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World record holder Tobi Amusan continued her fine-tuning ahead of the upcoming World Athletics Championships with a dominant win in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czechia, on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Nigerian, fresh off an impressive outing at the Paris Diamond League last weekend, lived up to her billing as favourite by cruising to a comfortable victory in 12.45 seconds.
She finished well clear of Slovakia’s Viktoria Forster, who ran a season’s best of 12.74s, and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin, who clocked a season’s best of 12.76s for third place.
Lavin, from Limerick, shaved more than a tenth of a second off her previous best of 12.90s, continuing her strong progression in what has been a promising European outdoor campaign.
For Amusan, the win in Ostrava marked her second hurdles victory of the season, having also triumphed at the Rabat Diamond League in May with an identical time of 12.45s; a new meet record at the time.
She had also clocked a season’s best 12.24s in Paris last Friday, where she finished second.
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Golden performances elsewhere in Ostrava
The evening in Ostrava also saw several meet records fall as top-tier athletes delivered standout performances across the board.
In the women’s 400m, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser blazed to victory in 49.15s, a new meet record, ahead of American Lynna Irby-Jackson (49.82s) and Dutch Olympic medallist Femke Bol, who clocked 49.98s for third.
In the men’s 200m, Australian teenage sensation Gout Gout produced a stunning performance to win in a lifetime best and Australia record of 20.02s. The 17-year-old beat Reynier Mena of Puerto Rico (20.19s) and Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who ran a season’s best 20.60s.
Gout’s run in Ostrava has drawn comparisons to sprinting legend Usain Bolt. His time bettered Bolt’s own performance of 20.28s at his Golden Spike debut in 2006. However, Gout is yet to legally dip under 20 seconds; something Bolt achieved at 17 four months before his 18th birthday with a 19.93s run in Bermuda.
Having dominated age-group athletics, Gout is now making waves on the senior circuit.
He holds Australia’s under-16 records in both the 100m and 200m and was runner-up in the 200m at last year’s World Under-20 Championships in Lima, after winning national U20 100m gold.
Duplantis, Beard, Koech and Davies make headlines
In the men’s pole vault, world record holder Mondo Duplantis delivered another statement performance with a meet record clearance of 6.13m, easily claiming first place. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis finished second with 5.92m, while Australia’s Kurtis Marschall took third with 5.82m.
Duplantis, who recently broke the world record for the 12th time with a 6.28m vault in Stockholm, attempted 6.29m in Ostrava but was unsuccessful.
“I felt good with the jumps, considering I felt as though I was operating on less than a full tank,” Duplantis said after the competition.
ALSO READ: Diamond League: Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan sets new record
One of the shocks of the meet came in the men’s 110m hurdles, where American Dylan Beard edged out compatriot and world champion Grant Holloway in a photo-finish with a winning time of 13.13s. Austria’s Enzo Diessl took third with 13.25s.
There was also a meet record in the men’s 1500m, with Kenyan teenager Phanuel Koech, 18, storming to victory in 3:29.05. In the women’s 800m, South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso claimed the win in 1:57.16.
The women’s 100m produced another highlight of the night, as Liberia’s Thelma Davies ran a stunning personal best and national record of 10.91s to take first place. Ivorian veteran Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith followed closely in 10.92s, while New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs ran 10.94s, also a national record, to finish third.
A night of elite competition
The Golden Spike meet, held at the Mestský Stadion in Ostrava, is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series. This year’s edition lived up to its billing, attracting a stellar cast of Olympic, World, and Continental medallists, all ramping up preparations for the World Championships later this year.
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