Year of firsts continues in World Indoor Champs
Charlton lowers world record in women's 60-meter hurdles for second time this season
Devynne Charlton put on a clinic about how to run the women’s 60-meter hurdles in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Bahamian not only set a world record of 7.65 seconds in the final, but her performances got progressively faster during each of the three rounds she contested on the final day of the three-day meet at Emirates Arena.
Charlton, who had finished second in the 2022 indoor championships in Belgrade, Serbia, ran 7.93 in finishing first in her first-round heat in the morning, despite a less than stellar start, 7.72 in taking her semifinal in the evening and then 7.65 in the final that was run approximately an hour and 20 minutes later.
While her progression might not seem unusual to many, she was the only one of the top five finishers who turned in their best time of the day in the final..
Defending champion Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France finished second in the final in 7.74 after running a national record of 7.73 in the semifinals.
Pia Skrsyszowska of Poland placed third in 7.79 after running 7.78 in the semifinals and 7.80 in her heat.
Masai Russell of the U.S., Charlton’s training partner in Lexington, Kentucky, finished fourth in 7.81 after running 7.89 in the first round and 7.79 in the semifinals.
Sarah Lavin of Ireland placed fifth in 7.91 after clocking 7.90 in both the first round and the semifinals.
“This means a whole lot because I have set myself goals,” Charlton said in a World Athletics post. “I have not changed my technique much – just a few tweaks – but I have been working hard off the track, making sure my mental health is good and working with a sports psychologist.
“Just taking care of myself. Indoors really plays well to my skillset too.”
Charlton, who was running in lane 4 in the final, had a small lead over Samba-Mayela, who was to her right in lane 5, when she cleared the first of five barriers in the final. But she had expanded her advantage by the second hurdle and it had grown larger by the third. She pretty much held that lead over the fourth and fifth hurdles before adding a little more to it on the run-in to the finish line.
Her time cut two hundredths of a second off the world record of 7.67 she had set in the Millrose Games in New York City on Feb. 11 and it was also the third personal best of a five-meet indoor season had begun with a 7.99 clocking in a qualifying heat of the University of Kentucky Rod McGravy Memorial meet in Louisville on Jan. 12.
Charlton, who placed fourth in the 100 hurdles in last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, won her first two meets of the season before finishing third behind Tia Jones of the U.S. and Tobi Amusan of Nigeria in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Feb. 4.
She followed that defeat with her world record in the Millrose Games before running 7.68 to win the final of a World Indoor Tour gold meet in Madrid on Feb. 23.
Jones had tied Charlton’s world record of 7.67 in a first-round heat of the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Feb. 16 before running 7.68 in the final less that two hours later. However, a showdown between the two of them never materialized in the global indoor championships as Jones did not run in the meet.
“I think after last season, this is what I envisioned for myself,” Charlton said in an interview posted on the CBC website. “I talked it over with my coach and we both felt like I could do it. He set me up to put the work in and get it done.”
Despite her success in the 60 hurdles indoors, Charlton said it does not guarantee her of great performances in the 100 hurdles during the outdoor season and in the Olympic Games in Paris in August.
“Indoors and outdoors are two different things so I have a lot to do if I want to replicate these types of results,” she said.
Charlton was one of 10 individuals to win gold medals on Sunday and finals were also contested in the men’s and women’s 1,600 relays, which were won by Belgium and the Netherlands, respectively.
Of the remaining nine individual gold medals, two were won by athletes from the U.S., New Zealand, and Ethiopia, and one each were awarded to Sweden, Dominica, and Switzerland.
The American victories went to Tara Davis-Woodhall in the women’s long jump and Bryce Hoppel in the men’s 800, while the wins by New Zealand came from Hamish Kerr in the men’s high jump and Geordie Beamish in the men’s 1,500.
Ethiopia received victories in the women’s meet from Tsige Duguma in the 800 and Freweyni Hailu in the 1,500.
Sweden’s victory came from Mondo Duplantis in the men’s pole vault, while Dominica got a gold-medal performance from Thea LaFond in the women’s triple jump and Simon Ehammer of Switzerland won the men’s heptathlon.
The 24-year-old Duplantis won his second consecutive indoor title with a yearly world-leading height of 6.05 meters (19 feet 10¼ inches). But the defending Olympic, two-time defending World outdoor champion, and world record-holder had a scare when he missed his first two attempts at 5.85 (19-2 ¼) before clearing the bar on his third — and final — try.
He then passed at 5.90 (19-4¼) before clearing 5.95 (19-6¼) on his second attempt, passing at 6.00 (19-8¼), and making 6.05 on his third try. He then missed all three of his attempts as a world record of 6.24 (20-5¾).
Sam Kendricks of the U.S. finished second at 5.90, followed by Emmanoiul Karalis of Greece at 5.85. Chris Nilsen of the U.S. and Kurtis Marschall of Australia each cleared 5.75 (18-10¼), but Nilsen finished fourth because he had fewer total misses that Marschall.
Duplantis, who had set a then-world record of 6.20 (20-4) in winning his first World indoor title in 2022, admitted Sunday was the hardest he had ever had to work for any of his global championships.
“I had my back against the wall quite a few times today and I'm glad I was able to pull it out on the third attempts,” he said in a World Athletics post. “I was never negative about the fouls. It is always pressure on the last attempt because you are on the line but I always look at it positively. If I have one attempt left then I have a chance.
“I try not to overthink it and learn from the mistake I made on the first two and put it all together. I was able to pull it out of the bag today. I gave my mom too many scares tonight than she would have liked.
“I think she got quite nervous watching me there. I knew I had it under control. I'll have to say sorry about that. I'm glad I could pull out the win for her. She is my inspiration. Thanks mum.”
Davis-Woodhall, the silver medalist in the women’s long jump in Budapest, entered the indoor championships as the favorite and she produced the four longest marks of the competition while leading the U.S. to a 1-2 finish with Monae’ Nichols.
Nichols had finished third in the long jump behind Davis-Woodhall and Jasmine Moore in the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships last month, but she got a chance to compete in Glasgow after Moore decided to only contest the triple jump in the meet.
After Nichols took the lead in the first round with a jump of 6.75 (22-1 ¾), Davis-Woodhall moved into first in the second round with a leap of 6.79 (22-3 ½).
Nichols countered with a 6.83 (22-5) effort in the third round, but Davis-Woodhall hit a 6.93 (22-5) jump on her third attempt and never trailed again.
She then widened her lead with a 7.07 (23-2 ½) effort in the fourth round before tacking on jumps of 6.88 (22-7) and 7.03 (23-0¾) on her fifth and sixth efforts.
Nichols’ 6.83 best ended up being five centimeters ahead of the 6.78 (22-3) top mark from bronze medalist Fatima Diame of Spain. She was followed by Mikaelle Assani of Germany at 6.77 (22-2½) and Annik Kalin of Switzerland at 6.75 (22-1¾).
Davis-Woodhall’s top jump was short of the 7.18 (23-6¾) best she had produced in the USATF meet, but she was very happy about wining her first World senior title.
“I was just trying to find my rhythm and my energy that I’ve been working on all season,” Davis-Woodhall said when Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports asked her about her performance. “I’ve dialed in that approach and… once I get that approach dialed in, it’s going to be something special.”
She later added that she would take a couple of weeks off, “reset my brain, reset the cycle, as then we’re going to hone in on the big guns.”
Hoppel employed some superb tactics in winning the men’s 800 meters after finishing third in the 2022 indoor championships.
He was in third place when defending champion Mariano Garcia of Spain came through the first lap of the 200-meter track in 24.66 seconds and he had maintained that position when Garcia passed 400 meters in 51.39.
He then moved up to second place behind Elliott Crestan when the Belgian came through 600 in 1:18.49.
