Great Britain return from Budapest after a successful World Championships.
They won 10 medals – the joint highest in their history and level with the medal haul from Stuttgart in 1993 – and, here, the PA news agency looks at the talking points.
Britain’s golden girl
It was a true comeback story for Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who has been beset by injury problems since winning her first heptathlon title in 2019.
She was a strong medal contender but all the pre-Championships talk was about how Anna Hall would ease to victory, with defending champion Nafi Thiam out. Yet Johnson-Thompson never let the American, hampered by a knee problem, out of her sight – setting two personal bests – to reclaim her crown, proving her fight and quality a year out from the Paris Olympics.
Zharnel Hughes caps a successful summer
A bronze in the 100 metres was Hughes’ big moment and underlines his progress in a summer where he broke the long-standing 100m and 200m British records. He remained positive after fourth in the 200m but was clearly frustrated following another fourth in the 4x100m relay. Performance director Stephen Maguire knows the 28-year-old must now grasp his chance after his global breakthrough.
Agony for Asher-Smith
Dina Asher-Smith believed she was in PB shape, at least in the 100m, but a neural problem ultimately ended her medal hopes. A disappointing eighth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m saw her leave the Championships empty-handed having not run in the relay either. With women’s sprinting perhaps the best it has ever been, Asher-Smith will hope to resolve any issue quickly or lose vital momentum ahead of the Olympics.
Keely faces more battles ahead
The 21-year-old will be getting fed up of hearing other anthems while she stands on the podium. Silver at the Olympics, Commonwealths and now two second places at the World Championships will add fuel to the fire ahead of the 800m at the Paris Games. New champion Mary Moraa, Athing Mu – who won last year – and Hodgkinson will continue to battle it out in their fascinating competition.
King Kerr
View this post on Instagram
Josh Kerr continued the British domination of Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m as he emulated Jake Wightman’s win in Eugene last year. It sets up a mouth-watering clash in Paris next year between the two Edinburgh AC club mates and the defending Olympic champion. World Athletics president Seb Coe – a double 1500m Olympic champion – labelled Kerr’s win his best moment of the Championships.
Shericka Jackson returns to winning ways at Stockholm Diamond League: McMaster, Clayton runners-up in 400m hurdles
Shericka Jackson returned to winning ways at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday, triumphing in the 200m with a season’s best time of 22.69 seconds. This victory marked a significant rebound for the two-time world champion, who had finished fifth in Oslo last Thursday.
Jackson exploded out of the blocks and maintained her lead through the curve, holding off a strong challenge from Sweden’s Julia Henriksson, who set a personal best of 22.89 for second place. Amy Hunt finished third in 22.92.
Several other Caribbean athletes also delivered commendable performances. Rushell Clayton, previously unbeaten in the Diamond League this season, finished second in the women’s 400m hurdles. World champion Femke Bol opened her season with a dominant 53.07 for victory, with Clayton clocking 53.78. Fellow Jamaican Andrennette Knight set a season’s best of 54.62 to secure third place, and Commonwealth Games champion Janieve Russell was fourth in 54.99, also a season’s best.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands ran a season’s best of 48.05, finishing second to Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, who continued his impressive form with a commanding 47.01 win. Dos Santos, who recently defeated world record holder Karsten Warholm in Oslo, expressed his satisfaction with his performance, saying, “It was a good race - 47.01. I think we are just proving that we are in good shape. I am excited for this result back-to-back and I am also looking forward to coming back to the training right now. I am going back to Florida now, will talk to my coach and will work on what I need to work on.”
McMaster, reflecting on his race, noted his progress despite recent challenges. “I did not feel much during the race and just tried to stay focused and execute. I am catching up. I have been battling some injuries when coming up to the season so I am just trying to execute and stay healthy. I still have got a few more races,” he said. “I have been dropping my times every race so I just need to improve on that.”
In the triple jump, Shanieka Ricketts secured second place with a jump of 14.40m. Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez won with a leap of 14.67m, and Thea LaFond of Dominica took third with 14.26m. Ricketts decided to skip her last three jumps as a precaution, citing the breezy conditions. “It was a little bit breezy out there this afternoon so I decided to forego my second three jumps as I did not want to risk anything,” she explained. “I need to go back to training now and work on a few things from today that did not go quite to plan. I was confident going into today but there were a few technical bits for me to sort out. I felt a bit rusty today but I am sure it will come together in time for Paris.”
Hibbert produces world leading 17.75m to take top spot at Racers Grand Prix
World Under-20 record holder Jaydon Hibbert produced a world leading 17.75m to win the triple jump at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hibbert opened his competition with 16.45m in the first round before going out to 17.14m in the second round, giving the National Stadium crowd a sign of things to come.
The third round saw him produce a then-meet record of 17.30m before, in round four, he produced a stadium record and world leading 17.75m to secure the victory.
O’Brien Wasome produced 16.64m for second while Jordan Scott was third with 16.06m.
“I was satisfied with the third and fourth jump of the series,” Hibbert said after the competition.
Seville outduels Lyles to claim 100m title at Racers Grand Prix; Alfred runs personal best to claim title in women’s equivalent
Oblique Seville and Julien Alfred produced a pair of scintillating performances to claim the 100m titles at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Seville produced a personal best and world leading 9.82 to claim the men’s race ahead of American World champion Noah Lyles and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala.
Lyles’s time in second was a season’s best 9.85 while Omanyala ran 10.02 in third.
“I came out here in front of my Jamaican fans looking for a personal best and to get it today means a lot to me,” Seville said after the race.
“I just came out here to deliver. You’re always going to have ups and downs with the wind but you just have to run through it,” he added.
“As long as I’m healthy, expect good things,” was Seville’s response when asked about what fans can expect from him at Jamaica’s Olympic trials set for June 27-30.
In the women’s equivalent, St. Lucian World Indoor champion Julien Alfred sped to a personal best and meet record 10.78 to win ahead of Krystal Sloley who broke 11 seconds for the first time with 10.99 in second and Shashalee Forbes who ran a season’s best 11.05 in third.
Alfred says she didn’t expect to run that fast.
“I wanted to come out here and just work on execution. I didn’t expect that time and that’s why I was smiling so much,” she said.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
