Week in Review: Coleman rebounds from disappointing performance in World Champs
Veteran sprinter clocks 9.83 in 100 in Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China
There’s nothing like a disappointing performance in a major championship to spur you to an outstanding effort in your next competition.
Just ask Christian Coleman.
The U.S. sprinter who went from first place to fifth in the final third of the men’s 100 meters in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 20 ran 9.83 seconds to win the event in an inaugural Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China last Saturday.
The time was tied for the fastest in the world this year and it was the quickest of Coleman’s career since he set his personal best of 9.76 in winning the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. My guess is it was particularly pleasing to the people closest to Coleman who had urged him to look forward to his next opportunity after his disappointing finish in the World Championships.
“I was thinking about that final for about 24 hours,” Coleman said in a Flotrack interview minutes after his 9.83 performance. “And everyone in my closest circle was like, You know, you can be upset about it right now. But we’ve got more life to live. We’ve got more races to run. It just wasn’t my time.”
The 27-year-old Coleman had gotten off to what he described as possibly the best “push” of his season in the final in Budapest. But as he told Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports, he wasn’t able to handle the force behind that push and it led to him taking an initial small step toward his right before heading straight up the track.
“I had a good push out of the blocks,” he told Johnson. “Probably like as good a push, and powerful, and ready to go as I’ve [had] all year… And you’ve got to get yourself ready for that push, not to just catch yourself, but to keep propelling yourself forward. So I feel like I missed everything by me catching myself and not being prepared for the push.”
There were a lot of standout performances during the week that followed the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Therefore, this column is longer than usual. If this email appears clipped or truncated in your inbox, you should be able to click on “View entire message” to read it in its entirety.
This is not to say Coleman would have won the World title had his overall start in Budapest been better, for the final 35-40 meters of the 100 has been his Achilles’ heel at times. But the momentum he lost, however small, in the first few steps of that race was crucial later as he finished fifth in 9.92 in a contest that was won by fellow American Noah Lyles in 9.83 and in which the next three finishers — Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, and Oblique Seville of Jamaica — all clocked 9.88.
Coleman’s frustration with what he felt was a missed opportunity was clearly evident after that race as he threw his head back, with a look of exasperation on his face, just after crossing the finish line. And while Lyles was happily celebrating his victory a minute or so later, Coleman could be seen crouching on the track, shaking his head.
Coleman’s reaction was understandable when you consider that he was competing in his fourth consecutive 100-meter final in the World Championships.
He had finished second — to teammate Justin Gatlin and ahead of Jamaican great Usain Bolt — in the 2017 World Championships in London when he was 21 before winning the title in the 2019 meet in Doha, Qatar and placing sixth in last year’s competition in Eugene, Oregon.
His finish in Eugene — which came in a race in which Fred Kerley led the U.S. to a 1-2-3 finish — occurred a little more than eight months after he had completed an 18-month suspension for missing three performance enhancing drug tests within a 12-month period in 2019.
After finishing second to Marcell Jacobs of Italy in the 60-meter dash in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in March of last year, Coleman won two of his first three 100-meter races outdoors before clocking an impressive 9.87 in a semifinal of the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in late June.
He chose not to run in the final of that meet because he had a bye into the World Championships as the defending champion, but his performance in Eugene fell short of many people’s expectations as his sixth-place time of 10.01 left him well back of medalists Kerley (9.86), Marvin Bracy-Williams (9.88), and Trayvon Bromell (9.88).
He had an abbreviated two-race indoor season — which was highlighted by a win in the 60 in the Millrose Games in New York City — this year before posting two victories, one second-place finish, and two thirds in his five 100-meter finals prior to the World Championships.
He looked really good in running 9.98 and 9.88 in his first-round and semifinal races in Budapest, but his performance in the final left him wanting much more.
In Xiamen, he got off to one of his typically great starts and was never caught as Kishane Thompson of Jamaica finished second in a personal best of 9.85, followed by Kerley in 9.96, Brandon Carnes in 10.01, Bracy-Williams in 10.02, Jamaican Yohan Blake in 10.04, and Olympic champion Jacobs in 10.05.
His victory left him looking forward to competing in the two-day Prefontaine Classic in Eugene from Sept. 16-17. The meet will serve as the Diamond League Final and mark the first time the prestigious competition has not been contested in the Weltklasse meet in the Zurich or the Memorial van Damme in Brussels.
It is also expected to give Coleman another chance to race Lyles, who became the first man since Bolt in 2015 to win gold medals in the 100 and 200, and in the 400 relay in the World Championships.
“I knew coming here would… give me an opportunity to bounce back,” he said in the Flotrack interview. “I was grateful really. I came out of [World Championships] healthy. We were able to get the 4 by 1 gold… I should be at Prefontaine and hopefully come out with a win there and take it on in to 2024.”
Progressing quickly: Hansle Parchment of Jamaica continued his late-season surge in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles with a winning time of 12.96 seconds in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday.
It was the second-fastest time of Parchment’s career and followed the Olympic champion’s runner-up finish to Grant Holloway of the U.S. in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The typically fast-starting Holloway had a clear lead over the field through the five flights of hurdles in Xiamen, but Parchment had ceased losing ground to the three-time World champion by the sixth barrier and he started to reel him in at the seventh hurdle. He was just a shade behind him at hurdle nine and had moved into front of him at the 10th barrier, which Holloway hit before he stumbled coming off of it.
Parchment’s time, which is tied for the fourth fastest ever run by a Jamaican hurdler, gave him a clear margin of victory over World Championships bronze medalist Daniel Roberts of the U.S. (13.03). Holloway finished third in 13.12.
Although the victory was only the second in eight finals for Parchment this season, it is interesting to note that his four fastest times have come in his last five meets.
One for the record books: When Hansle Parchment of Jamaica ran 12.96 to win the men’s 110-meter high hurdles in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday, it made 2023 only the second year in history in which four men have run under 13 seconds in the event.
The first year was in 2015 when Orlando Ortega of Cuba (12.94), Omar McLeod of Jamaica (12.97), David Oliver of the U.S. (12.98), and Sergey Shubenkov of Russia (12.98) each broke the 13-second barrier.
In addition to Parchment, countryman Rasheed Broadbell (12.94) and Americans Holloway (12.96 and 12.98) and Cordell Tinch (12.96) have also accomplished the feat this year.
Raising the bar: Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine cleared an outdoor season best of 2.02 meters (6 feet 7½ inches) in winning the women’s high jump in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday.
Mahuchikh, who had won her first outdoor title in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 27, cleared 1.89 (6-2¼) and 1.92 (6-3½) on her first attempts. She needed three tries to get over 1.95 (6-4¾), but was the only competitor in the field to do so.
She then cleared 1.98 (6-6) on her first attempt, passed at 2.00 (6-6¾), and made 2.02 (6-7½) on her initial try. She chose to call it a day after that.
The 22-year-old Mahuchikh’s mark was tied for the highest in the world this year as she had cleared 2.02 during the indoor season and Nicola Olyslagers of Australia had cleared the same height in the Athletissima Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland on June 29.
Lia Apostolovski of Slovenia and 2022 World champion Elanor Patterson of Australia each cleared 1.92 in Xiamen, but Apostolovski placed second because she cleared that height on her second attempt and it took Patterson three tries.
Trading places: Emmauel Wanyoni of Kenya won an exciting homestretch duel with Marco Arop of Canada to win the men’s 800 meters in a personal-best and yearly world-leading time of 1 minute 43.20 seconds in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday.
Arop, who had defeated Wanyonyi for the World title in Budapest. Hungary on August 26, finished second in a personal best of 1:43.24, followed by Benjamin Robert of France in 1:43.88 and Wycliffe Kinyamal of Kenya in 1:44.04.
Erik Sowinski of the U.S. had led the field through the first lap in 49.68 seconds, but after he dropped out, Wanyonyi was in first place when he came through 600 meters in 1:16.85.
Arop trailed Wanyoni and Kinyamal at that point in the race, but he took the lead with about 70 meters remaining. However, he could not break away from Wanyonyi, who inched past him with about 15 meters to go.
Such is the historical excellence of Kenya in the men’s 800 meters that the 19-year-old Wanyonyi’s time only moved him to 24th on the all-time national performer list.
Coming back to earth: After winning the women’s discus in a stunning upset in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 22, Laulauga Tausaga-Miller of the U.S. placed third in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday.
Tausaga-Miller had a best of 64.31 (211-0) in Xiamen after winning the World title with a fifth-round throw of 69.49 (228-0) that added nearly four meters to her previous personal best and upset favored teammate Valarie Allman (69.23/227-1) for the title.
Bin Feng of China, last year’s World champion, came from behind to defeat Sandra Perkovic of Croatia in Xiamen with a throw of 67.41 (221-2) on her sixth — and final — attempt of the competition. Perkovic had hit a season best of 67.32 (220-10) in the first round and also had marks of 67.30 (220-9) in the second round and 67.08 (220-1) in the fifth.
Scaling new heights: Nina Kennedy of Australia set her third national record in a week when she cleared 4.91 (16-1¼) to win the women’s pole vault on the first day of the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich on August 30.
Vaulting off a runway that was set up in the Zurich’s main train station, technically making it an indoor competition, Kennedy cleared a bar that was 10 centimeters higher than what second-place Katie Moon of the U.S. could negotiate.
The 26-year-old Kennedy and the 32-year-old Moon had set a first of sorts in the World Championships on August 23 when they had agreed to be co-champions after each of them had cleared 4.90 (16-0¾) on their third attempt and each of them also had the same number of misses (six) during the competition.
Determining an outright winner via a jump-off was an option at that point, but Kennedy and Moon were both understandably fatigued as they had each taken 12 attempts during a competition that was held in hot and humid conditions.
The two vaulters employed different strategies in Zurich, where the competition was held as trains pulled in and out of the station while making their daily runs.
Kennedy jumped at every height from 4.51 (14-9½) onward. Moon cleared 4.66 (15-3½) on her first attempt of the competition and 4.81 (15-9¼) on her second.
Although Kennedy also cleared 4.81 on her first attempt at that height, she was in second place behind Moon when the bar was raised to 4.86 (15-11¼) because she had two misses during the competition and Moon did not have any.
Kennedy took the lead when she cleared 4.86 on her first attempt and Moon passed to 4.91. But Moon would re-take the lead if she cleared 4.91 on the same attempt as Kennedy due to her fewer number of total misses.
When Kennedy cleared a national record of 4.91 on her first attempt and Moon missed, Moon passed to 4.96 (16-3¼) to take her final two jumps. When nether of them could clear that height, Kennedy was the victor in a competition in which American Sandi Morris finished third with a season best of 4.76.(15-7¼).
Moon’s clearance moved her into a three-way tie for seventh on the all-time performer list that combines performances from competitions held indoors and outdoors.
"I am really surprised, and I am so happy. This is all my dreams come true, I love Zurich," Kennedy said in a post on abc.net.au. "Having a week off after the worlds, I just wanted to go out there and have fun and I think because the pressure was off, I was able to just focus on doing what I love.
"I can't believe I was able to jump 4.91. I didn't actually have a lot of confidence going in today. I knew that Katie was out for blood. Sharing that gold medal was nice and all but tonight we both wanted to win and be the outright winner so I felt the pressure.”
She then added that the victory provided her with a big boost heading into the Diamond League Final that will be held in Eugene, Oregon from Sept. 16-17.
“We had a great battle and it fills me with a lot of confidence going into Eugene and for next year too."
Upset special: Contrary to what some people out there have contended, a healthy Karsten Warholm is not unbeatable.
The 27-year-old Norwegian is extremely hard to bet against in a major meet such as the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he won an unprecedented third title in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles. But Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands defeated Warholm in the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich last Thursday.
The 26-year-old McMaster had won the silver medal in the World Championships, but his 47.34 clocking had left him nearly half a second behind Warholm (46.89) in that race. But things went differently in Zurich as McMaster got out ahead of the typically fast-starting Warholm and never lost his lead.
Warholm was virtually tied with McMaster coning off the 10th — and final — barrier of the race, but he managed to put a little distance between himself and Olympic champion and world-record-holder on the run-in to the finish line to score a 47.27 to 47.30 victory.
Alison dos Santos of Brazil, last year’s World champion, finished third in 47.62.
The win by McMaster snapped a seven-meet winning streak for Warholm. And aside from his season-opening meet in Rabat, Morocco last year when he pulled up with a strained hamstring after clearing the first hurdle and the ensuring World Championships in Eugene, Oregon when he finished seventh, Warholm’s last loss was in September of 2018 when he had finished third in the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
“It’s always good to show a World champion that I’m also a champion,” McMaster said in a post-race interview on the runnerspace.com site.
He then added that he fully expects Warholm to come back with a vengeance when they are scheduled to meet in the Diamond League Final in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon from Sept. 16-17.
For McMaster’s part, he had now run the second- third-, and tied for the fourth-fastest times of his career during a span of a little more than a month during which he has clocked 47.26, 47.27, and 47.34.
“I just focused on track and field 110 percent, made track and field my bread and butter,” McMaster said about the season he is having and his hyper-consistent performances over his past three meets.
What might have been: After watching Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia roll to a runaway victory in the men’s 5,000 meters in the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich last Thursday, I found myself wondering why he had let the pace lag for much of the final of that race in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
I know that hot and humid conditions in Budapest were not ideal for distance running. But it was still baffling to me why Kejelcha and Ethiopian teammates Berihu Aregawi and Hagos Gebrhiwet, who have personal bests of 12:42.18 or faster, let the pace dwaddle for a long enough period that it played right into the hands of Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Mohamed Katir of Spain, who have run 3:27.14 and 3:28.76 for 1,500 meters, respectively.
While Ingebrigtsen and Katir ended up running sub-53-second last laps in Budapest while finishing first and second in 13:11.30 and 13:11.44, Kejelcha, Gebrhiwet, and Aregawi placed fifth (13:12.51), sixth (13:12.65), and eighth (13:12.99).
After being part of a lead pack in Zurich that followed countryman and steeplechase world-record-holder Lemecha Girma through 3,000 meters in 7:43.17, Kejelcha began to force the pace a lap later and he was six seconds clear of his closest competitors when he came through 4,000 meters in 10:14.91 after running the previous kilometer in about 2:31.
He then ran his final 1,000 meters in 2:32.00 to time 12:46.91 and finish well ahead of countryman Selemon Barega in second place in 12:54.17, American Grant Fisher in third in 12:54.49, and Guatemalan Luis Grijalva in fourth in 12:55.88.
Those four times brought the number of sub-13 clockings to an unprecedented 36 this year, which topped the previous high of 33 in 2006.
Another unprecedented year: The men’s 1,500 meters is another event in which the world’s top runners have produced a record number of fast times.
Whether the figure is the number of sub-3:30 (17) or sub-3:31 (33) clockings, 2023 has topped the previous highs of 9 sub-31 times in 2014 and 16 sub-3:31 efforts produced in 1997, ’98, and 2022.
Yared Nuguse of the U.S. has run under 3:31 four times during his breakout season this year and his latest clocking came during the Weltklasse meet. That’s when he ran 3:30.49 to nip Josh Kerr of Great Britain in the final stride of the race as the recently crowned World champion timed 3:30.51.
Abel Kipsang of Kenya and George Mills of Great Britain also broke 3:31 with times of 3:30.85 and 3:30.95, respectively.
Kerr, who had outkicked favored Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway to win the World title, entered the Weltklasse meet with the British record of 3:28.81 — set by Mo Farah in 2013 — in his sights.
After pacesetter Patryk Sieradzki of Poland came through 400 meters in 54.84 seconds and 800 in 1:51.26, Kerr was in the lead when he passed the 1,200-meter mark in 2:48.42.
