The Ethiopian domination of the men&rsquo;s 3000m continued with an eighth gold and a second successive 1-2 in the event, Selemon Barega emerging victorious from a last-lap sprint with compatriot Lamecha Girma in the final morning session at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22.
Four years ago in Birmingham in 2018, Barega had to settle for silver behind Yomif Kejelcha but that was when he was an 18-year-old junior still learning his craft.
Four years on, with an Olympic 10,000m gold and world 5000m silver back home, the 22-year-old had too much strength and speed when Girma attempted to launch an attack on the back straight of the final lap, crossing the line 0.25 clear in 7:41.38.
As in the Olympic steeplechase final in Tokyo last year, and over the barriers in the 2019 world final in Doha, Girma finished in the silver position again, clocking 7:41.63, with Marc Scott timing his effort to perfection to claim Britain&rsquo;s first medal in Belgrade &ndash; and their first in the event since Rob Denmark&rsquo;s bronze in Seville in 1991.
It was a slow burner of a contest, Barega moving to the front after the opening lap and leading the field to 800m in 2:04.20. At that point, however, he was content to drift back as Kenyans Daniel Ebenyo and Jacob Krop assumed the lead but without ever threatening to make a decisive break.
At the bell Barega was back in front with six others still in the hunt but none of them could match him &ndash; even Girma, who had got the better of him earlier in the season in Lievin and Torun.
&ldquo;We came to Belgrade aiming to make history for Ethiopia,&rdquo; said Barega. &ldquo;I have had a good season, so I was ready both physically and mentally to fight for gold. With Girma we discussed the possibility of helping each other make the podium. Our tactic has paid off.
&ldquo;It was a tough race in which we were focused mostly on the Kenyan guys,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I decided to lead the race from the beginning because many runners in this final are 1500m specialists. I just wanted to make the pace fast and comfortable. Then I slowed down to save some energy for the finishing kick. It was a good plan and another great experience for me.&rdquo;
And so the Ethiopian with the awesome range found himself emulating his celebrated compatriots Haile Gebreslassie and Kenenisa Bekele as an Olympic champion at 10,000m and a world indoor winner at 3000m
Gebrselassie, of course, also struck world indoor gold as a 1500m runner in Maebashi in 1999 &ndash; as well as taking the 3000m crown in 1997, 1999 and 2003.
The other Ethiopian 3000m golds came from Bekele in 2006, Tariku Bekele in 2008, and Kejelcha in 2016 and 2018.
Scott took the bronze in 7:42.02, 0.95 ahead of Ebenyo in fourth, with Krop in fifth, Zouhair Talbi of Morocco in sixth and Spain&rsquo;s Adel Mechaal seventh.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics
&nbsp;
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<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; height: 22px;" colspan="3">MEN'S 3000m MEDALLISTS</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">Selemon Barega 🇪🇹 ETH</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">7:41.38</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9; height: 22px;">Lamecha Girma 🇪🇹 ETH</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9; height: 22px;">7:41.63</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">Marc Scott 🇬🇧 GBR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">7:42.02 SB</td>
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<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; height: 22px;" colspan="3"><a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/belgrade22/results/men/3000-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

