Canada's Camryn Rogers sets Diamond League hammer throw record
Canadian hammer thrower Camryn Rogers set a Dia‐ mond League record Satur‐ day with a 77.76-metre heave at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.
The reigning world cham‐ pion finished ahead of her two American competitors.
DeAnna Price placed sec‐ ond with a throw of 76.74, while Brooke Andersen was third with a toss of 76.34.
Saturday marks Rogers's third competition of the sea‐ son. She placed third a week ago at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, site of her Cana‐ dian record and 2023 season best of 78.62.
Rogers achieved the 74.00 entry standard for this sum‐ mer's Paris Olympics the day after the July 1, 2023 qualify‐ ing window opened with a winning throw of 76.95 at the Edmonton Athletics Invita‐ tional
She capped a nine-win season (12 events) with world championship gold in Bu‐ dapest, Hungary, defeating Janee' Kassanavoid and fel‐ low American Price.
Richardson explodes off blocks
With the U.S. Olympic tri‐ als set for next month, world champion Sha'Carri Richard‐ son underlined her claim as favourite for the women's 100m, exploding off the blocks to finish in 10.83.
Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred finished a tenth of a second slower with Briton Dina Asher-Smith third in 10.98.
Richardson's Jamaican ri‐ val Elaine Thompson-Herah, who completed a second successive Olympic sprint double in Tokyo, finished last in 11.30.
But the spotlight was on the battle between Richard‐ son, the 2023 world champi‐ on, and Thompson-Herah, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in both the 100 and 200m.
Thompson-Herah faded at the Pre, finishing last in the field of nine. The charismatic Richardson, wearing her long hair tied back in a ponytail, muscled her way to the finish and dramatically pushed off the tape remnants.
After crouching for a mo‐ ment while her time was an‐ nounced, Richardson rose to give the crowd at Hayward field a smile and a wave. Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia finished second in 10.93.
"I feel like I'm continuing to grow and develop into a mature young lady, a mature athlete, as well as a vessel that I am put on earth to con‐ tinue to grow," Richardson said.
Richardson will get her shot at a spot on the U.S. team for Paris at the Olympic trials next month in Eugene. She was denied a chance to run in the Tokyo Games be‐ cause of a positive drug test for marijuana following her first-place finish in the 100 at the trials.
Richardson fell to ninth in the 100 at the 2021 Pre‐ fontaine, her first competi‐ tion following the Olympics disappointment. She did not qualify for the world champi‐ onships at Hayward Field in 2022.
But since then, she has steadily made a comeback. In 2023, she won her first Dia‐ mond League event in Doha. Then she blazed to a title in the U.S. national champi‐ onships before winning the gold medal at the worlds in Budapest.
Asked if she would race again before the Olympic tri‐ als, she said: "We'll see. Watch."
WATCH | Richardson cruises to 100m win:
In the men's 200m final, Americans swept the topthree spots.
Kenneth Bednarek won the race in 19.89 seconds, followed by Courtney Lindsey (20.09) and Kyle King (20.15). Toronto's Aaron Brown fin‐ ished sixth in 20.47.
WATCH | Bednarek claims 200m race, Brown 6th:
Meanwhile, American Christian Coleman won the men's 100m race with a sec‐ ond's best 9.95. Kenya's Fer‐ dinand Omanyala placed sec‐ ond at 9.98, followed by American Brandon Hicklin at 10.08.
"I feel good. I feel like I'm in the best shape I've ever been in and I feel like now it's just mentally putting it all to‐ gether and doing what I know I'm capable of on race day," Coleman said.
WATCH | Christian Cole‐ man has season-best 100metres:
Kingston, Ont., native Jilli‐ an Weir, who now lives in Lethbridge, Alta. finished eighth with her best throw coming at 66.94.
In other action, Anicka Newell, from Saskatoon placed fifth in women's pole vault. Peruth Chemutai was victorious in the women's 3,000m steeplechase final, which Vancouver's Regan Yee placing 14th.
WATCH | Chemutai wins 3,000m steeplechase:
Chebet sets record in 10,000m
Beatrice Chebet of Kenya set a world record in the 10,000 metres at the Pre‐ fontaine Classic meet on Sat‐ urday, finishing in 28 min‐ utes, 54.14 seconds.
Chebet bested the previ‐ ous record of 29.01.03 set by Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey at FBK Stadium in the Netherlands on June 8, 2021.
Chebet finished ahead of Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, who finished in 29:05.92 in cloudy and cool tempera‐ tures at Eugene's Hayward Field.
Chebet started to pull away with three laps to go, then poured herself into the final lap.
"My body was responding good and I felt strong," she said. "I felt like I was very comfortable."
It was her first 10,000 race since 2020 in Nairobi.
Chebet, 24, won the silver medal at the 5,000 meters at the world championships at Hayward Field in 2022. She won the bronze in the event world at the worlds last year in Bu‐ dapest.
The finish qualified her for her first Olympics this sum‐ mer in Paris. She said Satur‐ day she hopes to double in the 5,000 and 10,000.
"But my target is to run 5,000 first, then 10,000 comes second," she said. "Because this is my first 10,000 outside the country to run, and I'm so happy to run 28, a world record."
Kerr wins men's mile
The men's mile served up the biggest drama of the day as Kerr faced Norwegian In‐ gebrigtsen for the first time since he stunned the Olympic champion to win the 1,500 meters world title in Budapest.
Kerr pulled away from the pack with 600m to go but had Ingebrigtsen hot on his heels through the final stretch.
Ingebrigtsen, twice world champion over 5,000 meters, tried to find another gear but could not get past Kerr who crossed the line in a national record time of 3:45.34.
WATCH | Kerr wins Bow‐ erman Mile with nationalrecord time:
Making his season debut after missing eight months due to an Achilles injury, In‐ gebrigtsen finished in 3:45.60 with American Yared Nuguse third.
"These guys I'm racing against are going to get bet‐ ter and better each month, and I need to do the same to try and stay ahead," said Kerr.
"I've got into this position because of hard work and determination and the right staff around me and I'm going to stick to doing that for the rest of the season."
Diamond League calen‐ dar
Oslo, Norway - May 30 Stockholm - June 2 Paris - July 7 Monaco - July 12 London - July 20 Lau‐ sanne, Switzerland Aug. 22 Silesia, Poland Aug. 25 Rome - Aug. 30 Zurich - Sept. 5 Brussels (DL Final) - Sept. 13-14