Mills, Kipsang, and the 24-year-old Nuguse followed in that order, but Nuguse had moved into third place with 200 meters to go and he was in second halfway down the home straightaway.
Kerr looked to be headed to victory at that point, but Nuguse began to make up ground on him with about 20 meters left in the race and the fifth-place finisher in the World Championships outleaned Kerr at the finish line after passing him on the inside of lane one.
“My mindset is always like ‘Never give up. Keep going, keep trying,’ ” Nuguse said in quotes on the meet website. “I was going for it when Kerr opened on the inside. It was a great competition, a great time for me. This race was amazing. I always have a strong finish, I am pretty happy now. I would say that I kept this race interesting.”
Streak watch: Noah Lyles of the U.S. won his 15th consecutive 200-meter final in the Weltklasse meet.
Fresh off his three gold-medal performance in the 100 and 200 meters, and 400 relay in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the 26-year-old Lyles clocked 19.80 seconds in Zurich to turn back a field that included second-place Erriyon Knighton of the U.S. (19.87) and third-place Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain (19.94).
Lyles’ performance marked a record 25th time during his career that he has run 19.80 or faster.
The sprinter with the next highest total in that category is world-record-holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica who won three Olympic and four World titles in the 200 during his career and ran 19.80 or faster 21 times.
Streak watch II: Shericka Jackson of Jamaica posted her 12th consecutive victory in the women’s 200 meters in the Weltklasse meet.
The 29-year-old Jackson ran a typically strong curve before expanding her lead further in the home straightaway while on her way to a 21.82-second clocking that left her more than four tenths of a second in front of second-place Daryl Neita of Great Britain, who ran 22.25.
Jackson’s streak has seen her run the second-, third-, and fifth-fastest times in history at 21.41. 21.45, and 21.55. In addition, her 12 winning times from those dozen finals have averaged 21.79, a time that only two other sprinters — Americans Gabby Thomas and Abby Steiner — have bettered once.
Impressive numbers: Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela looked more like herself when she won the women’s triple jump with a best of 15.15 (49-8½) in the Weltklasse meet.
The 27-year-old Rojas had won her fourth consecutive World title o August 25 when her sixth-round leap of 15.08 (49-5¾) had moved her from eighth place to first. But she had the three longest efforts of the meet in Zurich as she bounded 15.15 in the fourth and sixth rounds, and 15.00 (49-2½) on her first attempt.
Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica placed second at 14.78 (48-6) and Liadagmis Povea of Cuba finished third at 14.73 (48-4).
The Weltklasse meet marked the 24th time in her last 30 meets — indoors and outdoors — that Rojas has leaped more than 15 meters. During that same period, three other women have combined to jump 15 meters or further in four meets.
Timing is everything: Danielle Williams of Jamaica is in the midst of a rather unique season in that her yearly best of 12.43 seconds in the women’s 100-meter hurdles is only tied for the 26th fastest time in the world this year.
Yet the 30-year-old Williams won her second World title — and first since 2015 — on August 24 before following that up with victories in the Weltklasse meet last Thursday and in the ISTAF meet in Berlin on Sunday.
Williams ran 12.54 in Zurich to defeat Americans Alaysha Johnson (12.58) and Keni Harrison (12.59), and her 12.71 clocking in Berlin left her nearly two tenths of a second ahead of Australian Michelle Jenneke, who placed second in 12.89.
Great season gets better: A year of unprecedented depth in the women’s 5,000 meters continued in the ISTAF meet in Berlin on Sunday when Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia posted the fourth-fastest time in history with her 14:08.79 clocking.
The runner-up in the women’s 10,000 on the opening day of the World Championships on Aug. 19, Gidey came to the German capital with a goal of lowering the world record of 14:05.20 that Faith Kipyegon had set in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet on June 9.
Gidey had gallantly battled Kipyegon for the last 2,000 meters of that race, but the Kenyan great had zipped away from the Ethiopian in the final home straightaway while winning the race by more than two and a half seconds and bettering Gidey’s previous world record of 14:06.62 from 2020.