The 26-year-old Hoppel stilled trailed Crestan by the end of the last backstretch, but he stepped on the accelerator going through the turn and then sped past Crestan in the final 15 meters of the race as he ran his final 100 in 13.07 seconds while on his way to yearly world-leading time of 1:44.92.
Andreas Kramer of Sweden made a late charge to overtake Crestan for the silver medal while running 1:45.27 to Crestan’s 1:45.32.
They were followed by Catalin Tecuceanu of Italy in 1:46.39 and Garcia in 1:48.77 in the official results, as Benjamin Robert of France was disqualified after originally crossing the finish line in fifth place in 1:46.80.
Officials ruled that Robert had committed a foul during the first 100 meters of the race when he made a lot of contact with Garcia while trying to gain the lead from him at the end of the first backstretch.
“Being finally able to grab that moment is incredible,” Hoppel said of his victory in a World Athletics post. “I think everything going on at this time is giving me a new level of confidence.
“Getting out there, I just feel amazing. I just feel self-control. I’ve been able to make that race go exactly how I wanted.
“It feels so unreal to be the world champion. It's so special to have that moment. I'm just happy to bring it back to the people who have been around me and made me listen to them.”
New Zealand’s first gold medal of these championships came in the first men’s final on Sunday, the high jump, and in the last men’s event, the 1,500.
The 27-year-old Kerr had not jumped indoors this year prior to Sunday, but he had competed in four outdoor meets in either New Zealand or Australia, and he had a season best of 2.27 (7-5¼).
That only put him fifth on the list of entrants, but he found himself in the lead after clearing 2.15 (7-0½), 2.20 (7-2½), 2.24 (7-4¼), and 2.28 (7-6) on his first attempts.
He then kept his sheet clean by clearing 2.31 (7-7) on his first attempt.
After defending champion Sang-hyeok Woo of South Korea missed all three of his tries at that height, Shelby McEwen of the U.S. missed twice before passing to the next height of 2.34 (7-8) for his last remaining attempt.
Kerr missed his first attempt at that height, but after McEwen missed and was eliminated from the competition, the Kiwi had the bar moved to an Oceania indoor record of 2.36 (7-8¾).
He missed his first attempt at that height, but cleared it on his second to move to the top of the yearly world list.
McEwen and Woo each cleared 2.28, but the American finished second on the tiebreaker because he had fewer total misses than Woo.
The next four finishers cleared 2.24, but Olek Dorashchuk of Ukraine and Jan Stefela of the Czech Republic finished fourth and fifth because they had each cleared the height on their first attempt, and Dorashchuk had fewer total misses than Stefela.
Kerr had tied for third in the 2022 indoor championships, but he admitted in a Reuters post that there were times during the competition when his nerves were getting the better of him and he retreated to the bathroom to regain his composure.
“I wasn't calm and relaxed,” he said. “I knew I needed to focus on myself today and in a sport where there are so many other things going on the only thing I can control is my emotion and technical queues.
“So as the competition progressed it got harder to focus on that as the outcome became more and more important ... So I did go to the bathroom a few times to just sit there and do a bit of breathing work and bring myself back to the present.”
While Kerr’s victory made him the third New Zealand athlete — after shot putters Valerie Adams and Tom Walsh — to have won a World indoor title, Beamish became the fourth with his dramatic, come-from-behind victory in 1,500.
Beamish was in 10th place when Vincent Kibet Keter of Kenya led the field through the first 400 in 58.86 seconds and the 800-meter mark in 1:57.13.
But he had moved into eighth, less than a second out of first, when Hobbs Kessler of the U.S. brought the field through 1,200 meters in 2:55.02.
He was seventh at the bell lap and sixth heading into the final curve of the race, but he had moved into fifth entering the final home straightaway, and with Cole Hocker focused on outkicking fellow American Kessler for the victory in the last 20 meters of the race, Beamish raced by both of them while running in lane 3.
