THRILLS AND SPILLS

0 107 1 minute read

Jamaican Olympian, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was again quickest out of the blocks and fastest to the finish on Sunday in the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

The 35-year-old won her seventh global 100m title in a championship record of 10.67 (0.8m/s).

Her compatriot Shericka Jackson took second in a PB of 10.73, and Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, another Jamaican, was third with 10.81. Dina Asher-Smith equaled her own British record in fourth with 10.83, World Athletics said.

“Today was a fantastic day,” Fraser-Pryce said afterwards. “I did it for my country again.

“I can’t even imagine the amount of times I’ve had setbacks and I’ve bounced back, and I’m here again.”

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, of Jamaica, cemter, reacts after winning Gold in the final in the women’s 100-meter run at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday, July 17, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. Associated Press/Ashley Landis

World Athletics said the USA went on a golden rampage in the field events – winning the men’s shot put and women’s pole vault – while another gold for the host nation came in the 110m hurdles.

It said Ryan Crouser Crouser unleashed a whopping 22.94m throw in the fifth round to seal gold in the shot put.

World Athletics said Kovacs took a well-earned silver, while Josh Awotunde broke new ground in third with a PB of 22.29m to make it a US sweep.

It, however, said “Jamaica, once again, has proven itself to be the all-conquering, utterly unstoppable superpower of women’s sprinting.”

“In the women’s 100m, the crack of the starter’s gun unleashed a dazzling 10.6-second blur of green and yellow, the three vests of Jamaican sprinters again rising to the top of the world,” World Athletics said.

But it said there was “drama, delight and despair in equal measure in the men’s 110m hurdles, where Olympic champion Hansle Parchment withdrew before the final, while world leader Devon Allen was disqualified for a false start, his reaction time of 0.099 illegal by the smallest possible margin.”

But amid that heartbreak, Grant Holloway stepped up to become the home crowd’s hero, powering down the track with typically crisp technique to retain his world title in 13.03 (1.2m/s), World Athletics said.

“At the start, it was just me, my lane and my space, and I was ready for whatever happens,” he said.

His US teammate Trey Cunningham finished second with 13.08 while Spain’s Asier Martinez took bronze in a PB of 13.17, World Athletics said.

It said no one was surprised to see US athletes rise above their rivals in the women’s pole vault, but many were surprised by the eventual victor.

“Olympic champion Katie Nageotte had endured a difficult season, coming in with a season’s best of 4.65m outdoors, but in one giant vault over the bar at 4.85m, a first-time clearance, she showed the permanency of her class, the composure of a champion, to claim her first world outdoor title,” World Athletics said.