Sarah Mitton and Khaleb McRae are among the athletes who will head to the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on a winning note after clinching victory at the final World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of the season in Beijing on Sunday (7).
Canada’s Mitton achieved the two best marks in the shot put contest – 19.81m and 19.72m – and that saw the two-time world champion win ahead of Sweden’s Fanny Roos and China’s Zhang Linru, who will also compete in Tokyo.
The field featured a total of five Tokyo-bound athletes and both Roos and Zhang joined Mitton in surpassing 19 metres, respectively throwing 19.35m and 19.05m, as New Zealand’s Olympic silver medallist Maddison-Lee Wesche finished fourth on 18.79m.
USA’s McRae also clinched a confidence-boosting win, holding off his compatriot Bryce Deadmon in the 400m – 44.64 to 44.78. Dylan Borlee was third in 45.15.
Japan’s Tatsuki Abe will not be racing at his home World Championships but he closed his Continental Tour Gold campaign in style, dipping to victory by just 0.01 in the 110m hurdles. The World University Games champion clocked 13.22 (1.0m/s) to beat China’s Xu Zhuoyi (13.23) in a photo finish.
Irish record-holder Mark English was among the meeting record-breakers as he won the 800m in 1:44.67 as he prepares for Tokyo. He will be joined there by Spain’s Pablo Sanchez-Valladares, who finished second this time in 1:44.79, just ahead of Kenya’s two-time Commonwealth champion Wyclife Kinyamal in 1:44.86.
Hungary’s Anna Toth finished strongly to take the 100m hurdles in 12.83 (0.6m/s) – a victory in her final race before the World Championships. USA’s Rayniah Jones was second in 13.00.
Oman’s Ali Al Balushi ran a PB of 10.09 (0.5m/s) to deny USA’s Brandon Hicklin (10.12) and Canada’s Andre De Grasse in the men’s 100m – the latter clocking 10.16 in his first race since June. The women’s race was won by USA’s Maia McCoy as she clocked 11.20 (0.1m/s) and held off Liberia’s Destiny Smith-Barnett (11.28).
Finland’s Kristiina Halonen ran a well-judged race to overtake China’s Kong Yingying down the home straight and win the 400m hurdles in 55.46. Kong responded with a late surge and although it wasn’t quite enough to beat the Tokyo-bound Halonen, she did achieve a PB of 55.54 for the runner-up spot.
China’s Asian indoor champion Zhong Tao won the pole vault on countback in front of a home crowd, equalling his PB with 5.75m – his best ever outdoor clearance – to clinch top spot ahead of USA’s Cole Walsh. World silver medallist Ernest John Obiena and Huang Bokai shared third place after they both cleared a best of 5.65m.
China’s world U20 record-holder Yan Ziyi topped the javelin with her first throw of the competition – 64.46m – to win by more than two metres ahead of her compatriot Su Lingdan, the Tokyo-bound Asian champion who threw 62.39m in the final round.
USA’s Helen Schlachtenhaufen was in control as she won the 1500m in 4:06.95. The bigger battle was for the runner-up spot and that was won by Christina Aragon as she dipped for second place in 4:07.20 ahead of the French duo of Adele Gay (4:07.21) and Berenice Cleyet-Merle (4:07.24).
China’s long-time leader Liang Tiantian held off a late charge by Great Britain’s Eloise Walker in the 3000m, responding to Walker’s attack down the home straight and kicking to victory in a big PB of 8:57.65 in her first outdoor race over the distance. Walker was second in 8:58.02 and her compatriot Cari Hughes was third in 9:00.49.
A close long jump contest closed the meeting – Croatia’s Filip Pravdica and Norway’s Henrik Flatnes both jumping 7.88m but Pravdica taking the victory thanks to his superior second-best leap.
China’s Li Jialu won the high jump on countback with a 2.20m clearance.
Results