The initial Diamond League gathering of the 2021 season was an utter failure!
While lousy weather was mostly to blame, Gateshead proved you can't plan for good things to happen, but instead have to go with the flow, ride the tide, take what you can get when you can get it!
Luckily for this Records & Marks person, enough flowing, riding, and taking happened in other venues to make us forget Gateshead even happened!
There was Ostrava!
Where Jacob Kiplimo stepped off a 13:27 5000!
But he didn't stop, and in fact ran a second 5000 in 13:06.
Add those together, and his time of 26:33.53 gives him the Age 20 Record, and makes him 7th A-T World!
On my Combined Events list for the 3000, 5000, and 10000, his times of 7:26.64, 12:48.63, and 26:33.33 adds to 46:48.60, ranking him 4th A-T World!
In the 5000 & 10000 C-E, his times add to 39:21.96, making him 5th A-T World!
Birhanu Belew took 2nd with 27:07.49!
That's Bahrain's National Record!
Mondo & Sam put on a good performance, with Duplantis PV'ing 19-4.25 to top Kendricks's 19-2.25!
Getnet Wale took the World Lead in the 3000SC with his 8:09.47!
The day before his 19th birthday, GB's Max Burgin won the 800 in 1:44.14, the World Leader!
Another teen, Keely Hodgkinson, took the Women's 2 lapper with her PR of 1:58.89!
She beat Diriba Walteji's 1:59.79!
Johannes Vetter made a play for Athlete of the Year with yet another monster Javelin Throw!
His 309-1 is the Ostrava MR, and gives him the Age 28 Record also!
The fastest Marathon of the year was run by Titus Ikiru of Kenya in Italy.
His 2:02:57 gives him the Age 29 Record, and makes him 5th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Reuben Kipyego's 2:03:55 in 2nd makes him 21st A-T World!
Hiwot Gebrekidan won the Women's race with the first sub-2:20 of the year!
Her 2:19:35 is just 4 seconds removed from my World list!
A pair of Throws meets held annually in Tucson threw out some remarkable marks!
They could be termed twin meets, since basically the same set of athletes compete in both, and they're separated by one day!
In the first, Jorinde van Klinken broke the Netherlands National Record in the DT with her 216-4!
Some still feel Ria Stalman held that record at over 233 feet, but many years after throwing that, she admitted to doping during that period, so the Netherlands federation stripped her of the NR!
This was an 11 foot PR for van Klinken over her recent win in the PAC-12 Conference!
And it made her 2nd A-T Collegiate!
Rachel Dincoff's 211-4 in 2nd makes her 14th A-T US!
A couple of NR's fell in the Women's Hammer Throw!
Lauren Bruce got New Zealand's NR with her 244-9 winner!
Annette Echikenwoke's 242-6 gave her Nigeria's NR!
Ryan Crouser threw what's fast becoming an "average" throw for him--74-1.75!!
He beat Tom Walsh's 71-2.75!
But Ryan decided to put it all out there (Pardon the pun!) in the 2nd meet!
His ginormous 75-6 took him to very intimate contact with the 1 or 2 marks ahead of him!
I say "1 or 2" because Randy Barnes's "WR" of 75-10.25 from 1990 is felt to be drug-induced, and thus illegal!
But it's still listed as the WR, and this blog accepts it!
Ulf Timmermann has the next best mark with his 75-8!
Thus Crouser is ranked 3rd A-T World on my list, and 2nd A-T US!
He does get the Age 28 Record!
Joe Kovacs took 2nd with his 72-3.75!
Darrell Hill (71-9.50), and Tom Walsh (70-4.25) followed!
The Men's Hammer Throw saw some list changes between the two meets!
Daniel Haugh took the opener with 257-11, making him 9th A-T US!
Sean Donnelly reached 253-0!
But in the next meet, those balls and chains really flew!
Rudy Winkler got his out to 267-2, winning by over 7 feet!
But Donnelly PR'ed with a 260-1, making him 6th A-T US!
Haugh's 259-3 makes him 10th A-T US!
Alex Young improved to 252-10, making him 13th A-T US!
And Brock Eager's 248-10 makes him 17th A-T US!
Alex Rose made his last round count, his 6th round DT of 221-4 giving him the National Record of Samoa!
It wasn't a throwing event, but the HJ's gave these meets some added spice!
Shelby McEwen cleared 7-7.75 in the first to make him 21st A-T US, tied with a mere 7 others!
Vashti Cunningham had some company in the 2nd meet, but she prevailed with 6-6.25!
Jelena Rowe PR'ed with 6-5, making her 14th A-T US, tied with 3 others!
Rachel McCoy cleared 6-4 in 3rd!
But the real shocker came from the 21 year old Dutch woman, Jorinde van Klinken!