In her quest to take back the record, the 25-year-old Gidey was close behind Abersh Minsewo when the Ethiopian went through the first kilometer in 2:50.58, which projected to a final time of 14:12.90.
Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, the world-record-holder in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, then clocked 5:40.96 at two kilometers and 8:30.16 at three kilometers before dropping out of the race just before 3,200 meters.
Gidey was on her own after that as her closest pursuers were nearly half a lap behind her.
She looked to be very much in control when she came through 4,000 meters in 11:18:18, which was nearly four seconds faster than her 11:21.93 split when she ran 14:07.94 to place second behind Kipyegon in Paris. But when a 70.11-second split from 4,200 to 4,600 meters followed previous laps of 66.89, 67.36, and 67.66, her chances of setting a world record became very slim.
Nonetheless, Gidey’s final time was the third-fastest of her career and gave her three of the four sub-14:10 clockings in history. Winnie Jemutai of Kenya placed second in 14:56.99, followed by countrywoman Edinah Jebitok in 15:01.97.
“The race was good, I felt really good,” Gidey said in a watchathletics.com post. “The pace from Beatrice Chepkoech was perfect. But today it was a little bit windy, so it was very hard at the end. Because of this wind I could not run a better time.”
Record numbers: When Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia ran 14:08.79 to win the women’s 5,000 meters in the ISTAF meet in Berlin on Sunday, it marked an unprecedented 12th time this year that a woman had run under 14:25 in the 12½-lap event.
The previous high of five sub-14:25 clockings had come in 2008 and ’15.
Strong rebound: Valarie Allman of the U.S. was visibly disappointed when U.S. teammate Laulauga Tausaga-Collins pulled off a huge upset in winning the women’s discus ahead of her in the World Championships on Aug. 22, but she bounced back with a pair of victories last week.
The first win came in the Internationaler Thumer Werfertag meet in Thum, Germany on Friday when she had a best of 68.62 (225-1).
The second occurred in the ISTAF meet in Berlin on Sunday when the Olympic champion raised her yearly world-leading throw to 70.47 (231-2).
The 28-year-old Allman had not had a great meet in Berlin through the first four rounds as she opened up with a 64.51 (211-7) throw and followed that with a 65.61 (215-3) effort in the second round, a foul in the third, and a 65.84 (216-0) throw in the fourth.
However, she lined up everything well on her fifth attempt and the result was a 70.47 effort that topped her previous world-leading mark of 70.25 (230-5) from the UC San Diego Invitational in April and put her well ahead of Kristin Pudenz of Germany, who finished second at 64.90 (212-11), and Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands, who placed third at 64.11 (210-4).
It also marked the seventh time during her career that Allman has thrown more than 70 meters (229-8) in a meet. Interestingly, three of those 70-meter meets have come in the annual ISTAF competition that is held in the stadium that hosted the track and field competition during the 1936 Olympic Games.
“Berlin is my favorite city, the Olympic Stadium always gives me a special energy,” Allman said in a watchathletics.com post.