His winning time of 3:36.54 was an indoor personal best, while Hocker finished second in a personal best of 3:36.69 and Kessler placed third in 3:36.72. They were followed by Isaac Nader of Portugal in 3:36.97 and Narve Gilje Nordas of Norway in 3:37.03. Samuel Tefera of Ethiopia, the two-time defending champion, finished seventh in 3:38.10.
The victory by the 27-year-old Beamish capped an indoor season during which he had set national records of 7:34.88 in the 3,000 meters, 8:05.73 in the two mile, and 13:04.33 in the 5,000. And those marks followed an outdoor season in which had had set a New Zealand record of 8:13.26 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finished fifth in the World Championships in Budapest.
“I think it was the best ever World Championships for New Zealand before I stepped on to the track,” Beamish said in a World Athletics post. “The last couple of days have been a huge performance by the team.”
He then pointed out that Walsh, who placed second in the men’s shot put on Friday, Eliza McCartney, second in the women’s pole vault on Saturday, and Kerr, winner of the men’s high jump earlier Sunday, are leaders on the team “and they showed what it means to wear the black jersey.
“And it is incredible to add to that… I seem to always have that last lap. I was fortunate it wasn't a 3:29 race. I don't think that would have been on the cards for me then. But I feel like I can run people down in that last lap. It's incredible.”
Ethiopia had suffered a bit of a blow on Saturday when heavily favored Gudaf Tsegay had been outkicked by American Elle St. Pierre in the women’s 3,000 and defending champion Selemon Barega finished third in the men’s 3,000 behind Josh Kerr of Great Britain and Yared Nuguse of the U.S. But the country won the final two women’s events of the meet on Sunday when Duguma and Hailu won the 800 and 1,500, respectively.
The victories were a contrast in racing tactics as Duguma led the 800 from start to finish and Hailu found herself in various positions at different points during the 1,500.
Duguma, who had been a 400 specialist as recently as 2022 with a best of 53.9 seconds, had run 1:59.40 in the 800 last year. She ran 2:00.50 in a first-round heat on Friday and 1:58.35 in a semifinal on Saturday.
The 23-year-old led the six-runner field through the first 200 in 29.39 on Sunday before slowing the pace to 34 seconds on the second lap and coming through 400 meters in 63.39.
Jemma Reekie of Great Britain, the pre-race favorite to many, was running just behind Duguma at that point and she was still in second place when the Ethiopian came through 600 meters in 1:33.99.
The pace picked up significantly heading down the backstretch for the final time, but Reekie never came close to passing Duguma, who ran her final 100 meters in 13.61 seconds while on her way to a time of 2:01.90.
Reekie, fourth in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, placed second in 2:02.72 and 38-year-old Noelle Yarigo of Benin finished third in 2:03.15. She was followed by Vivian Chebet Kiprotich of Kenya in 2:03.76 and yearly world leader Habitam Alemu of Ethiopia in 2:03.89.
“This race was really amazing and it is hard for me to find proper words,” Duguma said in a World Athletics post. “The tactic I used was to push it forward and that is why I was able to get first place.
“It is true that the home crowd was pushing their athlete. I was confident coming into this race because I know how hard I was training, so I was ready to fight for the gold. Now, the focus is on the Olympics, and there is no doubt that I want to bring this medal home.”
The women’s 1,500 started out as if it might be a fast race as Hailu led the field through the first 200 in 30.83 seconds and the opening 400 in 62.89.
But the pace slowed dramatically over the next 400 as Ethiopians Birke Haylom, Diribe Welteji, and Hailu were running 1-2-3 when Haylom came through four laps in 2:11.66.
Welteji led the field through 1,000 meters in 2:45.54, but American Emily Mackay had surged into the lead 100 meters later and Hailu was in sixth.
However, Hailu had worked her way up to second place when Mackay came through the bell lap and she sped past her heading down the backstretch. She was not seriously challenged after that as she crossed the finish line finish line in 4:01.46 after running the last 200 meters in 28.62 seconds.