Remember, she had already PR'ed in the Conference meet with 205 plus!
Then reached 216-4!
And now, she's suddenly the World Leader, her massive 230-4 obliterating her new NR, and the 40 year old Collegiate Record of Meg Ritchie, dating back to 1981.
Ritchie had been around 29 when she set that record!!
Critics say the wind (One described it as a "hurricane"!) made the record cheap!
Bullshit!!
In recent years, only Sandra Perkovic has topped 230 feet!!
We'll have to wait and see whether a "windless" day will limit van Klinken, and by how much!!
But she is now a very serious contender for the podium in Tokyo!!
BTW, she also gets the Junior Class Record!
She's less than two feet removed from my World list!!
In 2nd was another rising star, the former Kansas U Jamaican, Shadae Lawrence!
Her 219-11 gave her Jamaica's NR!
Kelsey Card showed she might be returning to form with her 207-3 in 3rd!
In a meet in Spain, Yulimar Rojas came so close to the WR, many are now saying they're ready to hand it to her!
Her TJ off 50-7.50 (15.43) looked easy in the video I saw!
It gives her the Age 25 Record, breaks her own Venezuela NR, and makes her 2nd A-T World!
Ana Peletier was far back, hitting 46-6 in 3rd!
Unless I'm reporting a HS only meet, I normally wait until the end to mention good HS marks!
But at the New York meet, some HS'ers rose above and beyond!
Sifan Hassan had defeated Nikki Hiltz in the Pro 800, running 2:01.52.
Hiltz was also under 2:02.
But then they had a B race.
Three HS girls ran, trying for a Trials Q time!
There were older women in the race, but kicking hard off the final turn, Roisin Willis galloped to a fantastic 2:00.78, making the Junior 4th A-T HS!
Second went to another HS Junior, Juliette Whittaker, whose 2:01.34 makes her 8th A-T HS!
Sophia Gorriarian--who was seen as the favorite by some among the trio, ended in 5th with a still good 2:02.93!
I'll group the remainder by event, as I've been known to do lately!!
Sprints & Hurdles
Ostrava saw Fred Kerley beat the Super Vet Justin Gatlin in the 100, 9.96 to 10.08 at Ostrava.
Kenny Bednarek is proving very consistently fast, winning Ostrava's 200 in 19.93.
Kirani James took the 400 in 44.74!
In her first ever European race, Sha'Carri Richardson got the Ostrava Meet Record winning in 22.35 over 200 meters!
At the USATF Open in Fort Worth, Allyson Felix showed she still has steam by cruising a 400 in 50.88.
The Age 35 record is 50.14!
Mike Cherry was fast there also, hitting the line in 44.37, his best ever!
At the adidas Boost Games, on an elevated track laid out along Boylston Street in Boston, Isaiah Young won the 100 in 9.94!
In a separate race, HS PRO Erriyon Knighton set HS PRO Records for his 10.16, also getting the HS PRO Soph Class Record!
Races over 150 meters were run, with Jereem Richards and Lynna Irby winning with times of 14.75 and 16.53!
Other times from Boston were--
Jerome Blake taking the straight 200 in 19.89!
Alison Dos Santos taking the 200H in 22.12.
Aleia Hobbs winning the 100 in 11.05!
Grant Holloway cruising to 13.20 in the 110H!
Kendra Harrison running the 100H in 12.49.
And Shaunae Miller-Uibo taking the 200 in 22.08!
Finally, Marileidy Paulino broke her own National Record of the Dominican Republic with her 50.25!
This was in Spain!
Throws
Those meets in Tucson saw a good group of female Americans in the Hammer Throw!
Gwen Berry won it with 251-11.
Brooke Andersen was 2nd with 250-6, followed by DeAnna Price with 248-11.
Janee Kassanavoid reached 247-8, making her 5th A-T US!
Annette Echikenwoke also threw 247-8 in 5th, breaking her own National Record of Nigeria!
Maggie Malone got a Javelin Throw PR with her 209-4.
This makes her 4th A-T US!
Ariana Ince was 2nd with 202-3!
Felip Miheljevic had a SP win in Ostrava with 70-9.75!
The top 2 Polish Women HT'ers are slowly getting in shape.
Malwina Kapron beat Anita Wlodarczyk, 245-2 to 238-7, although Wlodarczyk took just 3rd place!
Christin Hussong had a pair of good meets, reaching first 218-4, then 219-8 in the JT!
Michal Haratyk had a SP of 72-9 in Poland!
Clemens Prufer threw the Discus 221-2 in Germany!
Rudy Winkler preceded his bigger HT (See above!) with a 261-5 in Texas.
Maggie Malone also showed earlier progress, her JT reaching a then-PR of 205-8, which then made her 5th A-T US!
