Even without the spectacular Norwegian Karsten Warholm, the men\u2019s 400 m hurdles had style, Kevin Young\u2019s world record (46”78) under threat during pretty much every race. On this occasion, by way of an opener to Friday\u2019s Doha meeting, the second leg of the Diamond League, Rai Benjamin<\/b> remained some way shy of the legendary time and yet the American still treated himself to victory and a top-flight 47”38, despite a mistake at an obstacle on the second bend.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In this increasingly hotly contested sport, Brazilian Alison Dos Santos<\/b> is continuing to raise his game with a new South American record in a time of 47”57. Meantime, Kyron McMaster<\/b>, representing the British Virgin Islands ranked just third despite an excellent 47”82, while the return to the competition of Qatari Abderrahman Samba<\/b>, finally recovered from his injuries and fourth in 48”26, means that the rest of the summer is shaping up to be a thrilling spectacle over this distance.<\/p>\n
Rojas over 15 m again<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Like Benjamin<\/b>, the favourites maintained rank in Qatar. Though the world triple jump record is still standing (15.50 m by Kravets in 1995), Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas<\/b> cleared another jump in excess of 15 m, six days on from her 15.43 m in Andujar (Spain). Despite considerable room for improvement with the marks, she posted a jump of 15.15 m (+2m\/s) on her first attempt and 15.11 m (+0.8m\/s) on her second, although a shake of the head reflected her frustration. Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts<\/b> was also within a hair\u2019s breadth of clearing the symbolic 15 m bar thanks to a personal best of 14.98 m.<\/p>\n
Fraser-Pryce yet to have her final say<\/b><\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s straight line sprint, the athletes managed to benefit from the favourable conditions to run considerably faster than they did the previous Sunday in Gateshead. Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce<\/b> proved that she\u2019s still a force to be reckoned with in this Olympic year by blasting out of the starting blocks and being first to cross the finish line in a time of 10”84 (+1.1m\/s), six hundredths of a second ahead of Nigerian Blessing Okagbare<\/b>. Also of note was the fourth place for the Stade Fran\u00e7ais Paris\u2019 Marie-Jos\u00e9e Ta Lou<\/b> from the C\u00f4te D\u2019Ivoire in 11”12.
As for the men\u2019s sprint, this was dominated by the Americans. Kenneth Bednarek<\/b>, the strongman of this early season, managed to fend off a comeback by Andre De Grasse<\/b> in the 200 m to take the win in 19”88, a hundredth of a second ahead of the Canadian. The lap of the track also played out as expected with victory going to Michael Norman<\/b> in 44”27.<\/p>\n
The Kenyans rule<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As is usually the case in Doha, the middle-distance running disciplines gave rise to some awesome times, complete with the expected Kenyan hegemony embodied by Timothy Cheruiyot<\/b> in the 1,500 m (3’30”48), Faith Kipyegon<\/b> (1’58”26 with a negative split) and Wyclife Kinyamal<\/b> (1’43”91) in the 800 m, Beatrice Chebet<\/b> in the 3,000 m (8’27”49) as well as Norah Jeruto<\/b> in the 3,000 m steeplechase (9’00”67).
In the field competition, in addition to the women\u2019s triple jump, some especially noteworthy performances were posted by American Katie Nageotte<\/b> with 4.84 m in the pole vault in a count back over compatriot Sandi Morris<\/b>, and the 2.33 m by the Russian competing in the high jump under a neutral flag, Ilya Ivanyuk<\/b> (2.30 m for Barshim<\/b>). The rule implemented by World Athletics in the Diamond League, namely a final attempt where the scores are reset, did not enable those athletes with the best throws to secure the win. As such, the first places were awarded to New Zealand thrower Tomas Walsh<\/b> in the men\u2019s shot-put with 21.63 m (21.88 for Serbian Armin Sinancevic<\/b>), and Cuban Yaime Perez<\/b> in the women\u2019s discus with 63.75 m (65.57 m for American Valarie Allman<\/b>).<\/p>\n