Lyles, Semenya shine as Chepkoech smashes steeple world record
New American sprint hope Noah Lyles raced to a dominant 200m victory in Friday’s Diamond League meet in Monaco, where South African Caster Semenya also shone in the 800m and Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech smashed the steeplechase world record.
Lyles celebrated his 21st birthday in style, the wannabe rapper scorching to victory in 19.65 seconds, the fastest run this season and a meet record.
World champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey finished second in 19.99, but Lyles was well clear of the field in perfect, balmy conditions at Monaco’s Louis II stadium.
“It was a great race, especially improving the meet record,” said Lyles, a notoriously bad starter.
“I had the same (good) start as I had in Eugene and I felt it. It gives me confidence in what I can do next.”
It was another gun-to-tape win for Semenya, who is challenging the IAAF over controversial new rules track and field’s ruling body plan to introduce on high testosterone levels in female athletes.
She shot out past even the pacesetters and with Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983 world record of 1:53.28 seemingly in imminent danger, Semenya blasted through the first lap in 55.76sec and increased her lead over the chasing pack as she lengthened her stride down the back straight before rounding the final bend.
– ‘Just fantastic’ –
The 27-year-old, double Olympic champion (2012, 2016) and three-time world champion (2009, 2011, 2017), eventually tied up slightly as she pushed through to the line in 1:54.60, also a meet record.
“It was just fantastic!” beamed Semenya. “Only the last 100m were a little off for me.
“Today I wanted to break 1:54 but maybe next time. I wasn’t thinking about the world record and it wasn’t on my mind.”
But it was a relatively unknown Kenyan, Chepkoech, who stole the plaudits by setting a new 3000m steeplechase world record.
Chepkoech, 27, ran 8min 44.32sec to shatter the previous best set in 2016 by Kenyan-born Bahraini Ruth Jebet, whose name headlined an Athletics Integrity Unit report released earlier Friday into alleged doping.
Olympic champion Jebet had run 8:52.78 before Chepkoech, aided by a couple of pacemakers, shot around more than six seconds faster, her remarkable effort also smashing her own previous personal best by more than 15 seconds.
“I wanted to break the world record, that was the plan from the start of the season,” she said.
“I felt strong during the race and was thinking I might be able to break 8:50, but not at all dreaming about 8:44.
“It’s a great feeling to bring the world record back to Kenya.”
Marie-Josee Ta Lou racked up a fifth win of the season in the Diamond League by winning the 100m in 10.89sec ahead of Ivorian compatriot Murielle Ahoure (11.01sec), with Jamaica’s double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson taking third (11.02).
“It’s an incredible year for me,” said Ta Lou, a double world silver medallist in 2017. “I’m performing really regularly and the goal was to go under 10.90 and I did just that so I’m super happy.”
Setting the scene for a night of unforgettable track action, Shaunae Miller-Uibo shattered the Bahamas and Diamond League records with a blistering 48.97sec in the opening 400m, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Nasr coming in second in an Asian record of 49.08.
“I’m so happy I got this sub-49 I was waiting for,” said Miller-Uibo, who became only the fifth female in history to have gone sub-49 in the 400m and sub-22 in the 200m.
“The next goal is to remain consistent on this level and long term another barrier is 48 seconds,” with the world record of 47.60sec set by East German Marita Koch back in 1985.
That scintillating start to action was followed up by Botswana’s Nijel Amos running a season-topping 1:42.14 in the 800m, and then Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya also setting a world lead (and personal best) of 3:28.41 in the 1500m.
RESULTS
200m Wind +0.9m/s pts 1 Noah LYLES USA 19.65 8 2 Ramil GULIYEV TUR 19.99 7 3 Alex QUIÑÓNEZ ECU 20.03 6 4 Alonso EDWARD PAN 20.15 5 5 Jereem RICHARDS TTO 20.16 4 6 Aaron BROWN CAN 20.17 3 7 Luxolo ADAMS RSA 20.65 2 8 Ameer WEBB USA 20.77 1 800m 1 Nijel AMOS BOT 1:42.14 2 Brandon MCBRIDE CAN 1:43.20 3 Saúl ORDÓÑEZ ESP 1:43.65 4 Cornelius TUWEI KEN 1:43.82 5 Jonathan KITILIT KEN 1:43.91 6 Pierre-Ambroise BOSSE FRA 1:44.20 7 Joseph DENG AUS 1:44.21 8 Marcin LEWANDOWSKI POL 1:44.32 9 Peter BOL AUS 1:46.64 10 Alfred KIPKETER KEN 1:48.68 11 Drew WINDLE USA 1:50.44 Harun ABDA USA DNF 1500m pts 1 Timothy CHERUIYOT KEN 3:28.41 8 2 Elijah Motonei MANANGOI KEN 3:29.64 7 3 Filip INGEBRIGTSEN NOR 3:30.01 6 4 Jakob INGEBRIGTSEN NOR 3:31.18 5 5 Ayanleh SOULEIMAN DJI 3:31.19 4 6 Brahim KAAZOUZI MAR 3:31.62 3 7 Matthew CENTROWITZ USA 3:31.77 2 8 Aman WOTE ETH 3:31.90 1 9 Chris O'HARE GBR 3:32.11 10 Jakub HOLUŠA CZE 3:32.49 11 Charles Cheboi SIMOTWO KEN 3:32.77 12 Jake WIGHTMAN GBR 3:33.96 13 Ferguson Cheruiyot ROTICH KEN 3:35.26 14 Abdelaati IGUIDER MAR 3:38.08 Jackson Mumbwa KIVUVA KEN DNF Bram SOM NED DNF 3000m Steeplechase pts 1 Soufiane ELBAKKALI MAR 7:58.15 8 2 Evan JAGER USA 8:01.02 7 3 Conseslus KIPRUTO KEN 8:09.78 6 4 Benjamin KIGEN KEN 8:09.98 5 5 Hillary BOR USA 8:14.21 4 6 Abraham KIBIWOTT KEN 8:17.40 3 7 Kennedy NJIRU KEN 8:18.04 2 8 Ibrahim EZZAYDOUNY MAR 8:20.22 1 9 Getnet WALE ETH 8:22.68 10 Abdelkarim BEN ZAHRA MAR 8:23.41 11 Matthew HUGHES CAN 8:24.85 12 Emmanuel KIPRONO KEN 8:28.39 13 Napoleon SOLOMON SWE 8:32.63 14 Stanley Kipkoech KEBENEI USA 8:37.42 Andrew BAYER USA DNF Nicholas Kiptonui BETT KEN DNF Chala BEYO ETH DNF 110m Hurdles pts 1 Sergey SHUBENKOV ANA 13.07 8 2 Orlando ORTEGA ESP 13.18 7 3 Pascal MARTINOT-LAGARDE FRA 13.20 6 4 Hansle PARCHMENT JAM 13.21 5 5 Devon ALLEN USA 13.38 4 6 Balázs BAJI HUN 13.38 3 7 Aries MERRITT USA 13.49 2 8 Kevin MAYER FRA 13.82 1 High Jump pts 1 Danil LYSENKO ANA 2.40 8 2 Yu WANG CHN 2.30 7 3 Majd Eddin GHAZAL SYR 2.27 6 4 Naoto TOBE JPN 2.27 5 5 Gianmarco TAMBERI ITA 2.27 4 5 Donald THOMAS BAH 2.27 4 7 Michael MASON CAN 2.27 2 8 Bryan MCBRIDE USA 2.24 1 8 Mathew SAWE KEN 2.24 1 10 Jeron ROBINSON USA 2.20 Triple Jump Wind pts 1 Christian TAYLOR USA 17.86 +2.1 8 2 Pedro Pablo PICHARDO POR 17.67 +2.4 7 3 Omar CRADDOCK USA 17.37 +0.5 6 4 Chris BENARD USA 17.26 +2.0 5 5 Donald SCOTT USA 17.02 +2.4 4 6 Jean-Marc PONTVIANNE FRA 16.71 +1.3 3 7 Harold CORRÉA FRA 16.46 +0.8 2 8 Nelson ÉVORA POR 16.24 +1.9 1 Shot Put pts 1 Ryan CROUSER USA 22.05 8 2 Darrell HILL USA 21.72 7 3 Darlan ROMANI BRA 21.70 6 4 Michał HARATYK POL 21.59 5 5 Tomas WALSH NZL 21.49 4 6 David STORL GER 21.41 3 7 Tomáš STANĚK CZE 21.24 2 8 Curtis JENSEN USA 20.57 1 9 Frédéric DAGÉE FRA 19.58 10 Kevin MAYER FRA 14.94 Results Women 100m Wind +0.1m/s pts 1 Marie-Josée TA LOU CIV 10.89 8 2 Murielle AHOURÉ CIV 11.01 7 3 Elaine THOMPSON JAM 11.02 6 4 Jenna PRANDINI USA 11.09 5 5 Dafne SCHIPPERS NED 11.12 4 6 Mujinga KAMBUNDJI SUI 11.15 3 7 Carina HORN RSA 11.21 2 8 Blessing OKAGBARE-IGHOTEGUONOR NGR 11.32 1 400m pts 1 Shaunae MILLER-UIBO BAH 48.97 8 2 Salwa Eid NASER BRN 49.08 7 3 Shakima WIMBLEY USA 50.85 6 4 Phyllis FRANCIS USA 51.05 5 5 Anita HORVAT SLO 51.22 4 6 Libania GRENOT ITA 51.56 3 7 Jessica BEARD USA 51.58 2 8 Floria GUEI FRA 51.66 1 800m pts 1 Caster SEMENYA RSA 1:54.60 8 2 Francine NIYONSABA BDI 1:55.96 7 3 Natoya GOULE JAM 1:56.15 6 4 Ajee WILSON USA 1:56.45 5 5 Habitam ALEMU ETH 1:56.71 4 6 Rababe ARAFI MAR 1:57.47 3 7 Raevyn ROGERS USA 1:57.69 2 8 Charlene LIPSEY USA 1:58.42 1 9 Renelle LAMOTE FRA 1:58.83 10 Emily Cherotich TUEI KEN 1:59.45 11 Margaret Nyairera WAMBUI KEN 1:59.70 12 Selina BÜCHEL SUI 2:00.75 100m Hurdles Wind -03.m/s 1 Queen HARRISON USA 12.64 2 Dawn HARPER-NELSON USA 12.90 3 Yanique THOMPSON JAM 12.92 4 Eline BERINGS BEL 12.94 5 Soléne NDAMA FRA 13.01 6 Kori CARTER USA 13.03 7 Beate SCHROTT AUT 13.22 8 Shimayra Crystal WILLIAMS JAM 13.36 3000m Steeplechase pts 1 Beatrice CHEPKOECH KEN 8:44.32 8 2 Courtney FRERICHS USA 9:00.85 7 3 Hyvin KIYENG KEN 9:04.41 6 4 Emma COBURN USA 9:05.06 5 5 Norah JERUTO KEN 9:07.20 4 6 Peruth CHEMUTAI UGA 9:07.94 3 7 Roseline CHEPNGETICH KEN 9:08.23 2 8 Daisy JEPKEMEI KEN 9:10.71 1 9 Winfred Mutile YAVI BRN 9:10.74 10 Celliphine Chepteek CHESPOL KEN 9:12.05 11 Karoline Bjerkeli GRØVDAL NOR 9:18.36 12 Colleen QUIGLEY USA 9:20.99 13 Aisha PRAUGHT JAM 9:25.48 14 Rosie CLARKE GBR 9:38.71 15 Ophélie CLAUDE-BOXBERGER FRA 9:52.59 Caroline TUIGONG KEN DNF Pole Vault pts 1 Anzhelika SIDOROVA ANA 4.85 8 2 Yarisley SILVA CUB 4.80 7 2 Katerina STEFANIDI GRE 4.80 7 4 Sandi MORRIS USA 4.80 5 5 Katie NAGEOTTE USA 4.75 4 5 Jennifer SUHR USA 4.75 4 7 Eliza MCCARTNEY NZL 4.75 2 8 Ninon GUILLON-ROMARIN FRA 4.75 1 9 Angelica BENGTSSON SWE 4.60 10 Iryna ZHUK BLR 4.60 Holly BRADSHAW GBR NM Shot Put pts 1 Lijiao GONG CHN 20.31 8 2 Raven SAUNDERS USA 19.67 7 3 Christina SCHWANITZ GER 19.51 6 4 Valerie ADAMS NZL 19.31 5 5 Maggie EWEN USA 18.62 4 6 Paulina GUBA POL 18.54 3 7 Michelle CARTER USA 18.04 2 8 Danniel THOMAS-DODD JAM 17.74 1
