Week in Review: Ingebrigtsen's performance draws rave reviews
John Walker calls Norwegian's world record in 2,000 meters "phenomenal"
Phenomenal is an adjective that is oftentimes overused when people speak or write about the top performances of elite track and field athletes.
But when the person using it is John Walker, and when the athlete he is talking about is Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, it’s a good idea to pay attention. For Walker is not your everyday observer of track and field.
The New Zealander was the first man in history to break 3 minutes and 50 seconds in the mile, the winner of the 1,500 meters in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, and someone who broke the world record in the 2,000 meters by nearly five seconds when he ran 4:51.4 in a meet in Oslo in 1976.
Walker, 71, calls his world record in the 2,000 — which lasted for more than nine years and crushed the previous best of 4:56.2 set by Michel Jazy of France in October of 1966 — the best performance of his career.
“I ran solo basically the whole way,” he said in a telephone interview in June of last year. “It was up to me. I basically did it by myself.”
Things were much different for Ingebrigtsen when he lowered the world record in the 2,000 to 4:43.13 in the Memorial van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels last Friday.
The 22-year-old Norwegian, aided by three different pacesetters and the ever-present Wavelight technology which produces a series of flashing lights on the inside railing of the track set to a desired pace, cut a little more than 1.6 seconds off the previous best of 4:44.79 set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.
Walker did not seem to have an issue with any of the advantages that favored Ingebrigtsen during his record race. For when I sent an email to his wife Helen — through the website of the family-owned business, Stirrups Equestrian — asking about his impression of Ingebrigtsen’s performance, she responded that he said it was “Phenomenal.”
Nothing more. Just phenomenal.
It’s hard to argue with that one-word description for Ingebrigtsen took down a record that was run by a man who is considered by most track and field historians to be the greatest 1,500-meter/mile runner in history.
El Guerrouj set the current world record of 3:26.00 in the 1,500 meters in 1998 and he lowered the mile best to its current standard of 3:43.13 in 1999. In addition, he won four consecutive world titles in the 1,500, and became only the second man in history to win the 1,500 and 5,000 in the same Olympics when he accomplished that feat in the 2004 Games in Athens.
Ingebrigtsen’s performance came just over three months after he had run a world best of 7:54.10 for two miles. It also occurred 12 days after he had won his second consecutive title in the 5,000 in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and 16 days after he had finished a disappointing second in the 1,500 after being outkicked by Josh Kerr of Great Britain.
He said a “virus” had left him at less than 100 percent in Budapest, but he appeared to have recovered nicely in Brussels as he ran a stride or two back of various pacesetters who came through 400 meters in 56.67 seconds, 800 in 1:53.44, and 1,200 in 2:50.79.
He then took over the lead from the last pacesetter about midway down the backstretch on the second to last lap and came through 1,600 meters in 3:48.14.
He was nearly a second and a half ahead of El Guerrouj’s split (3:49.60) during his record run at that stage of the race and over the last 150 meters he drew further and further ahead of the flashing green lights that were set to El Guerrouj’s world-record pace.
Although the strain of Ingebrigtsen’s supreme effort was visible on his face in the home straightaway, he never lost his form. Nor did he tighten up. He held up his right arm with his index finger extended shortly after crossing the finish line and led the greatest mass finish in history in the infrequently run event.
Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot of Kenya, 19, finished second in 4:48.14 to set a national and world U20 (under 20) record. Stewart McSweyn of Australia placed third in 4:48.77 to lower the Oceanian record and 18-year-old Niels Laros of the Netherlands was fourth in a national and European U20 record of 4:49.68.
Mario Garcia of Spain finished fifth in 4:49.85 in the first race in history in which more than one man ran under 4 minutes and 50 seconds, and he was followed by Narve Gilje Nordas of Norway in 4:50.64, Abel Kipsang of Kenya in 4:50.68, and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot of Canada in a North American record of 4:51.54.
Ruben Verheyden of Belgium set a national record of 4:52.37 in ninth place and Sam Tanner of New Zealand placed 10th in 4:53.09 to move to second on his country’s all-time list behind Walker.
