SHA´CARRI RICHARDSON WINS THE GREAT HECTOMETER DUEL IN EUGENE
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The American athlete had no problems defeating double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson in the 100-meter dash. Richardson won gold with 10.85, while the Jamaican was last with 11.30.
The United States dominated most of the disciplines in this competition that was broadcast live on the Panam Sports Channel.
The duel between the Budapest 2023 World Champion, Sha’Carri Richardson, and the double Olympic champion from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, Elaine Thompson, was expected to be closer.
The Jamaican is just returning to high competition after several months away, which explains her poor performance and her time of 11.30 seconds that led her to obtain ninth place in the race.
But, what Sha’Carri did was worthy of applause. She won the hectometer with a solid 10.83, her best time so far this season. Second was the great star of the Caribbean, Julien Alfred with 10.93 and third was Dina Asher-Smith from Great Britain with 10.98.
“I’m excited, I’m eager going into the rest of this season, I’m growing, developing and just getting ready to make that USA Team,” said Sha´Carri Richardson.
“We’ve been preparing for the (Olympic) trials since November,” she said Saturday, laughing. “(We’re) continuing to keep that focus, keep that love and keep that positive mindset, knowing that my growth is going (to continue) into the trials and even more going into the Games” said the world champion.
In the men’s 100 meters, meanwhile, she finally broke below 10 seconds in the Diamond League after five events contested. Christian Coleman of the United States took first place with 9.95 seconds. The silver medal went to Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala with 9.98 and the bronze to Brandon Hicklin of Team USA with 10.08.
The shot put had the Olympic and World Champion, Ryan Crouser of Team USA, absent at the last minute, however, his teammate Joe Kovacs had a superlative level to win with a throw of 23.13, becoming the leader of the year and anticipating that the USA Trial competition and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be with clenched teeth. Second was Payton Otterdahl with 22.16 and third was Chukwuebuka Enekwechi from Nigeria with 21.91 meters.
In the 110 meter hurdles, the entire podium went to Team USA in an entertaining and disputed race. Gran Holloway took the gold medal by clocking 13.03 seconds, a mark that places him as this year’s leader in this test. Second place went to Daniel Roberts with 13.13 and third place Freddie Crittenden with 13.16.
The big surprise of the day was the 400 meters hurdles, where Costa Rican Gerald Drummond obtained the first victory in the history of his country, with a time of 48.56, his best record of the season and which qualifies him for the Olympic Games of Paris 2024.
Finally, in the most anticipated event of the tournament, the men’s mile, Josh Kerr won the applause and the gold, crossing the finish line with a time of 3:45.34, a mark that constitutes a new national record, his personal best and the best of the year in the distance.
The next stop will be in Oslo, Norway, where the return of Fred Kerley (USA) is expected, who will fight side by side with the Olympic champion, Marcell Jacobs of Italy in the 100 meters.
Of course, all the excitement of the Oslo Diamond League will be live and direct on the Panam Sports Channel with the comments of Soledad Bacarreza.