There are 5,766 miles between Gateshead and Tokyo, and while the Japanese capital might have seemed like a million miles away at times in the biting cold, the wicked wind and the driving rain in the inclement north-east of England, the Wanda Diamond League season opener produced no shortage of thrills, spills and surprises to whet the appetite for those delayed 2020 Olympics.<\/p>\n
On an evening when Mondo Duplantis sampled the rare taste of pole vault defeat, Mariya Lasitskene finished out of the top three in the women\u2019s high jump, and the innovate field event last-round top three shoot-outs produced some truly gripping drama, no-one devoured the opportunity to lay down a marker with greater relish than Dina Asher-Smith.<\/p>\n
At the pre-meeting press conference on Saturday, the world 200m champion told the world she was \u201cmuch, much stronger,\u201d having taken advantage of lockdown to put in some serious graft. That new-found strength was clear for the 2,000 home crowd to see as the 25-year-old Briton powered out of the blocks in the loaded 100m final and surged clear of the hitherto-burgeoning US speed queen Sha\u2019Carri Richardson.<\/p>\n
Richardson arrived in Gateshead on the back of a trio of early-season sub-10.80 clockings back home but the 21-year-old could do nothing to stop Asher-Smith. The winning time, 11.35, was irrelevant, with the rain hammering down and, more pertinently, the trackside wind gauge reading -3.1m\/s.<\/p>\n
The gap, 0.09, was more telling, with Richardson the runner up in 11.44, Ivorian world bronze medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou third in 11.48 and Jamaica\u2019s three-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce fourth in 11.51.<\/p>\n
It was Richardson\u2019s first 100m defeat since the US Championships in 2019. Not that Asher-Smith, who won her heat in 11.45 into an even stronger headwind (-4.4m\/s), was talking up the significance of her victory, with 79 days still to go before the women\u2019s 100m final in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, all in all, today was more of an experience,\u201d said the history graduate, who took world 100m silver behind Fraser-Pryce in 2019. \u201cThe only thing that can indicate Tokyo is the final itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really good. Conditions were far from ideal for sprinting but the most important thing is to come away with a good result and I\u2019m very happy to do that. I want to stay focused, do well and get better from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richardson, who won her heat in 11.52 (-4.2 m\/s), was far from despondent after her first Diamond League experience in Europe. \u201cI\u2019m happy with my race,\u201d she said. \u201cI need to go back and work on what I need to get better at.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis won\u2019t be the last time that I\u2019m going to line up against these ladies and I want the world to know and the ladies to know that I\u2019m here to compete just as well as they\u2019ve done for many years. I\u2019m here to show them what I\u2019m good at.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely looking forward to some sunshine next week in Doha.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leg two of the Wanda Diamond League season in Qatar next Friday (28) is unlikely to produce the kind of snapshots that warmed the cockles of those watching the men\u2019s pole vault.<\/p>\n
While falling to defeat for the first time since the 2019 world final in Doha, Duplantis found the time and the goodness of heart to stand on the runway holding an umbrella to shelter Sam Kendricks from the elements. In return, the US vaulter who beat the future world record-breaker to the global title two years ago, ended the Swede\u2019s winning streak of 23 competitions.<\/p>\n
After first time successes at 5.30m and 5.55m, Duplantis could go no higher, failing twice at 5.74m and once in what proved to be the last chance saloon of 5.80m. Kendricks nailed the victory with a second time clearance at 5.74m, Britain\u2019s Harry Coppell taking third with 5.45m.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the most fun I have had all year!\u201d beamed Kendricks. \u201cYou had people; you had rainy conditions; and we all had a good old rousing time out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven’t beaten Mondo since the World Championships but I would never aspire to say we are on an even footing. He is on another level but perhaps the conditions brought us to the same level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need to be consistent, and to be consistent on a rainy day as I am on a sunny day. That may be my only chance but he is too good, too talented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duplantis was philosophical in defeat. \u201cThe conditions weren\u2019t ideal but what can you do about it?\u201d he shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m ok. I\u2019m healthy. That\u2019s the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seventh place in Dessau on Thursday had already rained on Lasitskene\u2019s 20-month unbeaten parade but the three-time world champion was also out of sorts in the Gateshead rain. She dislodged the bar with her opening effort, at 1.84m, while dressed for the occasion with beanie hat, gloves and tights.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old had to settle for fourth place with 1.88m, an 8cm improvement on Dessau at least, while Poland\u2019s 2017 world bronze medallist Kamila Licwinko prevailed with 1.91m, on countback from Britons Emily Borthwick and Morgan Lake. World silver medallist Yaroslava Makuchikh was a non-starter, while her Ukrainian rival Yuilya Levchenko finished down in ninth with 1.84m.<\/p>\n
The decision to trial a sixth-round decider for the top three in the horizontal jumps and throws helped to distill the drama into a shoot-out style showcase.<\/p>\n
Tajay Gayle boasted the best mark from the first five rounds of the men\u2019s long jump (8.00m, 2.00m\/s) but the Jamaican world champion found himself eclipsed by two inspired rivals when it came to the crunch.<\/p>\n
Jumping first, Spaniard Eusebio Caceres sailed out to 8.04m (1.4m\/s) but that was trumped by a 8.11m (2.8m\/s) effort by Filippo Randazzo, Italy\u2019s European U23 silver medallist. Jumping last, Gayle had to settle for third with 7.91m.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d said Randazzo. \u201cI was very close to my personal best, 8.12m. In this wind, 8.11m is a good jump.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s shot, none of the final three could manage to save their best for last but the \u201cputt-off\u201d was still a compelling affair. Throwing last, having thrown 19.08m in round four, Portugal\u2019s Auriol Dongmo secured victory with 18.16m.<\/p>\n
The European indoor champion prevailed by just 4cm from Jamaica\u2019s world silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd, with Maggie Ewen of the US third with 16.96m. All three had better performances in the earlier rounds: Dongmo 19.08m, Thomas-Dodd 18.46m and Ewen 18.54m.<\/p>\n
The format also applied in the men\u2019s javelin, Poland\u2019s Marcin Krukowski taking first place with 81.18m from 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (73.31m), and the women\u2019s triple jump, Jamaica\u2019s Shanieka Ricketts securing victory with 14.29m.<\/p>\n
On the track, aside from Asher-Smith in the women\u2019s 100m, the stand-out performances came in the two 1500m races.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s event, European record-holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen was in assured form on his season\u2019s debut, upping the pace when he needed to when the in-form Australian Ollie Hoare attempted to apply some pressure off the final bend. The Norwegian\u2019s winning time was 3:36.27, with Hoare second in 3.37.32 and fellow Aussie Stewart McSweyn third in 3.37.32.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is normal weather back in the west coast of Norway,\u201d said Ingebrigtsen. \u201cIt\u2019s really tricky to run fast in these conditions and it turned out to be a tactical race.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday really didn\u2019t have anything to do with the times, racing in these conditions, because all of a sudden if you get a sudden gust of wind then everything is ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s race, Britain\u2019s European champion Laura Muir left her nominal rivals floundering in her wake with a surge from 440m out that took her home in 4:03.73, exactly four seconds ahead of Moroccan runner-up Rababe Arafi.<\/p>\n
“I’m really, really pleased,” she said. “I just wanted to sit in and use my strength over the last half, which I did. I felt really strong.”<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s 5000m might have lacked strength in depth but the race still proved to be a cracker, Nicholas Kimeli and Mohamed Katir slugging out a good old rousing duel, as Sam Kendricks might put it. Katir missed out on a medal at the European Indoor Championships in March, finishing fourth in the 3000m, but the Spaniard got the better of the Kenyan who paced half of Joshua Cheptegei\u2019s 10,000m world record last year \u2013 13:08.52 to 13:10.11.<\/p>\n
Kimeli\u2019s compatriot Leonard Bett also had to settle for second place, losing out in 8:31.52 in the 3000m steeplechase to the Kenyan-born Hillary Bor, now of the United States (8:30.22).<\/p>\n
At the sharper end, there was success for US sprinters Kenny Bednarek over 200m \u2013 in 20.33 from Canadians Aaron Brown (20.79) and Andre De Grasse (20.85) \u2013 and Kendall Ellis in the women\u2019s 400m (51.86)<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s European indoor silver medallist Cindy Sember prevailed in the 100m hurdles, running 13.28 into a -3.9m\/s headwind, while Olympic silver medallist Sara Slott Petersen won the non-Diamond League 400m hurdles in 56.33.<\/p>\n
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics and the Wanda Diamond League<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 100m title holder Dina Asher-Smith stormed to victory at the 2021 Wanda Diamond League season...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,450,327,6,692,413,624],"city":[],"class_list":["post-2338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-100m","tag-asher-smith","tag-athletics","tag-diamond-league","tag-gateshead","tag-kendricks","tag-wanda"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2338"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondleague.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=2338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}