Overall, the top 10 finishers each recorded best-ever times for their respective places and Cheruiyot, McSweyn, Laros, and Garcia are now the fifth, eighth, ninth, and 10th fastest performers in history.
“It’s always fun to break a record,” Ingebrigtsen said in quotes on the meet website. “This one qualifies as a world record and not as a world best. I know I was able to break this one, but I had some kind of virus 10 days ago and I didn’t really know how I would be feeling today.
“However, I felt really good and ran a good race. To be honest, this record wasn’t a difficult one for me. Sure, when you have to do it alone, it’s really tough, but I got great help from the pacemakers. Actually they were able to help me more than I expected.”
As Walker said, the performance was phenomenal.
Looking back: The 1999 season was an incredibly good one for Hicham El Guerrouj, for in addition to setting world records of 3:43.13 in the mile on July 7 and 4:44.79 in the 2,000 meters on Sept. 7, the Moroccan set a meet record of 3:27.65 in winning the 1,500 in the World Athletics Championships in Seville, Spain, on August 24 and he also ran 7:23.09 for 3,000 meters in his debut race at that distance on Sept. 3.
Not surprisingly, Track & Field News selected him as its male athlete of the year for 1999.
El Guerrouj outpolled U.S. sprinter Maurice Greene, 365 points to 340, in the voting for the top honor as Greene had lowered the world record in the 100 to 9.79 seconds during the season and also won that event and the 200 in the World Championships.
Knocking on the door: Shericka Jackson of Jamaica has yet to break the world record of 21.34 seconds in the women’s 200 meters that was set by Florence Griffith-Joyner of the U.S. in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, but she is racking up some superior performances in pursuit of Flo-Jo’s mark.
Her latest effort came in the Memorial van Damme meet when her 21.48 clocking was the fourth fastest in history and gave her a massive margin of victory over second-place Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas (22.31) and third-place Jenna Prandini (22.47) of the U.S.
That performance came two weeks after she had run 21.41 — the No. 2 time in history — in winning her second consecutive title in the event in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Although the 29-year-old Jackson appeared to tighten up a little bit in her shoulders during the last 10-15 meters of the race, she has now run three of the four fastest times in history and four of the top six. Her final 200-meter race of the season is expected to come this weekend when the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon will host the Diamond League Final.
Jackson will run in the women’s 200 — the final event of the two-day meet — on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 5:49 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. She is also entered in the women’s 100 on Saturday, in which she is expected to renew her rivalry with Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S., who defeated her for the World title.
“You just have to put in your best and that´s what I did today,” Jackson said in quotes on the Memorial van Damme website. “It felt really good tonight, I definitely feel like I’m getting there, closer to that record. But it’s also important to have some fun and I really had fun tonight… It has been a good season and I hope to get one more win and to get closer to that record.”
Frustrated with his effort: Mondo Duplantis of Sweden was not in a happy place after clearing 6.10 meters (20 feet ¼ inch) to win the men’s pole vault in the Memorial van Damme meet.
The 23-year-old Swede has been so dominant for the past four seasons that he was disappointed that he had missed all three of his attempts at a world-record height of 6.23 (20-5¼) in the Diamond League meet in the Belgian capital.
Duplantis, who has raised the world record six times during his career, had cleared 5.62 (18-5¼), 5.82 (19-1¼), 5.92 (19-5¼), 6.02 (19-9) — to win the competition — and 6.10 on his first attempts.
He then went under the bar on his first attempt at 6.23 and had a better attempt on his second effort. He came fairly close to making the height on his third try but brushed the bar off the pegs with his chest.
It was an unprecedented 17th time during his career — indoors and outdoors — that Duplantis has cleared 6.10 or higher. But afterward he felt like he had let a great opportunity to set a world record slip away.
"I have mixed feelings," Duplantis said in quotes on the meet website. “The track is really great and I would have loved giving the public the world record… but to be honest my jumps were kind of [crappy] today. Even that last attempt on 6.23 - it was close, but it wasn't a great jump.
