
After Olyslagers and Gerashchenko missed all three of their tries at 1.96, Mahuchikh was unsuccessful on her trio of attempts at 2.01 (6-7).
Peters won the men’s javelin at 85.72 (281-2) and he was followed by Julian Weber of Germany at 85.33 (279-11).
Olympic bronze medalist Peters had raised his season best to 90.61 (297-3) in winning the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, but the wet conditions in Zurich nixed any realistic chance of him coming close to that mark.
In the one Diamond League event held on Wednesday, Olympic champion Nina Kennedy of Australia won the women’s pole vault at a height of 4.87 (15-11¾) while competing in a set-up at the main train station downtown.
Alysha Newman of Canada and Katie Moon of the U.S. placed second and third, respectively, after each of them cleared 5.82 (15-9¾).
They both cleared that height on their second attempt, but Newman was awarded second place because she had fewer total misses during the competition than Moon, the 2021 Olympic champion.
In an event held on Wednesday night, Duplantis defeated Warholm in a special 100-meter match race between the world record-holder in the pole vault and the world record-holder in the intermediate hurdles.
Duplantis clocked 10.37 seconds to Warholm’s 10.47 after getting off to a significantly better start than his Norwegian counterpart.
As a result of his defeat, Warholm was supposed to have worn a Swedish kit in the intermediate hurdles race on Thursday. But that never happened as he said he “felt” his hamstring after the 100 and was unable to sprint properly during his warm-up for the intermediates.
You can click here for complete results of the meet.