Week in Review: Hall tops 7,000 points
American sets meet record of 7,032 in heptathlon in Hypomeeting in Gotzis
For the second time in the past three seasons, Anna Hall of the U.S. produced the top score in the world in winning the heptathlon in the Gotzis Hypomeeting in Gotzis, Austria, last weekend.
Now the question is can she win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September?
The 24-year-old Hall totaled a meet record of 7,032 points in the 50th edition of the combined events meet held in Gotzis while finishing far ahead of her closest competitors as Sofie Dokter of Germany placed second with a personal best of 6,576 points and Martha Araujo of Colombia was third with a South American record of 6,475.
Michelle Atherley of the U.S. finished fourth with 6,425 points and she was followed by Annik Kalin of Switzerland at 6,395 and Allie Jones of the U.S. with a personal best of 6,367.
Hall’s total topped the previous meet record of 7,013 points set by Nafi Thiam of Belgium in 2017 and moved her into a tie for second on the all-time performer list with Carolina Kluft of Sweden.
The world record of 7,291 points was set by all-time great Jackie Joyner-Kersee of the U.S. in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and JJK also has the Nos. 2-6 performances in history.
Thiam won an unprecedented third consecutive heptathlon title in the Olympic Games in Paris last year and Kluft was the 2004 Olympic champion and a gold medalist in the 2003, ’05, and ’07 World Athletics Championships. However, Hall is still looking for her first global title as she placed third and second, respectively, in the 2022 and ’23 World championships and was fifth in Paris.
“The last heptathlon I did before this one broke my heart,” Hall said in a World Athletics post on Sunday while alluding to the Olympics. “But I feel like this heptathlon healed it.”
Hall, who unashamedly wears her emotions on her sleeves, had totaled a yearly world-leading score of 6,988 points in winning in Gotzis in 2023. But she had suffered a knee injury in training prior to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August and finished second to Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain in that meet when her 6,720-point total left her 20 points behind the Brit.
The injury eventually required surgery in January of last year and Hall was never at the top of her game during the season, as she totaled 6,615 points to finish fifth in the Olympics in early August after putting up a 6,614-point total in winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in late June.
Although she has yet to regain all of her speed in the 100-meter hurdles and the 200, Hall produced personal bests in four of the heptathlon’s seven events over the weekend.
She was in sixth place after running 13.19 seconds in the 100 hurdles in the first event of the competition on Saturday, but she took the lead for good after clearing a personal best of 1.95 meters (6 feet 4¾ inches) in the high jump.
She then upped her best in the shot put to 14.86 (48-9) before concluding the first day with a time of 23.37 in the 200.
Hall’s 4,161-point total, which was 219 points ahead of second-place Dokter, was 11 points shy of her first-day score in Gotzis in 2023 and she fell 43 points off her pace from that meet when she began Sunday with a mark of 6.44 (21-1½) in the long jump.
However, she raised her personal best in the javelin to 46.16 (151-5) before running a world heptathlon best of 2:01.23 in the 800 to cap her performance and join her idol, and mentor, Joyner-Kersee as the second U.S. athlete to have totaled 7,000 or more points.
“I haven’t run an 800 this year so I was bit scared,” she said. “I knew I was fit, but I didn’t know how I’d feel in the race. When I came through that first lap in 58 seconds, I was like ‘Oh no’. But this is what you train for and thankfully I was able to hold on.”
She then added that “It means so much to me to break the meeting record on the 50th anniversary of this competition. To have all these past legends here – some of them met with my family, some gave me words of encouragement – makes it all the more special.”
Impressive figures: To get a full appreciation for the greatness of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, it helps to examine her marks when she upped her previous world record from 7,215 points to 7,291 in the 1988 Olympic Games.
She began that competition by running 12.69 in the 100 hurdles before clearing 1.86 (6-1¼) in the high jump, putting the shot 15.80 (51-10), and running 22.56 in the 200.
She then leaped 7.27 (23-10¼) in the long jump to start the second day before throwing the javelin 45.66 (149-9) and running the 800 in 2:08.51.
For those who might be wondering, Joyner-Kersee’s 7.27 (23-10¼) effort in the long jump was worth a whopping 1,264 points.
In addition to winning four gold medals and one silver medal in the heptathlon in global title meets during her career, Joyner-Kersee also won the long jump in the 1988 Olympics and in the 1987 and ’91 World championships before winning bronze medals in the 1992 and ’96 Games.
Hot streak continues: Sander Skotheim won the decathlon with a Norwegian record of 8,909 points in the Gotzis Hypomeeting competition on Sunday after he had capped a superb undercover season with a victory in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March.
Skotheim, who turned 23 on Saturday, moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time performer list with his yearly world-leading effort while crushing his previous best by 274 points.
Kyle Garland of the U.S. placed second with 8,626 points and he was followed by Simon Ehammer of Switzerland and Niklas Kaul of Germany, who tied for third with 8,575 points.
Olympic silver medalist Leo Neugebauer of Germany finished fifth with 8,555 points, and he was followed by eight-time Gotzis winner Damian Warner of Canada with 8,527.
Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico placed seventh with 8,486 points after being in the lead after the first day of the competition on Saturday.
Skotheim, who had moved to third on the all-time performer list in the heptathlon with a best of 6,558 points during the indoor season, was in third place after the first day of the decathlon in Gotzis as his 4,611-point total left him close behind first-place Owens-Delerme, who had 4,652, and second-place Ehammer, who was at 4,620.
Skotheim, who had finished 18th in the Olympic Games with 7,757 points after failing to clear a height in the pole vault, produced marks of 10.70 (personal best) in the 100 meters, 8.06 (26-5½) in the long jump, 13.98 (45-10½) in the shot put, 2.15 (7-½) in the high jump, and 47.47 in the 400 on Saturday.
He then ran 14.12 in the 110-meter high hurdles in the first event on Sunday before he threw the discus a personal best of 49.18 (161-4) to take the lead in the overall standings. He was then one of three competitors in the field who cleared 5.10 (16-8¾) in the pole vault and his lead over second-place Garland expanded further in the javelin when his best of 61.46 (201-7) helped him pick up 41 points on the American, who had a top effort of 58.77 (192-9).
He then added 164 points to his advantage when he capped the competition by running 4:23.88 in the 1,500 while Garland clocked 4:49.69.
Ehammer and Kaul tied for third in the standings as the Swiss competitor produced the best marks of the competition in the long jump at 8.34 (27-4½) and the high hurdles at 13.57, and the German had the top performance in the javelin with a throw of 72.13 (236-7).
“I couldn’t be happier,” Skotheim said in a World Athletics post. “I thought a score like this was possible, but I definitely didn’t expect to do it. I wanted to push through 8800, but not 8900. I’m supper happy with myself, and thanks to the crowd cheering us on – that gave us 10 seconds in the 1500.”
Step in the right direction: After failing to clear a height in the pole vault in two of his three previous decathlons, Kyle Garland of the U.S. produced the third-best score of his career when he totaled 8,626 points to finish second behind Sander Skotheim of Norway in the Gotzis Hypomeeting over the weekend.
The 25-year-old Garland had been in fourth place after the first day of the two-day competition on Saturday, but he worked his up to second on Sunday after producing marks of 14.04 seconds in the 110 high hurdles 49.10 (161-1) in the discus, 4.90 (16-¾) in the pole vault, 58.77 (192-9) in the javelin, and 4:49.69 in the 1,500.
Garland set his personal best of 8,720 points when he finished second to Garrett Scantling in the 2022 USA Combined Events Championships and he had totaled his second-best score of 8,630 when he capped his collegiate career at the University of Georgia by finishing second to Texas junior Leo Neugebauer in the 2023 NCAA championships.
Neugebauer had set a collegiate record of 8,836 points in that meet before raising that mark to 8,961 in winning last year’s NCAA title.
Weekend to remember: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the U.S. had the best meet of her athletic career in the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia last Saturday and Sunday.
The 24-year-old Jefferson-Wooden dipped under 22 seconds in the 200 meters for the first time in her career on Saturday when she won the half-lap race in 21.99 while defeating Olympic champion Gabby Thomas in the meet at Franklin Field. She then topped that performance on Sunday when she won the 100 in a yearly world-leading time of 10.73 that slashed seven hundredths of a second off her personal best of 10.80 that she had set in finishing second in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year and moved her into a tie for 10th on the all-time performer list while making her the fifth-fastest American ever.
Jefferson-Wooden, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 100, had lowered her personal best to 22.15 in the 200 in the second Grand Slam meet of the season in Miramar, Florida, in the first weekend in May. But the competitor in her had not been happy about the fact that compatriots Thomas and Tamari Davis had overtaken her in the home straightaway.
She was in the lead once again coming off the turn in Philadelphia, but this time she widened her lead over Davis in the homestretch and she was able to hold off a late charge from Thomas, who finished second in 22.10.
She beat everyone out of the blocks in the 100 and never let up as her 10.73 clocking left her three tenths of a second in front of Davis, who ran 11.03.
Thelma Davies of Liberia finished third in 11.14, with Thomas and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith being credited with times 11.16 while finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
“It means everything,” Jefferson-Wooden said about her performance when being interviewed by Grand Slam Track’s Taliyah Brooks on Sunday. “I’ve been working so hard for this. And I’m learning so many new things about myself. The way I go about training. The way I go about staying disciplined, even when I’m not feeling my best. And this is all coming together.”
With her victories last weekend, the recently married Jefferson-Wooden won the women’s short sprints event division for the third time this season to bring her prize money total to $300,000.
Six for six: Kenny Bednarek of the U.S. remained unbeaten in the inaugural season of Grand Slam Track when he posted runaway victories in the men’s 200 and 100 meters last weekend.
The two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200 won that event by more than half a second on Saturday when he ran 19.95 and his margin of victory was .16 seconds over second-place Bryan Levell of Jamaica in the 100 on Sunday when he timed 9.86.
The time in the 100 was the second fastest in the world this year and it trimmed a hundredth of a second off the 9.87 personal best that Bednarek had run while finishing second in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year.
The 26-year-old Bednarek has now won the men’s 100 and 200 in each of the first three Grand Slam meets of the year and he has earned a total of $300,000 in prize money for his three overall titles in the short sprints event category.
Branching out: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time defending Olympic champion in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, placed second in the women’s short hurdles event category in the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia.
McLaughlin-Levrone ran 12.70 seconds to place fifth in the 100 hurdles on Saturday and she clocked a personal best of 11.21 to finish second in the 100 on Sunday.
Ackera Nugent of Jamaica won the 100 hurdles in 12.44 and the 100 in 11.11 to win her second short hurdles title in a row and the $100,000 in prize money that came with that victory.
The 25-year-old McLaughlin-Levrone, who earned $50,000 for her runner-up finish in the short hurdles, had won the long hurdles title in the first two Grand Slam meets of the season in Kingston, Jamaica, and Miramar, Florida. However, she competed in the short hurdles division in Philadelphia because she wanted to challenge herself in races she does not compete in very often.
The long hurdles division consists of the 400 hurdles and the 400.
Welcome to the club: Zakithi Nene of South Africa ran under 44 seconds in the men’s 400 meters for the first time in his career last Saturday when he clocked a yearly world-leading time of 43.76 in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi.
Running in the first track event of the meet, and before the livestream had begun on FloTrack, Nene finished more than a second ahead of runner-up Chidi Okezie of Nigeria, who ran 44.98. He was followed by Zablon Kwan of Kenya, who finished third in 45.01.
The 27-year-old Zene, who was eliminated in the semifinals of the Olympic Games last year, had a personal best of 44.80 at the start of the year. But he has bettered that mark in four of his five outdoor races this season while lowering his personal best three times.
His first personal best had come on April 12 when he ran 44.68 to place second in the Botswana Golden Grand Prix in Gaborone, Botswana, and he bettered that mark two weeks later when he clocked 44.22 to win the South African Championships in Potchefstroom.
He had then run 44.46 to finish second to the 44.37 effort of Jacory Patterson of the U.S. in a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, six says before the Kip Keino Classic.
Nene’s 43.76 clocking made him the 27th man to have broken 44.00 in the 400 and moved him to 16th on the all-time performer list and to fourth on the all-time African list.
Three for three: Ethan Katzberg of Canada won his third competition of the season without a loss when he threw the hammer 82.73 (271-5) in the Kip Keino Classic.
The defending Olympic and World champion registered his yearly world-leading mark in the fourth round and he also had throws of 81.63 (267-9) in the first round, 81.41 (267-1) in the fifth, and 79.58 (261-1) in the third.
Matija Greguric of Croatia placed second with a personal best of 76.68 (251-7) and Daniel Raba of Hungary finished third at 75.93 (249-1).
Two for two: Jonah Koech of the U.S. set his second personal best in two outdoor races this season in the Kip Keino Classic when he won the men’s 800 meters in 1:43.32.
Koech’s time cut an even second off his previous best of 1:44.32 from last year and it came in a race in which he outkicked Nicholas Kiplagat of Kenya, who placed second in a personal best of 1:43.75.
The 28-year-old Koech had been in fourth place when the pacesetter went through the first 400 meters in a quick 49.34 seconds and he was second behind Kiplagat at 600 meters. But he moved past the Kenyan in the home straightaway while recording his second victory in seven days.
His first win had come in a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, on May 25 when he moved from 12th place to first on the last lap of the 1,500 while slashing nearly six seconds off his previous best with a time of 3:31.43.
While Koech had moved to 11th on the all-time U.S. performer list in the 1,500 with that performance, his 1:43.32 effort in Nairobi moved him to ninth in the 800.
Notable opener: Larissa Iapichino of Italy opened her outdoor season by spanning more than seven meters in the long jump for the first time in her career with a leap of 7.06 (23-2) in the VII Meeting International Sicily in Palermo, Italy, last Saturday.
The jump was the longest outdoor mark in the world this year and it topped her previous personal best of 6.97 (22-10½) that she had set while finishing second in the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
The 22-year-old Iapichino, who placed fourth in the Olympic Games, produced her 7.06 (23-2) effort in the second round while strengthening her hold on second on the all-time Italian performer list.
The national record of 7.11 (23-4) was set by Fiona May, Iapichino’s mother, in 1998.
Four for five: For the fourth time in five meets this season, Cal junior Mykolas Alekna threw the discus more than 70 meters (229-8) when he had the top three throws in the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in College Station, Texas, last Friday.
Alekna, the silver medalist in the Olympic Games last year, hit 72.12 (236-7) on his third — and final — throw of qualifying meet. He had thrown 68.71 (225-5) in the first round and 68.18 (223-8) in the second.
Junior Ralford Mullings of Oklahoma finished second at 67.21 (220-6).
Alekna set world records of 74.89 (245-8) and 75.56 (247-10) in a meet in Ramona, Oklahoma, in April. But his 72.12 (236-7) effort on Friday was the longest throw of his career outside of the Millican Field at Throw Town facility in Ramona, where stiff breezes can help keep the discus aloft longer, which results in longer distances.
Collegian posts world-leading mark: Senior Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of the University of South Florida ran the fastest time in the world this year in the men’s 100 meters when he clocked 9.86 in an NCAA East Preliminary Round meet in Jacksonville, Florida, last Friday.
Saminu won the second of three qualifying heats in a Ghanaian-record time that moved him to second on the all-time collegiate list behind Christian Coleman, who ran 9.82 for Tennessee in 2017, and put him in a five-way tie for fourth on the all-time African performer list.
In addition to his world-leading performance in the 100, the 27-year-old Saminu ran the anchor leg on a South Florida team that won its heat of the 4 x 100 relay in 38.05, as well as a wind-aided 19.95 in the 200 to place second in his heat.
Saminu’s previous personal best in the 100 was 10.02, which he had run while finishing fifth in the NCAA championships last year. However, he had clocked a wind-aided 9.87 in winning the Florida Relays in Gainesville on April 5.
Collegian posts world-leading mark II: Like Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of the University of South Florida in the men’s 100 meters, junior T’Mars McCallum of Tennessee ran a yearly world-leading time of 19.83 in the 200 in the NCAA East Preliminary Round meet last Friday.
McCallum’s time moved him into a tie for sixth on the all-time collegiate performer list and it came in a heat in which Carli Makarawu of Kentucky finished second in 19.92 and fellow junior Jaleel Croal of South Florida placed third in 19.95.
McCallum, who also anchored Tennessee to a winning time of 38.63 in its heat of the 4 x 100 relay last Friday, entered the East Preliminary meet with a 200-meter best of 20.21 that he had set while finishing second in the first invitational section of the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, in April.
Briefs: Camryn Rogers of Canada, the defending Olympic and World champion in the women’s hammer throw, won her second competition of the season without a loss when her best of 77.93 meters (255 feet 8 inches) gave her a large margin of victory in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday. Rogers had fouled on her first two attempts before throwing 74.73 (245-2), 77.93 (255-8), 77.53 (254-4), and 77.44 (254-1) in the last four rounds. . . . . . . Luiz Da Silva of Brazil upped his own South American record in the men’s javelin to 86.34 (283-3) while winning that event in the Kip Keino Classic. Da Silva’s mark topped the previous continental record of 85.91 (281-10) that he had set in qualifying in the Olympic Games in Paris last year. . . . . . . Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan opened his season in the men’s javelin with a victory in the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Korea, last Saturday. Arshad won the competition with a throw of 86.40 (283-5) on Saturday after producing the top mark of 86.34 (283-3) in qualifying on Friday. . . . . . . Audrey Werro of Switzerland set a national record of 1:57.25 in the women’s 800 meters when she won that event in the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland, last Thursday. Werro’s time was the second fastest in the world this year and it bettered the previous Swiss best of 1:57.76 that she had set last year. . . . . . . Junior Garrett Kaalund of USC moved into a tie for eighth on the all-time collegiate performer list in the men’s 200 when he ran 19.85 to win his qualifying heat in the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in College Station, Texas, last Friday. Kaalund’s time crushed his previous personal best of 20.16 that he had run in winning a heat in the Big Ten Conference championships on May 16. . . . . . . Sophomore Jordan Anthony of the University Arkansas ran a wind-aided 9.75 in the 100 in winning his heat of the NCAA West Preliminary meet last Friday. In addition to his performance in the 100, Anthony ran 20.20 to finish second in his heat of the 200 after previously running the anchor leg on an Arkansas quartet that finished second in its heat of the 4 x 100 relay in 38.63. . . . . . . Sophomore Ja’Kobe Tharp of Auburn University moved to seventh on the all-time collegiate performer list in the men’s 110 high hurdles when he ran 13.14 to win his heat of the East Preliminary Round meet in Jacksonville, Florida, last Friday. Tharp’s time trimmed a hundredth of a second off his previous best of 13.15 that he had run while finishing second in the Southeastern Conference championships. . . . . . . Sophomore Doris Lemngole of the University of Alabama posted the second-fastest time in collegiate history in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase when she ran 9:13.12 in a heat of the East Preliminary Round meet last Saturday. Lemngole, the defending NCAA champion in the steeplechase, lowered her own collegiate record to 9:10.13 last month. . . . . . . Senior Shannon Flockhart of Providence and sophomores Bahiya El Arfaoui of Eastern Kentucky and Silvia Jeleigo of Clemson moved to fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, on the all-time collegiate outdoor performer list in the women’s 1,500 with their performances in a heat of the East Preliminary Round meet last Saturday. Flockhart placed first in 4:04.97, with El Arfaoui finishing second in 4:05.20 and Jeleigo taking third in 4:05.68. . . . . . . Senior Meghan Hunter of BYU tightened her hold on third on the all-time collegiate outdoor performer list in the women’s 800 when she ran 1:58.95 to win her heat in the NCAA West Preliminary Round meet in College Station, Texas, last Saturday. Hunter’s time bettered her previous best of 1:58.99 and was the sixth-fastest outdoor clocking in collegiate history.
New women’s league on the horizon: Sprinters Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas, and long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall will be founding advisors-owners in a team-based women’s track and field league scheduled to debut next year.
Athlos, which will be the title sponsor of the league, announced last week that 2023 World 100-meter champion Richardson will join Olympic 200 champion Thomas and Olympic long jump champion Davis-Woodhall as advisors-owners of what will be called The Athlos League.
“I take pride in doing what is right for people,” Richarson told ESPN in a statement. “Joining ATHLOS as an advisor-owner gives me the opportunity to create something that genuinely empowers people both on and off the track.”
The league, which will include multiple meets, is scheduled to start after the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship is held in Budapest, Hungary, from Sept. 11-13 of next year.
Athlos staged the inaugural Athlos NYC track meet on Randalls Island on Sept. 26 of last year. It was a single-night women’s event that consisted of six competitors in the 100 meters, 200, 400, 800, and 1,500, as well as the 100 hurdles.
In addition, it had a prize-money structure that awarded $60,000 to the winners of each event, followed by amounts of $25,000 for second place, $10,000 for third, $8,000 for fourth, $5,000 for fifth, and $2,500 for sixth.
The second edition of the meet is scheduled to be held on Oct. 10 this year, with the event again being staged at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island.
This year’s meet will feature races in the same six track events as last year, and it will also include a long jump competition in which Davis-Woodhall and Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Moore are scheduled to compete.