Nikki Hiltz used a strong kick to overtake U.S. teammate Mackay in the home straightaway as they clocked personal bests of 4:02.32 and 4:02.69, respectively. Georgia Bell of Great Britain finished fourth in 4:03.47 and Welteji placed fifth in 4:03.82.
Hailu had been the runner-up in the 800 two years earlier in Belgrade.
“This result is very good for me,” she said in a World Athletics post. “The key to this result is that we help each other in our team and in our training group. The harder we work, the better we get on the track. For summer, we’ll train even harder, because the main focus is the Olympics.”
In contrast to Hailu’s victory in the women’s 1,500, there was very little changing of places when it came to LaFond’s win in the women’s triple jump.
She took the lead in the first round with a jump of 14.41 (47-3½), dropped a place when Leyanis Perez Hernandez of Cuba bounded 14.58 (47-10) as the third jumper in the second round, and then took the lead for good when she bounded a national record of 15.01 (49-3) three jumps later.
The mark topped LaFond’s previous best — either indoors or outdoors — of 14.90 (48-10¾) that she had set in finishing fifth in last year’s World outdoor championships and made her the 30th woman in history — again either indoors or outdoors — to have jumped 15 meters (49-2½) or farther.
It was also the last jump LaFond would make as after being overcome with emotion at joining the 15-meter club, she passed each of her remaining jumps as no one could overtake her.
Perez Hernandez posted her best jump of the day in the fourth round when she leaped 14.90, and Ana Peleiteiro-Campaore of Spain won the bronze medal after recording her best of 14.75 (48-4¾) on her fifth attempt. The U.S. duo of Kenturah Orji and Jasmine Moore finished fourth and fifth with bests of 14.36 (47-1½) and 14.15 (46-5¼), respectively.
The win by the 29-year-old LaFond made her the first athlete from the Commonwealth of Dominica, an island country of approximately 73,000 people in the Caribbean, to have won a gold medal in athletics in the World Championships or Olympic Games.
It also made her the first athlete other than Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela to have won a global title in the women’s triple jump since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Rojas did not compete indoors this season.
“This feels absolutely surreal,” LaFond said in a trackside interview in front of an appreciative crowd. “I am the only athlete here from my country, so to be able to come out and get the best possible outcome and put this little island on the map is a privilege. This one is for my people. I don’t even know what to say any more!”
Ehammer, 24, improved upon his second-place finish in the men’s heptathlon in the 2022 World indoor championships with his victory on Sunday.
He began the second day of the combined event trailing first-place Ken Mullings of the Bahamas by 79 points, but he narrowed his gap to 42 points after clocking 7.62 seconds to Mullings’ 7.76 in the 60-meter high hurdles.
He then took a 140-point lead over second-place Mullings after he cleared 5.20 (17-0¾) to the Bahamian’s sub-par 4.60 (15-1) effort in the pole vault.
Despite his advantage, Ehammer did not have things sewed up entering the 1,000 meters, the final event of the heptathlon, as third-place Sander Skotheim of Norway appeared capable of making up more than 150 points on him in the event, based on past performances.
Skotheim did post the best time in the 1,000 with a personal best of 2:33.23, but Ehammer’s career best of 2:46.03 was enough to give him a 6,418-point total, which was seven points better than Skotheim’s 6,411.
Johannes Erm of Estonia finished third with 6,340 points, followed by Mullings with 6,242 and Makenson Gletty of France with 6,187.
Ehammer’s national record moved him into a tie for ninth in the all-time performer list and Skotheim’s Norwegian best moved him to 13th.
It also gave him his third global championship medal as he had finished third in the long jump in the 2022 outdoor meet in Eugene, Oregon.
“It feels amazing and unbelievable,” Ehammer said in a World Athletics post. “It was a tough, tough competition. I pushed and pushed and pushed (in the 1000m) because I so wanted to win this gold. Yes, I do the long jump as well, but this proves I am a multi-eventer. This is where I belong. It's the perfect start to the season for 2024.”