World Athletics Indoor Championships

Olympic champion takes 3000m crown

Barega upgrades to 3000m gold in Belgrade in one-two for Ethiopia

A thrilling 3000m victory by Olympic champion Selemon Barega over a formidable Spanish duo &ndash; and his Ethiopian teammates &ndash; proved the most captivating contest at the Villa de Madrid, the final&nbsp;World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold&nbsp;meeting of 2022, on Wednesday (2).&nbsp;
The noise inside the Centro Deportivo Municipal Gallur reached a crescendo midway through the penultimate lap of the 15-lap event as Spain&rsquo;s Mohamed Katir twice tried to overtake Barega, but in the end, just as it was over 10,000m in Tokyo, Barega was too strong for everyone.&nbsp;
After two recent losses over 3000m, the big-kicking 22-year-old re-asserted his supremacy with a catch-me-if-you can performance filled with courage and class.
With Katir and his Spanish compatriot Adel Mechaal &ndash; who recently set a European record of 7:30.82 &ndash; in the field, there were high hopes of a home victory. Katir seemed intent on delivering it, taking up pole position behind the pacers as they passed 1000m in 2:31.67, with Barega then seizing command shortly after they had stepped aside, passing 2000m out front in 5:05.32.&nbsp;
From there he relinquished the lead, and after fending off Katir he repelled the late charge of his compatriot Lamecha Girma, hitting the line in a meeting record of 7:34.03. Girma&rsquo;s runner-up finish in 7:34.09 secured him the overall tour victory and a wild card entry for this month&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22. Mechaal edged Katir for third, 7:35.26 to 7:35.73.&nbsp;
&ldquo;After two times being second without any elite speed training, this week I was targeting a push from 150 metres out,&rdquo; said Barega. &ldquo;The altitude (657m) is difficult here so I decided maybe it was not the time to run fast. After the Olympics it was just easy training, but I put in a hard month of training and the target now is to become world champion.&rdquo;
Barega said he hopes to double in Belgrade over 1500m and 3000m if allowed by his federation.&nbsp;
In terms of individual brilliance, it was another Olympic champion &ndash; Venezuela&rsquo;s Yulimar Rojas &ndash; who shone brightest on the night. In the arena where she set the world indoor record at 15.43m two years ago, Rojas twice gave that mark a major scare &ndash; jumping 15.35m and then 15.41m. Next best was Cuba&rsquo;s Liadagmis Povea with 14.08m.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/621fe69f9310792fa4e0ba86.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Yulimar Rojas celebrates her win (&copy; Giancarlo Colombo) 
 &ldquo;It was very good, and for my first competition it went really well,&rdquo; said Rojas. &ldquo;There are small details we need to work on, but I felt really good and it was what we wanted. It&rsquo;s always great to compete in Madrid, with so many people in the stands making such a nice atmosphere.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll recuperate now and get ready for Belgrade. The most important thing there is to do a better mark. I want to be champion of the world, but I also want to enjoy the championships. It&rsquo;s been more than two years since we had a normal championships like this.&rdquo;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gudaf Tsegay produced another dominant run in the women&rsquo;s 1500m, the world indoor record-holder clocking a meeting record of 3:57.38 to come home well clear of compatriots Hirut Meshesha (4:02.22) and Freweyni Hailu (4:03.38). It meant Tsegay took a comfortable victory in the overall tour standings.&nbsp;
Elliot Giles unleashed a vicious kick up the home straight to deny Spain&rsquo;s Mariano Garcia victory on the night, and also edge him to victory in the overall tour standings. He set a meeting record of 1:45.43, with Garcia second in 1:45.82 ahead of fellow Spaniard Alvaro de Arriba (1:45.97).
&ldquo;The plan was to win, nothing but to win,&rdquo; said Giles. &ldquo;I figured I race these boys all the time, I know how the beat them, and while it didn&rsquo;t quite happen the way I planned, it was great to get the win.&rdquo;
Giles will next be in the line in Belgrade where a medal looks well within his grasp. &ldquo;That race with pacemakers is so different to a champs so these races don&rsquo;t give us any indication of how it&rsquo;ll go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Other than I know I&rsquo;m strong and if I get to the final, I know I can hold my position.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/621fe5fe9310792fa4e0ba83.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Elliot Giles wins the 800m in Madrid and with it, the World Indoor Tour title (&copy; Giancarlo Colombo) 
 In the women&rsquo;s 800m, Australia&rsquo;s Catriona Bisset continued her run of excellent form with a dominant victory in 2:00.10, well clear of Britain&rsquo;s Adelle Tracey (2:01.89) and Germany&rsquo;s Christina Hering (2:01.99).&nbsp;
&ldquo;I had a really disappointing 2021 and after the Olympics I made a bunch of changes,&rdquo; said Bisset, who switched coaches to Ned Brophy-Williams. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to go to a championships (in Belgrade) with a bit of momentum behind me. Anything can happen.&rdquo;
Poland&rsquo;s Justyna Swiety-Ersetic had to fight hard to grab the all-important lead at the halfway mark of the women&rsquo;s 400m, but her bravery was well rewarded as she powered to victory in a meeting record of 51.21, which secured her overall tour victory. Lithuania&rsquo;s Modesta Juste Morauskaite was second in a PB of 51.63 and Ireland&rsquo;s Phil Healy &ndash; who challenged Swiety-Ersetic to the bell &ndash; was third in a PB of 51.66.
&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s race was really good and I hope next time will be better and I can break the Polish record (51.10),&rdquo; said Swiety-Ersetic. &ldquo;The first 200m was very, very fast but the result was a PB and I&rsquo;m waiting for my next race at Polish Championships. Maybe I can go under 51.&rdquo;
Zoe Sedney was foot-perfect in the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles, the Dutch athlete lowering her PB to 7.95 as she took the victory ahead of Finland&rsquo;s Reetta Hurske (8.00) and Ireland&rsquo;s Sarah Lavin (8.14).
USA&rsquo;s Elijah Hall secured an important win in the men&rsquo;s 60m, clocking 6.57 to come home ahead of compatriot Michael Rogers (6.60) and France&rsquo;s Jimmy Vicaut (6.60). Hall bypassed the recent US Indoor Championships but his victory here crucially shot him to victory in the overall tour standings, which earned him a wildcard entry for Belgrade.&nbsp;
"It felt good to make the world team, and I'm ready for the next step," said Hall. "We're not done yet. We just need to get better every day. I'm going to sharpen up my race, try to go in and get it done. In the off-season we've been working hard to get my name out there, and I think we've done that now."
Spain&rsquo;s Asier Martinez delighted the home crowd with a photo-finish victory ahead of compatriot Enrique Llopis in the men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles, both clocking 7.56, with Britain&rsquo;s David King third in 7.57.&nbsp;
Australia&rsquo;s Eleanor Patterson was a class apart in the women&rsquo;s high jump, recording a perfect series up and including 1.96m before recording three failures at 2.00m, victory tonight ensuring she reigned supreme in the overall tour standings. Runner-up was Finland&rsquo;s Ella Junnila with a best of 1.90m, while Montenegro&rsquo;s Marija Vukovic was third with 1.87m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/621fd69a363ffd7c05dc2ad4.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Winner Eleanor Patterson in the high jump&nbsp;(&copy; Giancarlo Colombo) 
 Poland&rsquo;s Konrad Bukowiecki solidified his position as a strong medal contender in Belgrade by throwing a meeting record of 21.91m in the men&rsquo;s shot put, which puts him second on the year&rsquo;s top lists behind USA&rsquo;s Ryan Crouser. Croatia&rsquo;s Filip Mihaljevic was next best with 21.83m, while Italy&rsquo;s Zane Weird took third with 21.40m. Bukowiecki and Mihaljevic finished on equal points in the overall tour standings, with Bukowiecki winning due to his superior top mark.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The past few years was very tough for me, a lot of injuries, but now I&rsquo;m back,&rdquo; said Bukowiecki. &ldquo;I finally found something I had when I was a junior: I found the joy again of throwing and that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about.&rdquo;
Bukowiecki will compete at the Polish Indoor Championships in Torun next weekend before targeting a medal in Belgrade the week after.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going there with the one goal: to throw the furthest I can,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have good memories from Belgrade, being European indoor champion, and I just need to stay focused, do what I do and I hope I&rsquo;m going to throw far. I can&rsquo;t wait for it.&rdquo;
Britain&rsquo;s Lorraine Ugen set a meeting record of 6.67m to take the women&rsquo;s long jump and secure overall tour victory, with Spain&rsquo;s Fatima Diame second on the night with 6.51m and Italy&rsquo;s Larissa Iapichino third with 6.45m.&nbsp;
Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia was a late withdrawal from the competition and finished on the same points total (20) as Ugen in the overall tour standings, but the Briton took the win via her best mark during this year&rsquo;s gold-level meetings &ndash; her 6.71m in Staten Island edging Sagnia&rsquo;s 6.70m in Birmingham.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/621fe82f9310792fa4e0ba8e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Winners in Madrid&nbsp;(&copy; Giancarlo Colombo) 
 &ldquo;I did it by the skin of my teeth!&rdquo; said Ugen. &ldquo;The competition went okay. I was a bit shaky, I got one decent jump out there and the rest were a bit off. Once I get to Worlds and have my coach to give me feedback, I should get some better distances out there. My runway needs to be fine-tuned a little bit more but once I get that right, the jumps will come.&rdquo;
Cuba&rsquo;s Lazaro Martinez took the men&rsquo;s triple jump via his second-round effort of 17.12m, which also secured him a narrow overall tour victory with 20 total points. Germany&rsquo;s Max Hess was second with 16.85m &ndash; and also second in the tour standings, just one point behind &ndash; while France&rsquo;s Jean-Marc Pontvianne was third on the night with his sole recorded mark of 16.67m.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics 
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/standings/2022/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Indoor Tour 2022 standings</a>

Yulimar Rojas attacks her own world indoor record on evening of fierce competition for World Indoor Tour titles.

