World champion Asbel Kiprop’s relentless pace proved too much for his rivals, including Mo Farah, as the Kenyan clocked the fastest 1,500m time since 2004 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting on Friday.
With the world championships in Moscow just over three weeks away, world leads and minor records were set with seeming abandon at the Stade Louis II.
Kiprop pulled ahead of the field shortly before the bell and raced away to win in three minutes, 27.72 seconds.
Britain’s Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion Farah said before the event that he was dropping down to the shorter distance to work on his speed and the move paid off as he went round in a European record of 3:28.81.
Justin Gatlin won the men’s 100m, which was run against the backdrop of revelations that leading sprinters Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell had failed dope tests.
American Gatlin, who served a four-year doping ban from 2006, got a great start and won in 9.94 seconds, in a race missing world-record holder Usain Bolt
Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast put herself in the mix for the world 200m title after blasting out of the blocks and holding off American Tiffany Townsend and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce for victory in 22.24.
Farah would have watched the 5,000m, for which he is world champion, with interest as Kenyan Edwin Soi ran the fastest time of the year, 12:51.34, to win
Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson is still a way off her best after returning from a hamstring injury last month.
The Australian faded badly over the last three hurdles to finish fifth behind American Queen Harrison who won in 12.64.
Olympic silver medallist Brigetta Barrett treated the crowd to a dance routine after clearing 2.01 first time in the high jump which was enough for victory.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB