OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC, May 19 — Joshua Cheptegei had generated the lion’s share of premeet publicity at the 60th Golden Spike meet, but after his 3000 WR attempt fell far short he didn’t even end up as the best Ugandan of the night.
That honor went to Jacob Kiplimo, who cruised through cool (60F/16C) and wet conditions at Europe’s first Continental Tour Gold stop of the year while whacking 53-odd seconds off his 10,000 PR in taking the yearly world list and moving to No. 7 on the all-time charts.
And the 20-year-old phenom did part of it the hard way, wearing old-school spikes en route to his 26:33.93, although the pacing lights were definitely cutting-edge. Starting out behind three rabbits, Kiplimo kept his eyes on the trackside illumination, tuned to flash red where the rabbits should be and green for the half-marathon world champ. By 5000 (13:27.43), he had set out on his own. His last 5K took only 13:06.50, a negative split of just over 20 seconds. Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew finished 2nd in a national record 27:07.49.
“The weather was good, everything worked well,” Kiplimo said. “I was not expecting such a time; I was hoping for something in less than 27:00.”
When asked by Irish writer Cathal Dennehy why he was wearing Nike Mambas instead of carbon-fiber super-spikes, he said, “It’s not comfortable for me, but maybe in the Olympics I will use it.”
Cheptegei set off with a planned attempt on the legendary 3000 WR of 7:20.67 set by Daniel Komen in ’96. Towed by Aussie Stewart McSweyn through 2K, he started ambitiously, hitting the first kilo in 2:26.41 (Komen had hit 2:26.5) but by the second at 4:56.19, well off Komen’s 4:53.4. He finished in 7:33.24, notching a yearly outdoor leader for his troubles.
Germany’s Johannes Vetter put on another show in the javelin, opening with a massive 309-1 (94.20), the No. 9 throw in history. His second attempt also surpassed the 90m barrier, landing at 299-7 (91.33). After a round 3 foul, the rest of his efforts landed in the 290 range (from 88.45-88.53). Any of them would have been enough to top runner-up Anderson Peters of Grenada (273-783.39).
Another world leader fell to Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale in the steeple. The only man who followed the rabbit, he reportedly aimed for sub-8:00 but was never on pace. His 8:09.76 still topped the field by more than 10 seconds.
In the men’s 800 19-year-old Max Burgin didn’t hesitate to follow the rabbit through a 50.20 first lap and then he pressed his advantage, building a lead of 20m on the backstretch and staying well ahead of the charging hordes to clock an outdoor-leading 1:44.14, a new British Junior Record.
Though the weather dampened the sprints, the matchups were significant. In the men’s 100, quartermiler Fred Kerley lined up against Justin Gatlin and Andre De Grasse and soundly beat the dash specialists in confirming his newfound straightaway speed. Getting the best reaction time (0.129), he transitioned well and couldn’t be matched for top speed. He crossed in 9.96 with a 1.4 breeze. Gatlin (10.08) and De Grasse (10.17) trailed.
After that dash, Kerley was the man to watch in the 200, but Kenny Bednarek never saw him. Wearing his trademark white headband in lane 7, Bednarek produced a sterling turn and made a huge lead even bigger on the homestretch, beating Kerley 19.93–20.27 into a 0.6 headwind.
Though the womens’ furlong was packed with luminaries, Sha’Carri Richardson found herself the center of attention in her European debut. The 21-year-old world leader in the 100 hit high speed on the turn, veering to the outside edge of her lane and struggling to stay inside. On the straight she recovered and ran away, hitting the finish in 22.35 to the 22.59 of Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare, with Swiss Mujinga Kambundji catching Dafne Schippers, 22.85–22.91, into a 1.1 wind.
“I wanted to shout out to the world that my bark may be loud but my actions and my bite are even louder,” the winner said.
OSTRAVA MEN’S RESULTS
(cool & wet)
100(1.4): 1. Fred Kerley (US) 9.96; 2. Justin Gatlin (US) 10.08; 3. André De Grasse (Can) 10.17; 4. Silvan Wicki (Swi) 10.28; 5. Ján Volko (Svk) 10.31; 6. Jan Veleba (CzR) 10.38.
