WESTWOOD, CALIFORNIA, May 26–27 — There were worries after some stars committed to the Los Angeles Grand Prix and later withdrew, that the meet would not be able to stand on its own. Our sport is doomed, the sky is falling, they cried. But thanks to the heroics of sprinters, distance runners and field eventers, 7 world leading marks were set, led by a none-too-shabby shot put clinic provided by the World Record holder himself.
Over the decades, UCLA’s Drake Stadium has seen its share of great putters. Feuerbach, Oldfield, Laut, Brenner, Godina to name a few who have graced the grounds, but when Randy Barnes threw 75-10 (23.12) in 1990, the throwing world stood still.
[Consistent with our policy, that mark, a World Record at the time, does not appear on T&FN’s all-time lists because, Barnes failed a doping test later in the season.]Ryan Crouser had Barnes on his mind when he began his day as this was the locale where Barnes had established the old WR before Crouser smashed it in 2021. On his initial attempt, the 2-time Olympic champ tossed 76-2¾ (23.23), the equal fifth-longest throw in history, then 76-5¾ (23.31) in round 2, the No. 3 all-time throw.
After a “pedestrian” 75-3¼ (22.94), all heck broke loose in round 4 when the steel tape measured 77-3¾ (23.56), besting Crouser’s old WR, 76-8¼ (73.37) set at the ’21 Olympic Trials. He finished his series with 74-9¾ (22.80) and 75-0 (22.86), for a 6-throw average of 75-10¼ (23.12).
Kiwi Olympic bronze medalist Tom Walsh placed 2nd with his 72-7 (22.12) second-round throw. In 3rd place, North Dakota State alum Payton Otterdahl’s 72-1¾ (21.99) PR eclipsed the Mexican record 71-9½ (21.88) of Uziel Muñoz in 4th.
Crouser told NBC’s Lewis Johnson, “Yeah, I’m just so excited with the performance today. It’s early in the year, so it’s a great true outdoor season opener. The training, I think, kinda showed itself. The best thing is that I’m still on high volume, heavy throws in the ring and heavy weights in the weight room, so we’re just trying to work in some speed. I’m excited to see with some plyos and some proper training what I can get out there.”
He later told reporters, “The realistic goal was to throw a season’s best. That was the minimum I was looking for. When I have a meet like this I kinda have two goals, one is like a minimum and then one will be a higher end, and the high-end goal was to break Barnes’ stadium record, the old World Record, 23.12.”
If that wasn’t enough, there were many more memorable performances, not the least of which was Mondo Duplantis taking the pole vault ahead of Sam Kendricks. Both Duplantis and Kendricks cleared 19-4¾ (5.91), good for the outdoor world lead. But with his first-attempt clearance the Swede, for whom this was his first outdoor comp of the year, prevailed on fewer misses. Kendricks cleared the height on his second attempt.
When asked if the conditions were right for a 19-8½ (6.01) jump, at which Mondo missed three times to end the comp, he replied, “I thought it was definitely in the cards. I know that I’m in shape to jump well over 6 meters, but we had a little bit of a difficult day as far as the winds and, you know, in the pole vault that can be really tough. Especially when it starts being a little bit crosswind on you, comes in your face a little bit also sometimes. So it was just kind of swirling around, making it super-hard to find some consistency and rhythm in your run, and be able to hold your posture the way you want to and create the speed that you need to be able to jump super high.”
’16 Olympic 800 bronze medalist Clayton Murphy must have felt a bit of redemption after a number of recent unsatisfactory races when he prevailed down the home stretch to snare the victory from Kenya’s Festus Lagat, 1:44.75–1:44.98, with fellow American Isaiah Jewett 3rd (1:45.10).
In the 1500, Kenya’s 2019 world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot pulled away from 18-year-old compatriot Raynold Kipkorir in a world leading 3:31.47–3:32.01.
In a surprising battle for 3rd, Americans Hobbs Kessler and Cooper Teare both set PRs and moved up the all-time US list, clocking 3:32.61 and 3:32.74. That time by 20-year-old Kessler was the fastest ever by an American on U.S. soil.
Jamaica’s newest kid on the block, Ackeem Blake, edged American Cravont Charleston 9.89–9.91 in the 100, as both ran PRs and bested ’19 world champion Christian Coleman, who also crossed in 9.91 though 0.001 slower than Charleston.
In Friday night’s 5000 — listed in some places by USATF as a separate meet so we are treating it as such for results purposes — Abdihamid Nur overcame a first-lap spill and pulled away over the last 3 circuits to duck under the Budapest qualifying standard of 13:07.00 with his 13:05.17 PR. Nur was followed by Kenyan Edwin Kurgat (13:08.46) and Michigan State alum Morgan Beadlescomb (13:08.82) for the podium places.
Thirteen of the top 18 recorded personal bests, with No. 13 coming from Newbury Park prep Lex Young, whose 13:34.96 broke Connor Burns’ 3-week-old 13:37.30 High School Record.
LAGP MEN’S RESULTS
100(1.0): 1. Ackeem Blake (Jam) 9.89 PR; 2. Cravont Charleston (US) 9.91 PR; 3. Christian Coleman (US) 9.91; 4. Ronnie Baker (US) 10.01; 5. Marvin Bracy (US) 10.03; 6. Kendal Williams (US) 10.09; 7. Ryiem Forde (Jam) 10.11; 8. Brandon Carnes (US) 10.14.
200(0.7): 1. Terrance Laird (US) 20.06; 2. Jereem Richards (Tri) 20.08; 3. Elijah Morrow (US) 20.22; 4. Aaron Brown (Can) 20.22; 5. Kyree King (US) 20.52; 6. Brendon Rodney (Can) 20.76; 7. Daniel Stokes (Mex) 20.87;… dnf—Emmanuel Matadi (Lbr).
400: 1. Sean Bailey (Jam) 44.43 PR; 2. Kirani James (Grn) 44.50; 3. Quincy Hall (US) 45.09; 4. Lidio Feliz (DR) 45.37; 5. Alonzo Russell (Bah) 45.41; 6. Trevor Stewart (US) 45.44; 7. Paul Dedewo (US) 46.23; 8. Wil London (US) 46.80.
800: 1. Clayton Murphy (US) 1:44.75 (AL);
2. Festus Lagat (Ken) 1:44.98; 3. Isaiah Jewett (US) 1:45.10; 4. Kameron Jones (US) 1:45.20 PR; 5. Noah Kibet (Ken) 1:45.39; 6. Isaiah Harris (US) 1:45.41; 7. Brandon Miller (US) 1:46.79; 8. Rajay Hamilton (Jam) 1:48.16; 9. Bryce Hoppel (US) 1:48.19.
1500: 1. Timothy Cheruiyot (Ken) 3:31.47 (WL);
2. Raynold Kipkorir (Ken) 3:32.01 =PR;
3. Hobbs Kessler (US) 3:32.61 PR (AL);
4. Cooper Teare (US) 3:32.74 PR; 5. Vincent Keter (Ken) 3:33.16 PR; 6. Sam Prakel (US) 3:35.78; 7. Johnny Gregorek (US) 3:36.24; 8. Matthew Centrowitz (US) 3:36.64; 9. Drew Hunter (US) 3:37.54; 10. Charles Hunter (Aus) 3:38.48; 11. Tolesa Bodena (Eth) 3:39.67 PR; 12. Paul Ryan (US) 3:40.79; 13. Amos Bartelsmeyer (Ger) 3:45.85; 14. Josh Thompson (US) 3:51.38.
400H: 1. CJ Allen (US) 47.91 PR; 2. Khallifah Rosser (US) 48.60; 3. Trevor Bassitt (US) 48.62; 4. Gerald Drummond (CRC) 49.05; 5. Jaheel Hyde (Jam) 49.80; 6. Dave Kendziera (US) 49.81; 7. Quivell Jordan-Bacot (US) 49.88;… dnf—Kyron McMaster (BVI).
Field Events
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 19-4¾ (5.91) (out WL) (18-4¾, 19-¾, 19-4¾, 19-8½ [xxx]) (5.61, 5.81, 5.91, 6.01 [xxx]); 2. Sam Kendricks (US) 19-4¾ (out AL; =out WL) (17-11, 18-4¾ [2], 18-8¾ [3], 19-¾, 19-4¾ [2], 19-8½ [xxx]) (5.46, 5.61 [2], 5.71 [3], 5.81, 5.91 [2], 6.01 [xxx]);
3. Chris Nilsen (US) 18-8¾ (5.71); 4. Sondre Guttormsen (Nor) 18-8¾; 5. tie, KC Lightfoot (US) & Jacob Wooten (US) 18-8¾; 7. Ethan Cormont (Fra) 18-4¾ (5.61); 8. Renaud Lavillenie (Fra) 17-11 (5.46); 9. Clayton Fritsch (US) 17-11;… nh—Anthony Ammirati (Fra).
SP: 1. Ryan Crouser (US) 77-3¾ (23.56) WR, AR (old records 76-8¼/23.37 Crouser ’21) (76-2¾ [x, =3 W, A], 76-5¾ [x, 2 W, A, 75-3¼, 77-3¾, 74-9¾, 75-0) (23.23, 23.31, 22.94, 23.56, 22.80, 22.86);
2. Tom Walsh (NZ) 72-7 (22.12) (72-5¼, 72-7, 70-9¾, f, f, 71-10¾) (22.08, 22.12, 21.58, f, f, 21.91); 3. Payton Otterdahl (US) 72-1¾ (21.99) PR (70-7, 71-6¼, 72-1¾, f, 71-11½, 71-11½) (21.51, 21.80, 21.99, f, 21.93, 21.93); 4. Uziel Muñoz (Mex) 71-9½ (21.88) NR; 5. Chuk Enekwechi (Ngr) 71-2 (21.69); 6. Adrian Piperi (US) 70-6¼ (21.49); 7. Josh Awotunde (US) 68-7¼ (20.91); 8. Darrell Hill (US) 64-2¼ (19.56).
DT(5/26): 1. Traves Smikle (Jam) 220-0 (67.07) (214-1, 209-8, 206-1, 202-3, 208-9, 220-0) (65.26, 63.90, 62.83, 61.65, 63.64, 67.07); 2. Fedrick Dacres (Jam) 211-7 (64.51); 3. Alex Rose (AmS) 210-1 (64.03); 4. Brian Williams (US) 205-7 (62.66); 5. Josh Syrotchen (US) 204-3 (62.26); 6. Andrew Evans (US) 203-1 (61.90).
HT(5/26): 1. Wojciech Nowicki (Pol) 253-2 (77.18) (245-0, 248-5, 253-2, 243-8, 248-5, 253-2) (74.68, 75.72, 77.17, 74.29, 75.72, 77.18); 2. Rudy Winkler (US) 253-2 (77.17) (241-8, 253-2, 245-0, 252-1, 250-5, 250-5) (73.67, 77.17, 74.69, 76.84, 76.33, 76.32); 3. Ethan Katzberg (Can) 247-0 (75.28); 4. Denzel Comenentia (Neth) 244-1 (74.40); 5. Eivind Prestegård Henriksen (Nor) 243-2 (74.12); 6. Sean Donnelly (US) 242-2 (73.83); 7. Alex Young (US) 235-0 (71.63); 8. Morgan Shigo (US) 231-3 (70.49).
JT: 1. Anderson Peters (Grn) 272-10 (83.16) (272-10, 260-0, 268-11, f, 266-1, 270-8) (83.16, 79.26, 81.96, f, 81.10, 82.51); 2. Curtis Thompson (US) 246-11 (75.27); 3. Capers Williamson (US) 246-1 (75.02); 4. Ethan Shalaway (US) 239-1 (72.88); 5. Michael Shuey (US) 231-5 (70.54); 6. Donavon Banks (US) 225-4 (68.68).