While the gold medalists in the women’s and men’s 400 meters on Saturday anchored their 4 x 4 relay teams to victory on Sunday, the wins came about in different fashions as the Netherlands went wire to wire in winning the women’s title and Belgium came from behind to take the men’s.
Lieke Klaver, the runner-up in the 400, gave the Netherlands a good-size lead with a 50.26-second opening leg as the Dutch were followed by defending champion Jamaica, Great Britain, Ireland, and the U.S. in that order.
A 51.99 second leg by Cathelijn Peeters gave the Netherlands a half-second lead over second-place Jamaica. The U.S. moved into third, thanks to a 50.38 carry by Talitha Diggs.
The Americans moved into second place on the third leg when Bailey Lear’s 52.14 split picked a little ground on the Netherlands’ Lisane De Witte, who ran 52.28. Jamaica’s Charokee Young was in third place behind Lear at one point, but she pulled off the track after Great Britain’s Ama Pippi inadvertently knocked the baton out of her right hand.
Femke Bol had run a world record of 49.17 in winning the open 400 on Saturday, but she did not roar off the start of the her leg and Alexis Holmes of the U.S. was not far behind her after the first lap.
Holmes had anchored the U.S. to a dramatic victory in the mixed 4 x4 relay in Budapest when Bol fell to the track in the final five meters of the race while trying to hold off the fast-closing American. But there was no replay on Sunday as Bol ran a very controlled final 200 meters and her 50.54 carry gave the Dutch a 3:25.07 to 3:25.34 victory over the Americans, who received a 50.49 split from Holmes.
Great Britain finished third in a national record of 3:26.36, followed by Belgium with a national record of 3:28.05 and Ireland with a time of 3:28.92.
It was the fifth one-lap race of meet for Bol, who had run in a heat and semifinal of the 400 on Friday, the final of the 400 on Saturday, and in a heat of the 4 x 4 on Sunday morning before the final at night.
“I feel so tired,” she said in a World Athletics post, “but the championships are like this.
“These girls give me so much energy to run, especially if they give me the baton in first place. It’s such great team. You cannot let them down.”
Alexander Doom had set a Belgian record of 45.25 seconds while coming from behind to defeat Karsten Warholm of Norway for the men’s 400 title on Saturday and he produced more last-lap heroics in the 4 x 4 relay on Sunday against a U.S. team that included Noah Lyles on the third leg.
The race for first quickly developed into a two-team battle as the U.S. got a 45.97 first carry from Jacory Patterson and Belgium received a 46.21 split from Jonathan Sacor.
Matthew Boling’s second leg of 45.63 expanded the Americans’ ever so slightly as Belgium’s Dylan Borlee ran 45.67.
Lyles, the defending World champion in the 100 and 200 and the silver medalist in the 60 on Friday, ran a solid 45.68 on the third leg for the U.S., but he only picked up a tenth of a second on Belgium’s Christian Iguacel, who split 45.78.
Christopher Bailey of the U.S. began his anchor leg with a lead of .38 seconds, but Doom never let him relaxed and as they entered the final turn with 100 meters left in the race, the Belgium began to close in on Bailey and raced past him 10 meters before the finish line.
Belgium’s time of 3:02.54 successfully defended the title it had won in 2022 and the U.S. clocked 3:02.60. The Netherlands finished third in 3:04.25, followed by Kenya in 3:06.71, Poland in 3:08.00, and Portugal in 3:08.02.
Doom ran 44.88 on his leg, the fastest of the race, while Bailey had a 45.32 split for the Americans.
“The guys put me in the perfect position,” Doom said in a World Athletics post. “I knew there was something possible at the end. I felt a little bit tired after the last few days. But I had a strong kick at the end, so I am really happy.”
The next edition of the World indoor championships will be held in Nanjing, China, from March 21-23 of next year.