L.J. van Zyl of South Africa and Lashinda Demus of the US set world-best times this year in the 400m hurdles at the Herculis Super Grand Prix on Tuesday.
Van Zyl’s late burst over the final 10m took him past Bershawn Jackson — the 2005 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist last year in Beijing — who looked to be coasting to victory.
Van Zyl won in 47.94 seconds, beating Jackson’s mark of 48.03 set at the US Championships last month.
PHOTO: AP
Three days after breaking her own world-best time for this year at the Crystal Palace meet, Demus improved with 53.63 — a fraction quicker than the 53.65 she ran at the meet in London on Saturday.
Demus had also set a season’s best when she ran 53.78 last month at the US Championships.
Maggie Vessey of the US also set a world-best time for this year in the women’s 800m.
PHOTO: AP
Vessey even surprised herself by clocking 1 minute, 57.84 seconds to beat Russian Anna Alminova’s mark of 1:57.86 set in Cheboksary, Russia, only five days ago.
“I’m usually last, being up there with everyone is really racing,” Vessey told French television after her win in warm temperatures at Stade Louis II.
Vessey’s win was even more unexpected considering she ran 2:00.13 at the Golden Gala in Rome just over two weeks ago, and only 2:01.32 at the US Championships last month.
Less than three weeks ahead of the world championships in Berlin, Croatian high jumper Blanca Vlasic narrowly beat Germany’s Ariane Friedrich. Both passed 2.03m, but Vlasic did so at the second attempt, while Friedrich did so on her third go. Both then failed to pass 2.05m.
Vlasic, the Olympic silver medalist in Beijing, could find it harder when she takes on Friedrich in front of her own fans at the worlds, yet seems to be relishing the challenge.
“I hope they will also have some energy to cheer for me,” Vlasic said. “I’m not worried about that, I have lots of fans in Germany.”
Elsewhere, Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt of the US won the men’s 400m, despite a difficult start.
“I was a little bit restricted at the start,” said Merritt, who was looking ahead to getting a gold medal in Berlin.
“In 2007 I came second, I don’t have a world title under my belt,” said Merritt, who got a silver in the 400m two years ago in Osaka, Japan. “I want that world title.”
World record-holder and Olympic champion Dayron Robles of Cuba won the 110m hurdles, but accepts he still needs some improvement before Berlin.
“All I have to do is keep working hard and things will happen,” Robles told reporters.
Elsewhere, Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women’s 100m in 10.91. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas was second in her season’s best of 10.97. Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica was third in 11.03.
“When you get under 11 seconds it’s always good,” Fraser said. “I’m just happy that I came out here and won against a quality field.”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS