Alison dos Santos and Kenny Bednarek produced outstanding performances at the Seashore Group Doha Meeting, both breaking tournament records in the Qatar leg. wonder diamond league Friday (10).
If dos Santos was looking for a confidence-boosting performance at the start of the Olympic season, the Brazilian certainly delivered. He set the previous meet record here two seasons ago with a 47.24, then won the world title with a championship record of 46.29.
However, towards the end of that year, he suffered an injury and spent most of the offseason and the first half of 2023 rehabbing to get back to competitive form. He then ran a season-best 47.38 seconds to finish fifth at the World Championships in Budapest, but it was clear he wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
But tonight in the Qatari capital, the 23-year-old unequivocally declared that he is back to his smooth-stride best.
Dos Santos, pictured in lane 5, took an early lead, helped by fast-starting CJ Allen who caught up with him in the outside lane. When dos Santos came out of the final corner and eased out of the stumble, he easily passed the American hurdler and continued to extend a sizable lead down the home straight.
He crossed the line in 46.86 seconds, winning by more than 1.5 seconds over Allen (48.39 seconds). Wilfried Happio of France fell further behind in third place (49.10 points).
This is dos Santos’ fastest season opener ever, and also the fastest time recorded before June.
“This is a very good way to start things. I’m very excited,” said dos Santos. “It’s going to be a tough year, so it’s very positive to start like this.”
The wind that had been blowing through the stadium since early in the evening subsided slightly just before the men’s 200m race began. American Courtney Lindsay got off to a strong start, but Bednarek caught up with his compatriot just before the halfway stage and really started to pick up his game.
Bednarek, the 2022 World Championship silver medalist, pulled away from the pack with every strong step down the home straight and crossed the line in a personal best 19.67, breaking Noah Lyles’ six-year-old tournament record. 0.15.
Lindsey took a distant second place with a time of 20.01 seconds, and Kylie King took third place with a time of 20.21 seconds, making her an American 1-2-3.
“I knew I was ready to lead the world. I just hoped the wind would be on my side,” Bednarek said. “Being able to run fast early in the season is a good sign. But time doesn’t matter. My main goal this year is to win the Olympic title.”
The wind was both a help and a hindrance in the men’s long jump. World indoor bronze medalist Carey McLeod made a winning jump of 8.52 meters in the fourth round, the longest jump of her career under any conditions, but with a tailwind of 5.2 meters per second. This did not count as a personal record or a tournament record.
Nevertheless, the Jamaican athlete was able to beat world and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou, who finished the night with a leeward season’s best record of 8.36 meters (1.9 meters per second) in the final round. The victory against them boosted their confidence. Swiss decathlete Simon Ehammer took advantage of the wind to take third place with a time of 8.30m.
Slovenia’s 2022 world champion Cristian Cze has found his favorite conditions in the men’s discus throw. Making his outdoor season debut, the 25-year-old clocked 65.51 meters in the opening round, but fell short of Australia’s Matt Denny, who threw the discus to 69.02 meters on his first throw.
Denny held the lead until the fourth round, when Choi snatched the victory with a stunning throw of 70.48 meters, 41 centimeters shy of his own tournament record.
Finish by a close margin in the javelin throw, sprint, and steeplechase
The men’s javelin throw has been the source of some fascinating matches in Doha in recent years, and tonight was no exception.
Neeraj Chopra, who won last year’s Doha Games and is a world and Olympic champion, faced Anderson Peters, a two-time world champion and 2022 Doha Games champion. However, the winner was Diamond League champion Jakub Vadrić, who was runner-up in the previous two Doha tournaments. – He took an early lead and started the series with 85.87 meters.
The Czech pitcher increased his distance to 86.93 meters in the second round, and extended his lead to 88.38 meters in the third round. Chopra scored 86.24 meters in the third round, surpassing Peters (85.75 meters) to move into second place. But in the final round, the Indian sent his spear far beyond the 85-meter line. A few seconds later, his distance was confirmed to be 88.36 meters, just two centimeters away from Vadrige’s lead.
Peters continued to improve in the final round, throwing 86.62 meters to solidify his third-place finish.
The women’s 100m flat and hurdles were similarly close.
European bronze medalist Ditaj Kambundji came from behind to win the 100m hurdles. The 21-year-old from Switzerland did well over her final hurdle, passing American Tonea Marshall to win in 12.49 seconds. In a race where the difference between the top four was 0.05 seconds, Marshall took second place with a time of 12.51 seconds, followed by Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska in third place with a time of 12.53 seconds.
Britain’s Darryl Neita won the women’s 100m flat run with a season-best 10.98 points, beating Tamari Davis of the United States by 0.01. Celera Burns was a close third with a time of 11.02 seconds.
In the final race of the night, African Games champion Samuel Fire of Ethiopia got tangled up in a fierce sprint with world bronze medalist Abraham Kibiwot in the final stages of the men’s 3000m steeplechase, eventually finishing in a personal best 8. He won with a time of :07.25. Kenya 8:07.38.
Good night to all the gold medalists of the world.
It was a successful night for several current world and Olympic champions in various disciplines.
World 800m champion Mary Moller won the women’s 800m. The Kenyan fought off a strong challenge from world indoor silver medalist Gemma Leakey to win in a season-best time of 1:57.91, finishing 0.51 behind the Briton. Benin’s Noelie Yarrigo took third place with a time of 1:58.70.
Mary Mora wins the 800m at the Diamond League competition in Doha (© Getty Images)
Mora’s compatriot Beatrice Chebe had an equally impressive performance in the women’s 5,000 meters. In a high-quality field that included Ezigaif Taye and his fellow Ethiopians Medina Eisa and Melkunat Oudu, Taye took the lead after completing the first 2000 meters in 5 minutes 48 seconds. .
The world 10,000m bronze medalist continued to lead until the end, but Chebet showed explosive speed with 200 meters remaining and won easily in a world-leading time of 14:26.98. The women’s 5000m has never been held at this event before.
World indoor champion Freweini Heil looked to be heading for a decisive victory in the women’s 1500m as she built a 20m lead with one lap to go. However, with Australia’s Jess Hull and Ethiopia’s Diribe Weltezi racing behind him, the Ethiopian started to falter with 200 meters to go.
Hull managed to make up the difference, but Heil performed well enough to endure, winning in 4:00.42 to Hull’s 4:00.84.
Less than a week after he and his Bahamian teammates delivered one of the highlights of Round 24 of the Bahamas World Athletics Relays, Olympic champion Stephen Gardiner cruised to victory in the men’s 400 meters.
The 28-year-old, who won the world title in this city in 2019, finished 0.31 seconds ahead of Commonwealth champion Mzala Samukonga of Zambia.
Great Britain’s Molly Caudalie was another reigning world champion who claimed victory tonight in the Qatari capital. The world indoor champion won the pole vault from Australia’s world champion Nina Kennedy, with both women clearing a personal best of 4.73 meters.
Elsewhere, emerging Kenyan Brian Komen won the men’s 1500m in 3 minutes 32.43 seconds, outpacing his award-winning compatriot Timothy Cheruiyot. The African Games winner finished 0.24 seconds ahead of 2019 World Champion Cheruiyot, with Reynold Cheruiyot taking third place with a time of 3:32.96.
In the women’s high jump, the youngest Serbian teenager, Angelina Topic, who is five years older, cleared all the bars up to that height on her first attempt, winning with 1.94 meters.