200(-0.6): 1. Kenny Bednarek (US) 19.93; 2. Kerley 20.27; 3. Aaron Brown (Can) 20.40; 4. William Reais (Swi) 20.69; 5. Volko 20.77.
400: 1. Kirani James (Grn) 44.74; 2. Vernon Norwood (US) 45.28; 3. Jochem Dobber (Neth) 45.30 PR; 4. Edoardo Scotti (Ita) 45.73; 5. Liemarvin Bonevacia (Neth) 46.18; 6. Pavel Maslák (CzR) 46.52.
800: 1. Max Burgin (GB) 1:44.14 NJR (out WL);
2. Tony Van Diepen (Neth) 1:45.36; 3. Jake Wightman (GB) 1:45.47; 4. Mateusz Borkowski (Pol) 1:45.74; 5. Patryk Dobek (Pol) 1:45.88 PR; 6. Saúl Ordóñez (Spa) 1:46.23; 7. John Fitzsimons (Ire) 1:46.62 PR; 8. Amel Tuka (Bih) 1:46.64; 9. Filip Šnejdr (CzR) 1:46.68; 10. Adam Kszczot (Pol) 1:47.49.
1500: 1. Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) 3:35.57; 2. Jesús Gómez (Spa) 3:35.70; 3. Samuel Abate (Eth) 3:36.32 =PR; 4. Ignacio Fontes (Spa) 3:36.48; 5. Charles Grethen (Lux) 3:36.75 NR; 6. István Szögi (Hun) 3:36.83; 7. Ismael Debjani (Bel) 3:36.86; 8. Michał Rozmys (Pol) 3:37.10; 9. Filip Sasínek (CzR) 3:37.21; 10. Luke McCann (Ire) 3:37.77 PR; 11. Alexis Miellet (Fra) 3:38.15; 12. Jakub Holuša (CzR) 3:38.19.
3000: 1. Joshua Cheptegei (Uga) 7:33.24 PR (out WL) (2:26.41, 2:29.78 [4:56.19], 2:37.05);
2. Paul Chelimo (US) 7:41.69; 3. Oscar Chelimo (Uga) 7:43.00 PR; 4. Seán Tobin (Ire) 7:49.37; 5. Isaac Kimeli (Bel) 7:49.47; 6. Andreas Vojta (Aut) 7:49.75 PR.
St: 1. Getnet Wale (Eth) 8:09.47 (WL);
2. Phil Norman (GB) 8:20.12 PR; 3. Osama Zoghlami (Ita) 8:20.29 PR; 4. Daniel Arce (Spa) 8:21.53; 5. Ahmed Abdelwahed (Ita) 8:21.54 PR; 6. Boniface Abel Sikowo (Uga) 8:28.91.
10,000: 1. Jacob Kiplimo (Uga—20) 26:33.93 (WL) (7, 12 W) (13:27.32/13:06.50);
2. Birhanu Balew (Brn) 27:07.49 NR; 3. Iliass Aouani (Ita) 27:45.81 PR; 4. Juan Antonio Pérez (Spa) 27:46.08 PR; 5. Mehdi Frere (Fra) 28:09.68; 6. Abdallah Mande (Uga) 28:20.91.
400H: 1. Yasmani Copello (Tur) 49.21; 2. Alessandro Sibilio (Ita) 49.62; 3. Máté Koroknai (Hun) 49.70 PR; 4. Ramsey Angela (Neth) 50.14; 5. Martin Kučera (Svk) 50.47; 6. Martin Tuček (CzR) 50.77; 7. Dai Greene (GB) 51.66.
4 x 100: 1. Switzerland 39.08; 2. Czech Republic 39.12.
Field Events
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 19-4¼ (5.90) (18-½ [2], 18-8¼ [2], 19-2¼ [xpp], 19-4¼, 19-6¼ [xpp], 19-8¼ [xx]) (5.50 [2], 5.70 [2], 5.85 [xpp], 5.90, 5.95 [xpp], 6.00 [xx]); 2. Sam Kendricks (US) 19-2¼ (5.85); 3. Valentin Lavillenie (Fra) 18-4½ (5.60); 4. Adrian Valles (Spa) 18-½ (5.50); 5. Ethan Cormont (Fra) 17-8½ (5.40).
LJ: 1. Augustin Bey (Fra) 26-3¾ (8.02); 2. Benjamin Gföhler (Swi) 25-4½ (7.73); 3. Radek Juška (CzR) 25-0 (7.62); 4. Fabian Heinle (Ger) 24-11¼ (7.60); 5. Gabriel Bitan (Rou) 24-6½ (7.48).
TJ: 1. Hugues Fabrice Zango (Bur) 56-5¼ (17.20); 2. Max Heß (Ger) 55-8¼ (16.97); 3. Melvin Raffin (Fra) 54-10 (16.71); 4. Jean-Marc Pontvianne (Fra) 53-8½ (16.37); 5. Christian Taylor (US) 53-8¼ (16.36).
SP: 1. Filip Mihaljević (Cro) 70-9¾ (21.58); 2. Michał Haratyk (Pol) 69-10¾ (21.30); 3. Wictor Petersson (Swe) 68-7 (20.90); 4. Tomáš Staněk (CzR) 65-11¾ (20.11); 5. Mesud Pezer (Bih) 65-7¾ (20.01); 6. Konrad Bukowiecki (Pol) 65-1¼ (19.84); 7. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 62-5¾ (19.04).
JT: 1. Johannes Vetter (Ger) 309-1 (94.20) (WL) (x, 9 W) (299-7, p, 309-1, 290-5, 290-3, 290-2) (91.33, p, 94.20, 88.53, 88.47, 88.45);
2. Anderson Peters (Grn) 273-7 (83.39); 3. Keshorn Walcott (Tto) 271-6 (82.75); 4. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 270-0 (82.31);
5. Vítězslav Veselý (CzR) 257-7 (78.52); 6. Martin Florian (CzR) 240-2 (73.21); 7. Petr Frydrych (CzR) 233-5 (71.14).
OSTRAVA WOMEN’S RESULTS
200(-1.1): 1. Sha’Carri Richardson (US) 22.35; 2. Blessing Okagbare (Ngr) 22.59; 3. Mujinga Kambundji (Swi) 22.85; 4. Dafne Schippers (Neth) 22.91.
800: 1. Keely Hodgkinson (GB) 1:58.89 PR; 2. Diribe Welteji (Eth) 1:59.79; 3. Lovisa Lindh (Swe) 2:01.10; 4. Lore Hoffmann (Swi) 2:02.48; 5. Hedda Hynne (Nor) 2:02.48; 6. Nadia Power (Ire) 2:02.72; 7. Noélie Yarigo (Ben) 2:02.99.
1500: 1. Freweyni Hailu (Eth) 4:04.20 PR; 2. Maruša Mišmaš-Zrimšek (Slo) 4:07.50; 3. Hirut Meshesha (Eth) 4:07.52; 4. Gaia Sabbatini (Ita) 4:08.14 PR.
400H: 1. Jessie Knight (GB) 54.74 PR; 2. Anna Ryzhykova (Ukr) 55.09; 3. Sara Slott Petersen (Den) 55.76; 4. Emma Zapletalová (Svk) 55.83; 5. Linda Olivieri (Ita) 56.48.
Field Events
HT: 1. Malwina Kopron (Pol) 245-2 (74.74); 2. Alexandra Tavernier (Fra) 240-6 (73.30); 3. Anita Włodarczyk (Pol) 238-7 (72.72); 4. Joanna Fiodorow (Pol) 231-6 (70.57); 5. Martina Hrašnová (Svk) 226-4 (68.99); 6. Réka Gyurátz (Hun) 225-6 (68.73); 7. Kateřina Šafránková (CzR) 222-4 (67.76).
JT: 1. Christin Hussong (Ger) 218-4 (66.56); 2. Nikola Ogrodníková (CzR) 213-8 (65.13); 3. Sara Kolak (Cro) 197-0 (60.04); 4. Barbora Špotáková (CzR) 195-2 (59.49); 5. Victoria Hudson (Aut) 190-6 (58.06).