Barega wins 3000m thriller in Madrid

One year on from her stunning world indoor 1500m record at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gudaf Tsegay returns to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on Thursday (17) looking to take down another record.
She won&rsquo;t be the only athlete chasing a record-breaking performance at a meeting that features a reigning global champion or world record-holder in nine of the 14 main disciplines.
Tsegay, the world and Olympic bronze medallist, will this time take aim at the world indoor mile record, which currently stands at 4:13.31, set by Genzebe Dibaba in 2016. It&rsquo;s a lofty goal, as only two women have ever bettered the mark outdoors. But Dibaba&rsquo;s world indoor 1500m record looked similarly ambitious before Tsegay smashed it by two seconds in Lievin last year.
For context, when Dibaba clocked her 4:13.31 world indoor mile record, she passed through 1500m in 3:56.46. Tsegay&rsquo;s world indoor record stands at 3:53.09 and she has two other sub-3:55 performances outdoors.
If it ends up being anything like her performance in Lievin last year, Tsegay&rsquo;s race on Thursday could end up being a largely solo effort. But the likes of Axumawit Embaye, who won in Karlsruhe in a world-leading 4:02.12, Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Ketema will be hoping to use the race as an opportunity to run fast.
There are strong chances of several records &ndash; world, continental and national &ndash; being broken in the other endurance events on the programme, especially as wavelight technology will be in use at the meeting.
Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will once again get his season under way in Lievin, just as he did last year. He clocked a European indoor record of 3:31.80 on that occasion, then went on to enjoy the greatest season of his burgeoning career which culminated with Olympic 1500m gold in a European record of 3:28.32.
In recent months, though, the Ingebrigtsen coaching set-up has changed. His father, Gert, is currently taking a break while older brother Henrik takes on a more active role in Jakob&rsquo;s coaching. It&rsquo;s unlikely that there would have been any drastic changes in the types of training sessions done, however, so Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s form may be as good as it always is.
He won&rsquo;t necessarily have it all his own way in Lievin, though. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Samuel Tefera, the world indoor champion and world indoor record-holder for the distance, will also be on the start line. Tefera won here in 2019, then went on to break the world indoor record just six days later with 3:31.04. He returned to Lievin in 2020 and won again.
The men&rsquo;s world indoor 3000m record is another mark that came under threat last year, and the top three finishers from that race &ndash; Getnet Wale, Selemon Barega and Lamecha Girma &ndash; are back again. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/df2aebed-d2ff-4087-97c3-e2c2b78c73b8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Wale came out on top on that occasion, winning in 7:24.98 &ndash; the second-fastest indoor run in history and just 0.08 shy of Daniel Komen&rsquo;s long-standing world indoor record. Since then, Barega went on to win the Olympic 10,000m title while Girma earned steeplechase silver in Tokyo.
They&rsquo;ll have other athletes to worry about, too. Spain&rsquo;s Mohamed Katir was a revelation on the international circuit last year, setting Spanish records for 1500m (3:28.76), 3000m (7:27.64) and 5000m (12:50.79). He should feature among the leaders in Lievin; even if he&rsquo;s slightly off the leading pace, he could still break the European record of 7:30.82 set last week by compatriot Adel Mechaal.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Nibret Melak, Bahrain&rsquo;s Birhanu Balew and Kenyan duo Nicholas Kimeli, Jacob Krop are also in the high-quality line-up.
The women&rsquo;s 3000m is of a similarly high standard. It may be just the second indoor race of Ejgayehu Taye&rsquo;s career, but expectations will be high after her breakthrough 2021 season during which she broke the world 5km record with 14:19, set an Ethiopian 3000m record of 8:19.52, and clocked a 5000m PB of 14:14.09.
The 22-year-old will line up alongside compatriots Fantu Worku, Dawit Seyaum, Zerfe Wondemagegn and teenager Melknat Wedu, a double world U20 medallist.
The men&rsquo;s 2000m is the one middle-distance event in which the world record/best hasn&rsquo;t been set as a specific target, but there&rsquo;s still a strong chance of area and national records being broken at this rarely contested distance.
Olympic 1500m fourth-place finisher Abel Kipsang, who made his indoor debut just a few days ago, will start as the slight favourite. The Kenyan takes on Azeddine Habz of France, Samuel Zeleke of Ethiopia and Maximilian Thorwirth of Germany.
The world best stands at 4:49.99, set by Kenenisa Bekele, while the European record is 4:52.90 and the Kenyan record &ndash; a realistic target for Kipsang &ndash; is 4:55.72.
&nbsp;
<h2>Global champions clash in the pole vault</h2>
Olympic pole vault champion Katie Nageotte and world champion Anzhelika Sidorova last faced one another at the 2021 Wanda Diamond League final, where Sidorova joined the elusive five-metre club with her winning 5.01m vault.
In their three other clashes of 2021, however &ndash; including at the Olympic Games in Tokyo &ndash; Nageotte came out on top. The US vaulter started her season with a 4.60m win in Reno, but was then third at the Millrose Games. Sidorova, meanwhile, opened her 2022 campaign with a 4.80m win on home soil in Moscow. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/01e31077-ecaf-4e19-a1cf-c05485610b77.png" alt="" width="100%" />
 The likes of 2015 world champion Yarisley Silva, European indoor silver medallist Tina Sutej and European indoor bronze medallist Iryna Zhuk, who recently improved to 4.77m, should make it a competitive affair.
Not content with utterly dominating one event, world and Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas is intent on making an impact in the long jump this year. The Venezuelan, who holds the world indoor and outdoor triple jump records, opened her season with 6.55m in Madrid last weekend, but is keen to reproduce a distance nearer to the wind-assisted 7.27m leap she managed outdoors last year.
The highly consistent European indoor champion Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk &ndash; who, conversely, recently turned her hand to the triple jump and sailed out to a highly respectable 14.34m &ndash; will contest her first long jump competition of the year. All-round talents Maria Vicente and Akela Jones should also be a factor.
Three athletes with PBs of 6.00m or higher will start in the men&rsquo;s pole vault. USA&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Chris Nilsen, who recently equalled the North American indoor record of 6.02m, will start as the favourite, but multiple world medallist Piotr Lisek, 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz, Ernest John Obiena and Emmanouil Karalis won&rsquo;t give him an easy time.
&nbsp;
<h2>Holloway and Jacobs return to Lievin</h2>
Like many of the stand-out performers in the distance events, the shorter disciplines on the competition programme will welcome back two of the winners from last year.
World 110m hurdles champion Grant Holloway charged to a continental record of 7.32 in Lievin last year, setting him on the path to break the world record with 7.29 two weeks later. The Olympic silver medallist opened his season with a world-leading 7.37 on Staten Island earlier this month and doesn&rsquo;t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Five of the seven fastest men in the world this year are in the field, with Jarret Eaton, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Wilhem Belocian and Daniel Roberts all set to take part, along with world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi and decathlon world record-holder Kevin Mayer.
Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs, another winner in Lievin last year, heads to the French town off the back of 60m victories in Berlin (6.51) and Lodz (6.49). But USA&rsquo;s world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker has the fastest PB of the field at 6.40 &ndash; 0.07 quicker than Jacobs&rsquo; best.
Arthur Cisse of the Ivory Coast and Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya should also feature. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61d5d1b3ea4c7f5068552c9f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 In the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles, European indoor champion Nadine Visser takes on Olympic finalist and Bahamian record-holder Devynne Charlton, France&rsquo;s Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who clocked a PB of 7.84 in Karlsruhe, and Finland&rsquo;s Reetta Hurske.
World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi, who on Monday set a world-leading Ugandan indoor record of 1:59.55, once again contests her specialist distance and takes on Jamaica&rsquo;s Natoya Goule and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Freweyni Hailu.
The men&rsquo;s 800m is of a similarly high standard. Elliot Giles, who won in Lievin last year then went on to run the second-fastest indoor performance of all time, returns to take on Spain&rsquo;s Mariano Garcia, who won at the recent New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in a world-leading 1:45.12. Kenya&rsquo;s Collins Kipruto, Noah Kibet, Tony van Diepen of the Netherlands and Swedish record-holder Andreas Kramer should all be in contention too.
Elsewhere, Algeria&rsquo;s Yasser Triki, the fifth-place finisher at the Olympic Games, will open his season in the triple jump, where he will clash with Germany&rsquo;s Max Hess, 2019 European indoor champion Nazim Babayev and two-time world U20 champion Lazaro Martinez of Cuba.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Five Olympic champions set to star at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais

Tsegay and Ingebrigtsen return to Lievin with records in their sights

Organisers have announced that Ethiopia's Selemon Barega is to return to the&nbsp;Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais &ndash; a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Lievin on 17 February,&nbsp;to tackle the world indoor 3000m record.
The world indoor silver medallist moved to third on the world indoor all-time list with his performance in&nbsp;Lievin last year, the 21-year-old clocking&nbsp;7:26.10 to finish second behind his compatriot Getnet Wale who ran 7:24.98 to just miss Daniel Komen&rsquo;s long-standing world record of 7:24.90.
Barega went on to win over 1500m at World Indoor Tour meetings in Torun, where he set an indoor PB of 3:32.97, and Madrid, before becoming the Olympic 10,000m champion in Tokyo.
Barega has also been announced for the Copernicus Cup in Torun on 22 February, where he is set to be joined by Wale and Lamecha Girma, who finished third behind his compatriots in Lievin last year, clocking&nbsp;7:27.98. Before that race, just six men had bettered 7:30 for 3000m indoors. Now the figure stands at 10, with the fourth-place finisher in Lievin last year, Berihu Aregawi, also dipping under the mark with 7:29.24. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XOePSTFjIDA" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Also among those returning to&nbsp;Lievin is&nbsp;Gudaf Tsegay, who broke the world indoor 1500m record last year and this time races the mile.
Other athletes announced for the meeting include world indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway, Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs and Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
&nbsp;

Organisers have announced that Ethiopia's Selemon Barega is to return to the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting – in Lievin on 17 February, to tackle the world indoor 3000m record.

Barega returns to Lievin with world record target

One year on from their brilliant battle over 3000m in Lievin, the trio of Getnet Wale, Selemon Barega and Lamecha Girma will race over the distance again at the Copernicus Cup &ndash; a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Torun, Poland, on 22 February.
Steeplechase specialist Wale just missed Daniel Komen&rsquo;s long-standing world indoor 3000m record of 7:24.90 earlier this year, when he clocked 7:24.98 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, also a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event.
He led an Ethiopian top four, as he was followed by Barega with 7:26.10, Girma with 7:27.98 and Berihu Aregawi with 7:29.24. Before the race, just six men had bettered 7:30 for 3000m indoors, with Wale, Barega and Girma now respectively sitting second, third and sixth on the world all-time list.
Barega went on to break the 1500m meeting record at the Copernicus Cup a week later, clocking a PB of 3:32.97, before winning the Olympic 10,000m title in Tokyo. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z9TrPWNAyBQ" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Wale, meanwhile, finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Olympic Games, while his fellow steeplechase specialist Girma secured silver in Tokyo.
Barega&rsquo;s performance at the last edition of the Copernicus Cup was one of nine meeting records set.
World Athletics

One year on from their brilliant battle over 3000m in Lievin, the trio of Getnet Wale, Selemon Barega and Lamecha Girma will race over the distance again at the Copernicus Cup.

Wale, Barega and Girma to race in Torun

Selemon Barega restored Ethiopia&rsquo;s dominance in the men&rsquo;s 10,000m, charging to the front on the final lap and holding off two Ugandan favourites to win the first athletics gold medal of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Friday (30).
The 20-year-old Barega staved off a late challenge from world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei and world-leader Jacob Kiplimo to win his first major championships title in 27:43.22.
Barega&rsquo;s triumph brought redemption for Ethiopia, which had dominated the 25-lap event for more than 20 years &ndash; with Haile Gebrselassie winning back-to-back titles in 1996 and 2000 and Kenenisa Bekele earning consecutive victories in 2004 and 2008.
Britain&rsquo;s Mo Farah swept the men&rsquo;s 5,000m and 10,000m in 2012 and 2016, but failed to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
"It&rsquo;s very well known that we have been winners for the 10,000m competition," Barega said. "Since Kenenisa won the last time, we have been unable to achieve a gold medal. I am very proud. It means a lot to me.
"Even in the future I want to make history like my previous colleagues," he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m also very hopeful to achieve more in this Olympics.&rdquo;
Barega, who won silver in the 5000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, said he still plans to run the 5000m in Tokyo. Cheptegei and Kiplimo are also entered in the 5000m.
Cheptegei, the reigning world 10,000m champion, took silver on Friday in 27:43.63 for his first Olympic medal. Kiplimo won the bronze in 27:43.88, marking the first time Uganda placed two athletes on the podium at an Olympics.
Cheptegei broke Bekele&rsquo;s world 5000m and 10,000m world records last year but hadn&rsquo;t run the longer distance this year.
The 20-year-old Kiplimo, meanwhile, had clocked a world-leading 26:33.93 in May, the second-fastest time over the distance since 2008 and a mark which moved him to seventh on the world all-time list.
So while the Ugandans came in as the athletes to beat, it was Barega who timed his run to perfection on the night.
Another Ugandan, Stephen Kissa, set the early pace, separating from the pack by more than 40 meters and 10 seconds at different stages as part of what he said was the Ugandan team&rsquo;s strategy.
But after Barega and Kenya&rsquo;s Rhonex Kipruto eventually pulled even with him, Kissa dropped out with nine laps to go.
&ldquo;It was a&nbsp;sacrifice for the team,&rdquo; Kissa said. &ldquo;We had a plan for me to go ahead to make it a fast race. I thought they were going to&nbsp;follow me but when I looked round they were not there. My teammates stayed behind. They couldn't do it.&rdquo;
Kiplimo said Kissa&rsquo;s pace-making strategy didn&rsquo;t work.
&ldquo;He was trying to push the pace, maybe a&nbsp;bit too fast,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's a bit hot, a bit too humid. That's why we didn&rsquo;t follow the pace.&rdquo;
Kipruto held the lead until Cheptegei pulled slightly ahead with four laps to go as another Kenyan, Rodgers Kwemoi, hung on his shoulder. Canada&rsquo;s Mohammed Ahmed made a break to the front on the second-to-last lap but couldn&rsquo;t sustain the pace.
Barega swept back into the lead as the bell lap rung and never looked back. &nbsp;Cheptegei and Kiplimo began their kick with about 200m to go. Cheptegei passed Kiplimo with 20 metres left and closed on Barega but it was not enough.
Cheptegei was philosophical about the result.
&ldquo;I came here expecting to win a gold, but you never know how someone has prepared and you just have to be grateful and thankful that you had the best opportunity of being on the podium,&rdquo; he said.
Cheptegei said he had bothered by an achilles tendon injury and lack of motivation in the build-up to the Games.
"This year was really a very difficult year for me in terms of racing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's the year that I have lost all the focus, all the belief. There was a lot of pressure and I was losing it out in every moment."
For Barega, the victory provided him with another goal: taking Cheptegei&rsquo;s world record.
&ldquo;That is my primary target,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to break the record in the future.&rdquo;
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 10,000m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Selemon Barega 🇪🇹 ETH</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">27:43.22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Joshua Cheptegei 🇺🇬 UGA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">27:43.63 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 UGA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">27:43.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/10000-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Selemon Barega restored Ethiopia’s dominance in the men’s 10,000m, charging to the front on the final lap and holding off two Ugandan favourites to win the first athletics gold medal of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Friday (30).

Barega returns Olympic 10,000m title to Ethiopia

A few hours south of Addis Ababa, beyond the Oromia region, is the northern most zone of the Southern Region &ndash; Gurage. Here, alongside rolling dark red dirt roads and an abundance of the green endemic enset plant &ndash; known as the &ldquo;false banana&rdquo; &ndash; this population of nearly two million has earned a reputation for being some of the hardest working in Ethiopia. Many Ethiopians respect Gurage people for being business savvy, who skillfully manage the demands of agricultural upkeep and urban commerce between Addis Ababa and the countryside. Selemon Barega, one of the most talented distance runners Ethiopia has ever seen, is a proud Gurage.
&ldquo;In general, my national group is known by trade, they focus on commerce,&rdquo; Barega said. &ldquo;The Gurage nation does not know anything about sport, but the Gurage people, if they start to work at anything, in any field, they become successful. They focus on work.&rdquo;
Barega, who grew up in a rural area with three sisters and four brothers, knew little about sport at an early age. His parents are farmers, and encouraged him to get an education, and because his family lacked a television or radio, he did not know of any Ethiopian legends he could aspire to be like. But rapid success in a local school competition led to another victory in a zonal race, and him ultimately joining a project nearby.
Projects are common pathways to clubs in Ethiopia, the latter of which provide a small salary and often cover basic living accommodations. Projects, by comparison, offer no financial incentive, but give up-and-comers a reliable group with which to train and grow. Barega joined the Southern Police Club at around the same time as he was offered to join the national team.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/609a61be1b3b5e6154fcadc7.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="637" /> Selemon Barega in training&nbsp;(&copy; Guillaume Laurent /&nbsp;<a href="https://www.athle.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ATHLE.ch</a>) 
 &ldquo;In our area, there was no one running,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;My family members were not fans of running; their aim was only to push me to learn, so even when I joined the club they were not happy. It was not until I began receiving medals that they started to encourage me.&rdquo;
In 2015, before going off to win at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Poland, Barega moved to Addis Ababa, where he learned the history of Ethiopian athletics. &ldquo;When I came to Addis then I heard stories about Kenenisa (Bekele) and saw his videos. I admired him for his speed,&rdquo; he remembers.
Barega&rsquo;s time of 13:21 at the age of 16 shocked the running world and began to inspire a local movement in his hometown. Now young boys all cite him as an inspiration to begin running.
Throughout the next several years Barega&rsquo;s times continued to drop, but he developed racing tactics that have led to countless victories and more importantly, racing conditions in which he always finds himself vying for a top spot. Barega has several registers of speed and seems to effortlessly shift gears in the final laps of a race without his form breaking down. He&rsquo;s a smooth runner, and attributes this to his focus.
&ldquo;Everybody is working hard here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The runners who are good in training sometimes do not perform well in competitions. The big thing is you have to give focus for your work.
&ldquo;For example, with me, I don&rsquo;t think about any other work. I give everything to sport. All of my thoughts are for sport. Also, when it comes to races, sometimes others get scared. But I don&rsquo;t get scared. If I run good, I thank god then I accept and do work, and if I don&rsquo;t win, I see myself weaknesses and I don&rsquo;t get angry. I say, because I work hard, I win, but still, it&rsquo;s not enough. I think that I can do more than this.&rdquo;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aMSiME240ro" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
(&copy; Guillaume Laurent /&nbsp;<a href="https://www.athle.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ATHLE.ch</a>)
 Despite being a fierce competitor, Barega is known as a humble, soft-mannered and gentle companion to most of his compatriots and family members. After getting some success and moving to Addis Ababa, he bought a car and a house, and asked two of his brothers, one cousin and a sister to move in with him.
His younger brother is now starting to train seriously and the others take care of the house. His sister makes a special type of kocho &ndash; a thick and dark flat bread made with the aforementioned enset plant &ndash; to eat with his favorite kitfo &ndash; minced raw beef &ndash; which fuels his training. Even though he financially supports his family, he sees them as caretakers to provide him necessary sustenance and morale.
In the future, Barega has big plans for how he would like to give back to the Gurage people, who he sees as having a lot of potential but lacking infrastructure and materials. &ldquo;There is one club there, but they don&rsquo;t even have a track,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Up until now I have not really supported them financially, only giving them morale. But if I can do something more for that area in the future like giving them clothes and facility, I will be happy.&rdquo;
But for now, Barega remains singularly focused on his training, with lofty goals about winning more medals for Ethiopia. He is currently coached by Hussein Shibo, who has helped bring athletes like Derartu Tulu, Haile Gebrselassie, Fatuma Roba, Kenenisa Bekele, and others, to global prominence. Within Ethiopia, Shibo is known as a &ldquo;hunter,&rdquo; because he&rsquo;s a fierce recruiter of both talent and medals. He&rsquo;s known for adapting to athletes&rsquo; training strengths and styles, rather than the other way around.
He remains focused on the 5000m and 10,000m races, with an eye looking to the roads for the future. But the 5000m and 10,000m, he has explained, are central to the culture of running in Ethiopia. And winning races are his central concerns. But for Barega, what remains crystal clear is no matter which event he runs, he will work extremely, exceptionally, hard.
Hannah Borenstein for World Athletics

Many Ethiopians respect Gurage people for being business savvy, who skillfully manage the demands of agricultural upkeep and urban commerce between Addis Ababa and the countryside. Selemon Barega, one of the most talented distance runners Ethiopia has ever seen, is a proud Gurage.

Barega’s success, built on hard work and determination

The nature of his recent victories had hinted at a big breakthrough, but even Elliot Giles appeared surprised when he crossed the line in 1:43.63 to win the men's 800m at the Copernicus Cup &ndash; part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour &ndash; in Torun on Wednesday (17).
Following his 1:45.5 win in Karlsruhe and 1:45.49 victory in Lievin, the 2016 European bronze medallist had been targeting Sebastian Coe&rsquo;s British indoor record of 1:44.91, which had stood for almost 38 years. Giles far exceeded his target, though, and improved Coe&rsquo;s mark by more than a second, moving up to second place on the world indoor all-time list.
Only the legendary Wilson Kipketer, with his 1:42.67 world indoor record from the 1997 World Indoor Championships, has ever run faster indoors.
Giles positioned himself well for the first two laps and was a couple of strides behind the pacemaker, who went through 200m in 23.99 and 400m in 50.14. Once the pacemaker stepped aside, Giles led the pack but fellow Briton Jamie Webb briefly moved up on to his shoulder as they went through 600m in 1:17.28.
Realising he was operating at record pace, Giles cranked up the tempo for the final circuit &ndash; covered in 26.35 &ndash; and crossed the line a clear winner in 1:43.63. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"I'm overwhelmed right now with the time I ran!" Perfectly timed race from <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliotLeviGiles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElliotLeviGiles</a> who clocks 1:43.63 to break the British record and go #2 all-time indoors.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldIndoorTour?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldIndoorTour</a> <a href="https://t.co/k2qAZiun2L">pic.twitter.com/k2qAZiun2L</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1362124682485456900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 Webb finished second in a huge PB of 1:44.54 &ndash; also inside Coe&rsquo;s previous national indoor record &ndash; to move up to ninth on the world indoor all-time list. Andreas Kramer was third in a Swedish indoor record of 1:45.09, while world indoor champion Adam Kszczot was fourth in 1:45.22 &ndash; his fastest indoor performance for seven years.
&ldquo;I felt in great shape and I thought I could win, but I&rsquo;m overwhelmed right now with the time I ran,&rdquo; said Giles. &ldquo;I was just executing my tactics by following the pace and then making a move after 400m. Strong domestic competition is something that really motivates us and makes us all better.&rdquo;
<h3>Meeting record rampage by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hailu, Barega and Alemu</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 800m was one of eight disciplines in which the meeting record fell. And three meeting records were set by Ethiopian middle-distance runners.
Teenager Lemlem Hailu showed her recent Lievin victory wasn&rsquo;t a fluke as she adopted similar tactics to sprint away from steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech on the final lap.
World indoor record-holder Genzebe Dibaba, looking out of sorts, stepped out of the race after just two minutes of running and later limped off the track. It left Hailu, Chepkoech and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Fantu Worku in the lead pack, following the pace maker through 1000m in 2:44.60. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/c9d11356-e097-4235-891b-a417e926882e.jpg?cachebuster=1f8c14c1-9218-4d7d-af9a-7261c3d82186" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 The pace dipped slightly in the second kilometre, but it picked up again towards the end. Worku was dropped with two laps remaining, leaving Hailu and Chepkoech to battle it out. As the bell sounded for the final lap, Hailu kicked past Chepkoech into the front and sprinted away to win in a world-leading 8:31.24. Chepkoech, who set a world record on the roads for 5km last weekend, was second in a PB of 8:31.72 and Worku was third in 8:40.04.
It&rsquo;s the first time the women&rsquo;s 3000m had been held at the Copernicus Cup, so Hailu&rsquo;s winning time was a meeting record by default. It&rsquo;s also the fastest ever indoor performance by a teenager.
World 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega continued his foray into the shorter distances and emerged the winner of the men&rsquo;s 1500m in a meeting record.
Paced through 800m in 1:54.6, Barega sat at the front of the pack ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Bethwell Birgen. Barega wound up the pace and moved into top gear at the bell, opening up a sizeable gap on the rest of the field.
He charged through the line in 3:32.97, chopping almost two seconds off the PB he set earlier this month in Metz and smashing the previous meeting record of 3:35.57. He now sits at fifth place on the world indoor all-time list. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/bbe53b3b-97f7-4fb2-b1a9-61b80b9e4dba.jpg?cachebuster=b16b093c-f622-4761-851f-e377760a96f0" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 &ldquo;I'm very happy with my time tonight,&rdquo; said Barega. &ldquo;Last year I ran 3:32 outdoors, now it&rsquo;s 3:32 indoors, so I hope to run even faster in the summer.&rdquo;
World bronze medallist Marcin Lewandowski, who vowed to once again donate his prize money to charitable causes, finished strongly to place second in a Polish indoor record of 3:35.71. Britain&rsquo;s Neil Gourley finished just 0.08 adrift in third.
In between Hailu&rsquo;s and Barega&rsquo;s victories, Habitam Alemu won the women&rsquo;s 800m in convincing fashion. The opening laps were fast with the pacemaker going through half way in 57.63. Alemu then found herself in front with a comfortable margin, which she managed to increase through 600m (1:28.17).
With a 30-second final lap, Alemu stopped the clock in a meeting record of 1:58.19 &ndash; a time that would have been an Ethiopian indoor record, had Gudaf Tsegay not clocked 1:57.52 in Val-de-Reuil last weekend.
Former meeting record-holder Joanna Jozwik was second in 2:00.42 and Nadia Power broke her own Irish indoor record in third with 2:00.98.
<h3>Dominant victories for Holloway, Clemons and Bol</h3>
World champion Grant Holloway extended his 2021 winning streak in the 60m hurdles, although it took several attempts for the final to get underway.
After three false &ndash; or faulty &ndash;starts, Holloway got out of the blocks well and powered to victory in 7.38, taking 0.05 off the meeting record he had set in the heats. France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian was a distant second in 7.57. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/b4b8a05c-7676-4dbd-ba67-b3a9a34cb08c.jpg?cachebuster=448ba2ba-9754-4669-9d00-4fa4bfecccac" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 World indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons reclaimed the world-leading mark in the women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles, producing her most convincing run of the season.
The US sprint hurdler won in a meeting record of 7.81 and finished 0.17 ahead of Poland&rsquo;s Karolina Koleczek, who set a PB of 7.98 in second place.
Hurdles specialist Femke Bol continued her impressive form in the 400m flat.
The 20-year-old Dutch sprinter ran a composed first lap, allowing training partner Lieke Klaver to take it out with an opening 23.92 200m. A composed Bol then eased past Klaver on the back straight and opened up a significant lead, crossing the line in a meeting record of 50.66 &ndash; faster than the outdoor Dutch record for 400m. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/d2312c6d-dfc9-4016-8edf-d88e9a27c42e.jpg?cachebuster=3d93c20b-8538-4cd6-adb6-686c46f055ba" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic overtook Klaver in the closing stages to finish second in 51.80 with Klaver placing third in 51.92.
<h3>Oliver and Tamberi secure World Indoor Tour victories</h3>
The women&rsquo;s 60m and men&rsquo;s high jump made their final appearances in the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series for 2021.
Javianne Oliver notched up another 60m victory, powering away to win in 7.08 to equal the world lead set by Dina Asher-Smith in Karlsruhe last month, and securing the overall series title. Ajla del Ponte was second in 7.15 and Ewa Swoboda third in 7.16. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/6918e571-669a-4583-a1c3-f039771cc131.jpg?cachebuster=f309392b-6215-44aa-b7f5-96b65f0bf3ee" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 There was surprisingly good depth in the men&rsquo;s high jump as the top three finishers established a shared world lead and meeting record of 2.34m.
Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus won on countback from Ukraine&rsquo;s Andriy Protsenko with Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi finishing third. Tamberi&rsquo;s five-point haul tonight was enough to maintain his lead at the top of the World Indoor Tour standings.
There was also a three-way tie in the men&rsquo;s pole vault, which was won on countback by world champion Sam Kendricks. The US vaulter cleared a best of 5.80m, as did Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Lisek and Ernest Obiena of the Philippines, but Kendricks&rsquo; first-time clearance at that height gave him the advantage.
Elsewhere, Greece&rsquo;s Paraskevi Papachristou sailed out to an indoor PB of 14.60m to win the women&rsquo;s triple jump with a meeting record.
Fellow European champion Michal Haratyk produced the sole Polish victory of the evening, winning the shot put with 21.47m.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

The nature of his recent victories had hinted at a big breakthrough, but even Elliot Giles appeared surprised when he crossed the line in 1:43.63 to win the men's 800m at the Copernicus Cup – part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour – in Torun on Wednesday (17).

Giles triumphs in Torun in 1:43.63, second-fastest indoor 800m time in history

World champions Grant Holloway and Beatrice Chepkoech will aim to continue their record-breaking form when they head to Torun for the Copernicus Stop on Wednesday (17), the next World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2021.
Every time Holloway lines up for a 60m hurdles race, the world record of 7.30 &ndash; set by Colin Jackson back in 1994, three years before Holloway was born &ndash; comes under threat. The world 110m hurdles champion owns the five fastest times in the world this year, topped by his 7.32 North American indoor record of 7.32 from Lievin which made him the second-fastest man ever for the distance.
Holloway, who owns three of the six fastest 60m hurdles performances in history, will take on&nbsp;France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian, who has set a PB of 7.45 this year and currently leads the World Indoor Tour standings. World indoor silver medallist Jarret Eaton and his US compatriot Aaron Mallet are also in the field.
The meeting record of 7.48 &ndash; a time Holloway has bettered in all six of his races this year &ndash; looks to be living on borrowed time.
Like Holloway, world steeplechase champion Chepkoech has also had a busy few weeks. The 29-year-old Kenyan won the 3000m at the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of the year in Karlsruhe, then set an indoor PB of 8:34.21 for that distance to place third in Lievin before heading to Monaco later that week where she set a world 5km record of 14:43. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/0acb66c0-d6c3-4d95-9b48-f42ee6bf96f8.jpeg?cachebuster=fa48b0b5-3be0-4229-b9f2-6a8c30cf2838" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 Three days on from her exploits on the roads of Monaco, Chepkoech will return to the track in Torun where she&rsquo;ll be up against Genzebe Dibaba, the world indoor record-holder and three-time world indoor champion at the distance.
Dibaba&rsquo;s last indoor 3000m race was at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, where she went on to complete the distance double by also taking gold in the 1500m. The Ethiopian has raced sparingly in the past 12 months, but she&rsquo;ll be keen to maintain her indoor winning streak; not counting a disqualification in Dusseldorf in 2012, Dibaba&rsquo;s last loss in an indoor race came more than 11 years ago.
It won&rsquo;t simply be a two-way battle, though. Ethiopian teenager Lemlem Hailu, who stole a march on the field to win in Lievin in a PB of 8:32.55, is also in the line-up, as is compatriot Fantu Worku.
<h3>Barega takes on the milers</h3>
World 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega has been using the indoor season to work on his speed by contesting shorter distances. So far he has been rewarded with PBs of 7:26.10 for 3000m and 3:34.62 for 1500m, becoming just the third man in history &ndash; after Haile Gebrselassie and Augustine Choge &ndash; to break 7:30 and 3:35 indoors.
The 21-year-old Ethiopian lines up over 1500m in Torun and will face world bronze medallist Marcin Lewandowski of Poland and Kenya&rsquo;s world indoor 3000m bronze medallist Bethwell Birgen. The meeting record of 3:35.57 looks to be a realistic target for the field. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/b6dd7d1f-a1d7-4637-90bc-f029df7e85c3.jpg?cachebuster=d6fdb296-c5ab-49bd-856b-df8dc3d5df5c" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 World indoor champion Adam Kszczot may need to improve on his season&rsquo;s best of 1:47.65 if he is to win the 800m in Torun. Britain&rsquo;s Elliot Giles, who won in Karlsruhe and Lievin, will start as the favourite, but Kenya&rsquo;s Collins Kipruto &ndash; who won in Torun last year with a meeting record of 1:45.86 &ndash; will be a formidable opponent. European indoor silver medallist Jamie Webb and Swedish record-holder Andreas Kramer should also be in contention.
African bronze medallist Habitam Alemu will start as favourite for the women&rsquo;s 800m, a scoring event in this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Tour. Uganda&rsquo;s Winnie Nanyondo, Poland&rsquo;s Joanna Jozwik and Ireland&rsquo;s Nadia Power &ndash; all of whom hold their respective national indoor records &ndash; will ensure the race is a competitive one.
<h3>Double Dutch power in 400m</h3>
Dutch training partners Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver have enjoyed undefeated seasons so far this year, breaking national indoor sprint records in the process.
Klaver briefly held the Dutch indoor 400m record with her 51.48 run in Vienna in January and she followed it with a 23.17 national record for 200m, which she reduced one week later to 23.10. Hurdles specialist Bol, meanwhile, broke Klaver&rsquo;s 400m record with 50.96 and then clocked 50.81 in Metz earlier this month.
In Torun the duo will line up against one another for the first time this year and the distance, 400m, would appear to favour Bol. European champion Justyna Swiety and European indoor champion Lea Sprunger are also entered for the two-lap sprint.
USA&rsquo;s Javianne Oliver has been undefeated so far this year, impressing with 60m victories in Metz, Lievin and Val-de-Reuil. The 26-year-old, who has twice clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 7.10, currently shares first place in the World Indoor Tour standings, but a triumph in Torun will secure her overall victory as this is the last women&rsquo;s 60m race in the series. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/1df84f89-b92f-40cc-bdf7-4fcef5d852a0.jpg?cachebuster=f5ce558f-4eaf-4ed0-a657-08e630602005" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
 Switzerland&rsquo;s Ajla del Ponte and Poland&rsquo;s European indoor champion Ewa Swoboda look set to be Oliver&rsquo;s stiffest competition on Wednesday.
The women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles has provided some of the closest finishes on this year&rsquo;s World Indoor Tour and that trend looks as though it could continue in Torun. World indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons of the USA takes on Finnish record-holder Nooralotta Neziri. The duo tied for second place in Lievin last week, clocking 7.91.
African champion Tobi Amusan, meanwhile, will be looking for redemption after falling in Val-de-Reuil last weekend.
<h3>Tamberi v Culver, Kendricks v Lisek, Haratyk v Fabbri</h3>
Following a defeat in Nehvizdy last week, 2016 world indoor high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi will aim to get back to winning ways in Torun. The Italian started the year by leaping a season&rsquo;s best of 2.32m, but he may need to improve on that if he is to beat Trey Culver.
The US jumper won at last weekend's New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, equalling his lifetime best of 2.33m. Culver and Tamberi are now tied at the top of the World Indoor Tour standings, so it's all to play for in what will be the final scoring opportunity in the series. Ukraine&rsquo;s 2.40m jumper Andriy Protsenko and European silver medallist Maksim Nedasekau are also in the line-up.
Two-time world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks heads to Torun buoyed by his recent 5.86m season&rsquo;s best in Lodz. But the US vaulter may need to go even higher in Torun as he&rsquo;ll be up against Filipino record-holder Ernest John Obiena, who finished second on countback in Lodz after matching Kendricks&rsquo; 5.86m, world bronze medallist Piotr Lisek and Olympic champion Thiago Braz.
Sixteen-year-old Belarusian Matvey Volkov, who last week set a world U18 best of 5.60m, is also in the field.
The men&rsquo;s shot put features the three top-ranked European throwers in the world rankings. European champion Michal Haratyk, who last week set an indoor PB of 21.83m, will take on Czech record-holder Tomas Stanek, Polish indoor record-holder Konrad Bukowiecki and Italian indoor record-holder Leonardo Fabbri.
In the absence of world leader Liadagmis Povea, who won in Karlsruhe at the end of January, there will be valuable World Indoor Tour points up for grabs in the women&rsquo;s triple jump. Finland&rsquo;s Kristina Makela and Viyaleta Skvartsova of Belarus finished second and third respectively in Karlsruhe, but the latter has a superior season&rsquo;s best.
European champion Paraskevi Papahristou and US record-holder Tori Franklin are also set to compete. The relatively soft meeting record of 13.97m could be exceeded by several women on Wednesday.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