“I really believe that I should have made it today. I had it in me to jump the world record today and I really thought that I was going to do it. It’s a shame.”
Impressive numbers: Femke Bol’s superb season rolled on in the Memorial van Damme meet when she won the women’s 400-meter hurdles in a time of 52.11 seconds four days after running a winning 52.79 in the Gala dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
The 23-year-old Bol did not take the lead until midway through the second turn in Brussels, but no one was able to stay close to the recently crowned World champion in the home straightaway as she finished more than a second and a half in front of Jamaican Janieve Russell, who placed second in 53.80. Rushell Clayton of Jamaica, the bronze medalist in the World Championships, placed third in 54.10, followed by American Anna Cockrell in 54.29.
Bol’s time was her third best of this season and the fourth fastest of her career and ranks 11th on the all-time performance list. It also marked the eighth time she had broken 53 seconds this year and an unprecedented 18th time she has done it during her career.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S., who did not contest the 400 hurdles this year while focusing on the 400 until an injury prevented her from competing in the World Championships, has run five of the top seven — and six of the top nine — times in history in the one-lap hurdles race. But Bol is making her presence known on the all-time performance list as she has now clocked the third-, eighth-, 10th-, 11th-, 16th- (twice), 18th, and 20th-fastest times ever run.
“It was my first Brussels [Diamond League meeting] and I loved it so much,” Bol said in quotes on the meet website. “The crowd was amazing. So loud. It was like being at home… My time was pretty good for the end of a season, knowing that my first few hurdles did not go that great. It is my second best performance in a [Diamond League meet] this year and my third fastest time.”
Saving her best for last: Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan continued her sixth-round magic in the women’s javelin in the Memorial van Damme meet when she unleashed a yearly world-leading throw of 67.38 (221-1) on her final effort.
The 25-year-old Kitaguchi was in first place with a mark of 65.20 (213-11) as she headed down the runway for her final throw, but her 67.38 effort ended up giving her an advantage of nearly three meters over second-place Victoria Hudson of Austria, who had a best of 64.65 (212-1). Lina Muze-Sirma of Latvia finished third at 63.00 (206-8). She hit that distance on her first throw, but passed her last five attempts due to an injury she sustained on her initial effort.
Kitaguchi’s throw topped her previous national record and yearly world-leading mark of 67.04 (219-11) that she had set on her sixth throw of the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland on July 16. It also came two weeks after she had won her first World title by moving from fourth place to first with a sixth-round throw of 66.73 (218-11).
“I could throw a new [national record] so I am very happy about my performances today,” Kitaguchi said on the meet website. “The crowd here was really good. They pushed me to do my best. I still have some goals to chase this season. I hope to throw over 68 [meters]. Maybe at the [Diamond League] Final. I will do my best to achieve it there.”
The two-day long Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon will host the Diamond League final on Sept. 16-17. The women’s javelin will be the first event of the meet and is scheduled to start at 2 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on Sept. 16.
Making progress: Elaine Thompson-Herah Jamaica posted her third consecutive season best since the World Championships when she won the women’s 100 meters in 10.84 seconds in the Memorial van Damme meet.
That performance followed times of 11.00 in the Weltklasse meet in Zurich on August 31 and 10.92 in the Gala dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland four days later.
Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain led the field out of the blocks in Brussels, but Thompson-Herah had pulled even with her 40 meters into the race and no one in the field was able to keep pace with her for the remainder of the contest as Natasha Morrison of Jamaica placed second in 10.95 and Asher-Smith finished third in 10.97.
The 31-year-old Thompson-Herah had finished fifth in the 100 in the Jamaican national championships after battling injuries during the early part of the year, but she is starting to show glimpses of the sprinter who won the 100 and 200 in the Olympic Games in 2016 and ’21 and has run 10.54 in the former event and 21.53 in the latter.
“It was a tough season, but I’m glad that I’m back in my sprinting form,” Thompson-Herah said in quotes on the meet website. “A couple of nights ago I ran 10.92 in Bellinzona and I’m happy to improve that result tonight. I feel healthy and in tonight’s race I was able to keep swinging and punching until the finish line. With the shape that I’m in I hope to get a good result next week as well.”
Her next 100-meter race is expected to be in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 16, when she is expected to race, among others, recently crowned World champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S.
Welcome to the club: Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica became the latest woman to jump 15 meters (49-2½) or more in the triple jump when she bounded 15.01 (49-3) to win the event in the Memorial van Damme meet.
The 31-year-old Ricketts, who had jumped a winning 14.92 (48-11½) in a meet in Rovereto, Italy two days earlier, hit her career-best leap on her third attempt of the competition after leaping 14.30 (46-11) in the first round and 14.70 (48-2¾) in the second. She then passed her fourth and fifth jumps before fouling on her sixth.
She finished well in front of World silver medalist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine, who placed second at 14.57 (47-9¾). Dominica’s Thea Lafond finished third at 14.49 (47-6½).
Ricketts, fourth in the World Championships last month, had previously had season bests of 14.93 in 2019, 14.98 in ’21, and 14.94 last year.
She is the 27th woman to have jumped 15 or more meters outdoors, but only the fourth to have accomplished that feat since the 2017 season.
“It was amazing,” she said in quotes on the meet website. “I had no idea I was capable to jump this far this night as I competed in Italy only two days ago. To go over 15 [meters]… for the first time legally. I am over the moon. The previous times I jumped this far, it was always with too much wind. After jumping my [personal best] I got a bit emotional. That is why I took a break after the third attempt.”
Two for two: Laura Muir of Great Britain turned in her second impressive performance since the World Championships when she won the women’s 1,500 meters in the Memorial van Damme meet.
Muir was the silver medalist in the 1,500 in the Olympic Games in 2021 and the bronze medalist in the World Championships last year. But she finished a disappointing sixth in the the most recent World title meet in Budapest, Hungary on August 22.
She had followed her sub-par race in the World Championships by easily winning the 800 in 1:57.71 in the Weltklasse meet in Zurich on August 31 and she clocked a season best of 3:55.34 in turning back a depth-laden field in Brussels that included six other finalists from Budapest.
Ciara Mageean of Ireland finished second in a national record of 3:55.87 in Brussels and Nelly Chepchirchir of Kenya was third in 3:56.93. That pair had placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the World Championships.
“I felt a little disappointed after the world championships,” Muir said in quotes on the meet website. “I was in great shape, but unfortunately I did not have my best day at the most important race of the year. That’s sport and those things happen. I’m really happy that today I was able to show the form that I’m really in.”
Improving by leaps and bounds: Addy Wiley, who capped her freshman season at Huntington (Ind.) University by winning the women’s 800 and 1,500 meters in the NAIA Championships in late May, turned in two superb performances in Europe last week.
First, the 19-year-old runner ran 1:57.64 to place second in the 800 behind Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica (1:57.53) in the Casa dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland on Sept. 4.
Then she ran 3:59.17 to finish eighth in the 1,500-meter race won by Laura Muir of Great Britain (3:55.34) in the Memorial van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels four days later.
Wiley had finished the collegiate season with personal bests of 2:02.33 in the 800 and 4:11.43 in the 1,500. But she has been on a tear since then.
First, he ran 4:03.22 to win the 1,500 in the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee on June 3. Then she finished fifth in 4:04.25 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on July 8 before running 4:05.84 to win the NACAC U23 (under 23) title in San Jose, Costa Rica on July 23.
Next up was a monster personal best of 1:59.00 to win the 800 in the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee on August 4. And then came her eye-opening performances in Bellinzona and Brussels last week.
What’s in a time?: Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya set a world best of 5:47.72 in the women’s 2,000-meter steeplechase in the Memorial Boris Hanzekovica meet in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday. But I’m not sure what to make of her performance because the 2,000 steeplechase is contested so rarely by the world’s top performers.
The 32-year-old Chepkoech slashed more than five seconds off the previous world best of 5:52.80 set by Gesa Felicitas Krause of Germany in 2019 with her performance, and her time cut more than 15 seconds off her official personal best of 6:02.47 from 2015. But the fact that Winnie Jemutai of Kenya ran 5:52.92 to finish second in Zagreb and moved into third on the all-time performer list in the event gave me pause.
In addition, Marusa Mismas Zrimsek of Slovenia placed third in 5:53.38 to move to fourth on the all-time list and Luiza Gega of Albania finished fourth in 5:56.79 to take over the No. 6 spot.
Chepkoech set a scintillating world record of 8:44.32 in the 3,000 steeplechase in 2018 and has run under nine minutes six other times, including a silver-medal winning performance of 8:58.98 in last month’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
However, Jemutai, Mismas Zrimsek, and Gega are not in the same class as the Kenyan veteran.
Jemutai is a relative novice in the 3,000 steeplechase with a best of 9:45.11 from earlier this year, although she did run 14:39.05 to place fourth in the 5,000 in the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels two days before the Hanzekovica meet.
Mismas Zrimsek ran a personal best of 9:06.37 to finish sixth in the World Championships and Gega lowered her best to 9:09.64 while finishing fourth in the Weltklasse meet in Zurich on August 31.
Runner to watch: I will be interested to see how Agnes Jebet Ngetich of Kenya performs on the track in the coming year, for she turned in an extremely quick time on the roads on Sunday when she ran 29:24 to win the Trunsylvania International 10K race in Brasov, Romania.
The time is the world record for a women’s-only 10K road race and it ranks third on the all-time performance list behind 29:14 and 29:19 clockings turned in by Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia in February of last year and in January of this year while she was running in races that included men.
The 22-year-old Ngetich is in the midst of a breakout year as she finished third in the World Cross Country Championships in February before lowering her personal bests on the track to 8:32.62 in the 3,000 meters and 14:36.70 in the 5,000 in June. She then finished sixth in the 10,000 in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 19.
Her 31:34.83 clocking in Budapest was a personal best for her on the track, but she had run 30:30 in finishing second in a 10K in Brasov last year. Furthermore, she came through the 5,000-meter mark in Sunday’s race in 14:25, the fastest 5K ever run in a women’s-only race on the roads and the third fastest in history behind clockings of 14:19 and 14:21 turned in by Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia in 2021 and ’22, respectively.
“The world record is a surprise to me,” Ngetich said in a World Athletics post. “I didn’t expect to get the world record. I just wanted a [personal best], low 30 minutes to break the course record, but a world record is really a surprise.”
Stepping down in distance: Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, two runners best known for their accomplishments in the marathon, won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Great North Run on Sunday.
Tola, the 2022 World champion in the marathon, ran 59:58 in the half marathon that starts in Newcastle, England and ends in South Shields.
He finished well head of second-place Bashir Abdi of Belgium (1:01:20), third-place Muktar Edris of Ethiopia (1:01:54), and fourth-place Mo Farah of Great Britain (1:03:28).
The 40-year-old Farah was running in what was expected to be the final elite-level race of an illustrious career that saw him win both the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 meters in the 2012 and ’16 Olympic Games, and in the 2013 and ’15 World Championships.
Jepchirchir, winner of the Olympic title in 2021, won the women’s race in 1:06:45, followed by fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi in 1:07:43 and Great Britain’s Charlotte Purdue in 1:09:36.
The 32-year-old Tola, who had dropped out of the marathon in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 27 after the 40-kilometer mark, was one of seven runners who came through the 5K mark in 14:11 on Sunday.
He then broke up the lead pack he ran a 4:27 mile on a downhill portion of the course after the five-mile mark.
Abdi, the bronze medalist in the marathon in the Olympic Games and 2022 World Championships, was still running with Tola at that point in the race. But he had fallen 10 seconds behind after Tola ran the next mile in 4:20.
Jepchirchir and Lokedi, winner of the last year’s New York City Marathon in her debut race at that distance, came through the first mile in 5:03. They continued to run together through the four-mile mark, but Jepchirchir broke away from her countrywoman after that.
Three for three: Josh Kerr and Jemma Reekie of Great Britain and Scotland won the respective men’s and women’s races in the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City on Sunday.
Kerr, who outkicked favored Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway to win the men’s 1,500 meters in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 23, ran 3:47.9 in New York during a race that was held in rainy conditions and in which the course drops in elevation from start to finish.
Countryman George Mills placed second in 3:49.9, followed by Geordie Beamish of New Zealand in 3:50.0 and Vincent Ciattei of the U.S. in 3:50.3.
Reekie, who placed fifth in the women’s 800 in Budapest, clocked 4:19.4 in winning the women’s race in New York for the second time in the last three years. Sarah Healy of Ireland placed second in 4:20.0, followed by Melissa Courtney-Bryant of Great Britain in 4:20.6 and Nikki Hiltz of the U.S. in 4:20.7.
It was the third consecutive year that Scottish runners have swept the men’s and women’s titles.
Reekie and Jake Wightman won in 2021 and Wightman and Laura Muir did likewise last year.
Two liners: When Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine cleared 2.00 meters (6 feet 6¾ inches) to win the women’s high jump in the Memorial van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels last Friday, it marked the sixth time in nine outdoor meets that she had scaled 2.00 or higher. She had cleared a season best of 2.02 (6-7½) to win a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China on Sept. 2 after making 2.01 (6-7) while winning her first title in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 27. . . . . Chase Ealey of the U.S. won the women’s shot put with a best of 20.05 (65-9½) in the Memorial van Damme meet after she had won her second consecutive title in the World Championships on August 26 with a season best of 20.43 (67-0½). Before then, she had only had one 20-meter meet in her previous 10 competitions. . . . . Daniel Simiu Ebenyo became the 41st Kenyan to run under 27 minutes in the men’s 10,000 meters when he won the event in 26:57.80 in the Memorial van Damme meet. The silver medalist in the World Championships had run his previous best of 27:11.26 while finishing second in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England last year. . . . . Kenny Bednarek of the U.S. ran a season best of 19.79 seconds to win the men’s 200 in the Memorial van Damme meet after finishing fifth in the World Championships. It was the first victory of the season for Bednarek, who turned back a field that included Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes in second place (19.82) and Canadians Andre De Grasse (19.89) and Aaron Brown (19.98) in third and fourth. . . . . World 800-meter champion Mary Moraa of Kenya announced on social media that she was not going to be able to run in the women’s 400 in the Memorial van Damme meet because she was unable to travel to Belgium due to forces beyond her control. She wrote she was looking forward to running in the 800 in the Diamond League Finals that will be contested in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Sept, 16-17. . . . . Valarie Allman of the U.S. won the women’s discus with a throw of 69.09 (226-8) in the Casa dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland on Sept. 4. Allman — five times — and World champion Laulauga Tausaga-Collins of the U.S. — once — are the only women in the world to have thrown more than 69 meters (226-4) in a meet this season. . . . . Alison dos Santos of Brazil posted his second-fastest time of the season in winning the men’s 400 intermediate hurdles in the Casa dei Castelli meet. The 2022 World champion clocked 47.50 in turning back Frenchmen Wilfried Happio in second place (47.58) and Ludvy Vaillant in third (47.92). . . . . Jasmin Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico posted winning times of 12.56 and 12.47 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in a pair of meets last week. The first victory came in the Casa dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland on Sept. 4 and the second occurred in the Memorial Boris Hanzekovica meet in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday.
Calling it a season: Kelsey Lee Barber of Australia, the World champion in the women’s javelin in 2019 and ’22, announced on social media last week that she was ending her season due to a “small calf tear” that she sustained in the sixth round of the final of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on August 25.
The 31-year-old Barber’s post included the following text: “I feel like I never really got to show my best throw this year which really hurts, but I have been fighting all season and it’s time for me to rest and recover.”
Barber, the bronze medalist in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, had a best of 62.54 (205-2) this season and finished seventh in the World Championships.
She set her personal best of 67.70 (222-1) in 2019 and had season bests of 64.56 (211-10) in 2021 and 66.91 (219-6) last year.