Fedrick Dacres won the DT at the first Tucson meet with 216-3.
Jessica Woodard PR'ed in the SP in Tucson with 62-3-75, making her 17th A-T US!
Woodard also won the other Tucson meet with a lesser toss of 61-10.25!
She beat Jessica Ramsey's 61-1.50!
Curtis Thompson took the JT with his 267-2!
In Austria, Lukas Weidheldinger won the DT with a solid 224-6!
Johannes Vetter had another JT of 305-9 in Germany.
Pawel Fajdek won a HT competition in Spain with a good 267-9!
He beat the 260-11 of Wojcieck Nowicki!
In Germany, Bob Bertemes won a SP with 71-2.75!
Finally, on the HS scene, Katelyn Fairchild threw the Javelin 175-4, making her 9th A-T HS!!
Other News (from my title!)
Marcin Lewandowski won the Ostrava 1500 in 3:35.67!
Saying he would chase the legendary WR of Daniel Komen in the 3000 meters (7:20.67), Josh Cheptegei came up way short, but still winning in 7:33.24!
Paul Chelimo's 7:41.69 took a far back 2nd!
Hughes Zango continues to dominate the Men's TJ, reaching 56-05.25!
(BTW, you probably already know that Christian Taylor will NOT be going to Tokyo, as he's recovering from surgery!)
At the Trials of Miles in NYC, where those HS girls ran those fast times reported above, we also saw the following--
Alexina Wilson PR'ed in the 3000SC, her 9:32.69 ranking her 20th A-T US!
In the 1500, Danielle Aragon won it in 4:07.66!
Mary Cain was entered in that race, but DNS'ed at the last minute!
She'll be doing some commentary for a meet featuring distances this weekend!!
Hoping she'll provide some insight into what's happening with her!
This was the first meet she would have run since the 2020 INdoor season!
That Boston meet held a pair of Road 600's!!
On a straight course!
Winners were Marco Arop in 1:15, and Natoya Goule in a really quick 1:24!
She beat the 1:26's of the Wilson's, Ajee and Allie!!
In Spain, Lemlem Hailu took the 5000 in 15:02.27!
In 2nd was Genzebe Dibaba in her first completed race of 2021.
Her time was 15:09.61!
Okay, my friends, what to say about that Gateshead Diamond League meet?
I will grant you the weather--namely strong winds blowing AGAINST runners during most of the sprint races--was the main reason I'm calling the meet a "fail"!
Readers of this blog over the past 7 years know I'm not a big fan of the entire DL concept!
Running for wins and points (and money!) derail serious attempts at fast times in most cases!
These meets--or many of them--were once highly popular and respected Invitationals!
World Records and other super incredible marks came from those Invites!!
Stands were packed, and top stars begged to be included!
They had a spectacular history!
Then the old IAAF (now WA) got the idea to make this a series of meets in which to gain points towards winning the final ultimate prize!
Bye bye to WR's and list-making marks!
Hello to strategic races!
Field events were also affected, but more from exclusion than less than top tier performances!
The Hammer Throw and the 10000 had to find other venues, other meets!
Suffice to say, I see the failure of the Gateshead DL due more to its very concept than the awful weather!
Would I feel differently if the meet had been held elsewhere, or with better conditions?
Yes and no.
I think the sprints would have seen more normal results!
But the points and wins idea would still prevail!
That said, I'll take a brief look at what DID occur there!
In the most anticipated match-up, Dina Asher-Smith won a loaded Women's 100 in 11.35, AGAINST a wind of 3.1.
She beat Sha'Carri Richardson, who ran 11.44.
One observer said he thought Richardson eased up halfway through, and he thinks she might have felt something amiss!
She later dropped out of the upcoming Doha field!
Sam Kendricks and Mondo Duplantis were limited in the PV to 18-10 and 18-2.50, respectively!
Kenny Bednarek fought against a wind of 3.0 to run the 200 in 20.35!
It didn't affect distance runners as much!
Jakob Ingebrigtsen took the 1500 in 3:36 and change, and Mohamed Katir won the 5000 in 13:08.52!
One DL down, and who cares how many to go!!
Before I go, we need to honor a iconic athlete from over 50 years ago!
Lee Evans died at the age of 74 a few days ago!
He won Gold Medals in the Olympics, set World Record both INdoors and OUTdoors!
His powerful posture took him over dirt and wood tracks faster than anyone before him!
Legendary was his INdoor rivalry over 600 yards with Martin McGrady!
His 43.86 (beating the 43.97 of Larry James) saw the 43's enter the World 400 meter picture in a big way!
He spent many years coaching and living in Nigeria!
He is greatly missed!
See you in a few days with NCAA Regionals results and other goodies!
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