Two liners: Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco ran 8 minutes 10.31 seconds in winning the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Saturday. The Olympic and two-time defending World champion is undefeated in five steeplechase races this season and has won 11 consecutive finals in the event since finishing second to Benjamin Kigen of Kenya in the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich in September of 2021. . . . . Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won the women’s 400 meters in 49.36 seconds in the meet in Xiamen. The recently-crowned World champion has won seven of eight finals in which she has run this season and her 48.76 clocking to win the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 23 moved her to 11th on the all-time world performer list. . . . . Beatrice Chebet of Kenya ran a yearly world-leading time of 8:24.05 in the women’s 3,000 meters in the meet in Xiamen. The bronze medalist in the 5,000 in the World Championships had posted the previous world-leading mark with a 8:25.01 clocking in the Bislett Games Diamond League meet in Oslo on June 15. . . . . Kirani James of Grenada edged Quincy Hall of the U.S. to win the men’s 400 in a season best of 44.38 in the meet in Xiamen. Hall, who was credited with the same time as James, had won the bronze medal in the World Championships in a race in which James finished in fifth place in 44.52 before being disqualified for a lane violation. . . . . Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. ran 10.88 in winning the women’s 100 in the Weltklasse Diamond League meet in Zurich last Thursday. The newly crowned World champion finished well head of Jamaicans Natasha Morrison and Elaine Thompson-Herah, who each ran 11.00 while finishing in second and third place. . . . . Laura Muir of Great Britain has not had a great season by her standards in the women’s 1,500, as evidenced by her sixth-place finish in the World Championships on August 22 after winning a bronze medal in last year’s meet and a silver medal in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. However, she was a runaway winner in the women’s 800 in the Weltklasse meet when her 1:57.71 clocking left her more than a second in front of Catriona Bisset of Australia, who placed second in 1:58.77. . . . . . Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain outkicked world-record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in the home straightaway to win the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:03.19 in the Weltklasse meet. Yavi had won the World Championships in a national-record time of 8:54.29 on August 27 after surging past Chepkoech with about 370 meters left in that race. . . . . Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas announced on Instagram on Sunday that she was calling it a season after what she called “tightness” had forced her to drop out of the women’s 400 earlier in the day in the ISTAF meet in Berlin. The two-time defending Olympic champion, who gave birth to her son in April, had been eliminated in her first-round heat of the World Championships, but had run a season best of 51.83 to win the 400 in the Weltklasse meet in Zurich last Thursday. . . . . Zane Weir of Italy added nearly 30 centimeters to his personal best in the men’s shot put when he won a meet in Padova, Italy on Sunday with a mark of 22.44 meters (73 feet 7½ inches). Weir, who placed 11th in the World Championships on August 19, set his previous best of 22.15 (72-8) in a meet in Vincenza, Italy on August 8.
Looking forward: The New York Road Runners announced on August 29 that Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia has been added to the women’s elite field for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5.
Gidey, who placed second in the women’s 10,000 meters in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 19, is the world-record-holder in that event at 29:01.03 and in the half marathon at 1 hour 2 minutes 52 seconds.
She also ranks second on the all-time list in the 5,000 meters at 14:06.62 and has run three of the four fastest times in the event.
The 25-year-old runner ran a sparkling 2:16:49 in her marathon debut in Valencia, Spain last December, but she was upstaged by lesser-known countrywoman Amane Beriso Shankule, who ran a stunning 2:14:58 while cutting nearly six minutes off her previous best. Shankule won the women’s marathon in the World Champioinships on August 26.
Gidey will be part of a women’s field that is loaded with elite talent, topped by the Kenyan quartet of Sharon Lokedi, Hellen Obiri, Peres Jepchichir, and Bridgid Kosgei.
Lokedi won last year’s New York City Marathon while making her debut at the 26-mile 385-yard distance.
Obiri finished sixth in that race, while also making her debut, before winning the Boston Marathon in April.
Jepchirchir won the women’s marathon in the Olympic Games in 2021 before winning the New York City Marathon that November and the Boston Marathon the following April.
Kosgei set the world record of 2:14:04 in the Chicago Marathon in 2019 and she also ran 2:16:02, the sixth-fastest women’s time in history, in winning the Tokyo Marathon last year.
Maru Teferi of Israel, who won the silver medal in the World Championships on August 27, has been added to the men’s elite field that is led by Kenyans Evans Chebet and Geoffrey Kamworor.
Chebet is the defending champion in the New York City Marathon and he has won the last two Boston Marathon titles. He ran 2:05:54 in this year’s race in which world-record-holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya finished sixth in 2:09:23.
Kamworor won the New York City Marathon in 2017 and ’19, and he lowered his personal best to 2:04:23 in finishing second in the London Marathon on April 23.
In addition to his success in the marathon, Kamworor has won three World titles in the half marathon and was the World cross-country champion in 2015 and ’17, and finished third in 2019 and fourth in the most-recent meet that was held at Mount Panorama near Bathurst, Australia in February.