World champions Grant Holloway and Beatrice Chepkoech will aim to continue their record-breaking form when they head to Torun for the Copernicus Stop on Wednesday (17), the next World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2021.

Holloway and Chepkoech look to maintain momentum in Torun

Mondo Duplantis improved the world lead in the pole vault to 6.03m at the Perche Elite Tour Meeting in Rouen, France, on Saturday (6).
Opening at this World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting with a rare miss at 5.60m, Duplantis sailed over on his second try, passed at 5.73m and then cleared 5.83m with ease. He then passed 5.93m and resumed competition at 6.03m - along with three other competitors - and again topped the bar with some room to spare.
After Chris Nilsen, Sam Kendricks and former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie bowed out, the 21-year-old closed out the competition with three tries at a would-be world record of 6.19m. His first attempt at adding a centimetre to his world record was solid, and his second even better. The wind was out of his sails by his third, however, forcing him to call it a day.
It's not easy to break the world record, is it, the arena announcer asked the 2020 World Athlete of the Year. Duplantis smiled.
"I can't do it every time, but I'm glad to get over six metres again," said Duplantis, who topped 6.01m in his season's debut in Dusseldorf last weekend. He then promised to return to this meeting again next year.
"I don't have the meet record so that's motivation to come back," he said.
That record has belonged to Lavillenie since 2014 when he topped 6.04m - three weeks before he set the previous world record with a 6.14m leap in Donetsk, Ukraine.
The Frenchman topped 6.02m to wrestle the world lead from Duplantis last Sunday in Tourcoing, France, but finished in a tie for second here with Nilsen at 5.93m. Both sailed over with their first attempts and produced clean score cards - Lavillenie with three clearances and Nilsen with six - until the bar was raised to 6.03m.
Kendricks topped 5.83m on his third attempt to finish fourth.
Holly Bradshaw won the women's event with a 4.85m clearance, another world lead and the Briton's highest vault, indoors or outdoors, since 2012.
It was also the second highest clearance of the 29-year-old's career, bettered only by her 4.87m absolute best set indoors in 2012.
Opening at 4.53m, she went clear on her first try, but needed a second at the next height, 4.62m. She topped 4.70m on her first go to seal the victory, then topped 4.80m on her second. After a pair of decent tries at 4.85m, she produced a clear attempt on her third.
Four others topped 4.62m with Iryna Zhuk of Belarus finishing second on countback. Canadian Alysha Newman and Eleni-Klaoudia Polak of Greece tied for third with Tina Sutej of Slovenia, the winner in Ostrava three nights ago, finishing fifth. 
<h3>World leads by Barega and Bol in Metz</h3>
Selemon Barega clocked a 3:34.62 world-leading run in the 1500m to highlight the Meeting Metz Moselle Athl&eacute;lor, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting, in the northeastern French city on Saturday (6).
In a close contest,the world 5000m silver medallist edged Kenyan Bethwell Birgen by 0.05. The performance also clipped nearly three seconds from the 21-year-old Ethiopian's career best indoors.
Elliot Giles of Great Britain was third in 3:37.61, also an indoor career best for the 26-year-old 800m standout, who opened his season with a victory over the shorter distance in Karlsruhe last weekend.
Femke Bol smashed her week-old Dutch indoor 400m record with a strong 50.81 run, another of the afternoon's world leads. It was also the third PB this season for the 20-year-old in as many races this year.
Her compatriot Lieke Klaver won the first section in 51.73 to finish second then doubled back to win the meet-capping 200m in 23.10 to clip 0.07 from the national indoor record she also set last weekend in Vienna.
Habitam Alemu, the Ethiopian 800m record holder outdoors, notched a convincing victory over that distance in her season's debut, clocking 2:00.85, more than a second clear of Swiss Lore Hoffmann and Pole Joanna Jozwik, third in 2:02.19.
On the straight, Jarret Eaton took a big win in the 60m hurdles, clocking 7.54 for his first international victory in 2021. Balasz Baji was a distant second in 7.71. Wilhem Belocian, who lowered his lifetime best to 7.45 in the heats, went out strong but hit the third hurdle hard before tumbling to the ground and out of the running.
Tobi Amusan took the women's race in 8.00.
Javianne Oliver, the 2018 US indoor 60m champion, won over that distance in 7.10 in her 2021 debut, with Ajla Del Ponte second in 7.14, another personal best this season for the 24-year-old Swiss.
Devin Quinn of the US won the men's race in 6.54, knocking 0.04 from his lifetime best and edging veteran Michael Rodgers, who clocked 6.59.
European indoor champion Jan Volko finished a distant seventh in 6.71, but bounced back to take the 200m in 20.99, a 0.05 improvement on his own Slovak indoor record.
The closest battle of the evening was waged in the men's long jump. Both Maykel Masso and Miltiadis Tentoglou had a best leap of 8.02m, but the Cuban got the edge on countback. His second best leap was 8.01m, just two centimetres better than the Greek's 7.99m.
Other winners included Ireland's Sean Tobin, who took the 3000m in 7:48.01, and Thomas Jordier of France, who took the 400m in 46.77. Cuban Andy Diaz won the triple jump with 17.06m.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics 
<h3>Sagnia leaps world lead in Dortmund</h3>
Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia sailed out to a world-leading 6.82m to win the long jump at the PSD Bank Indoor Meeting in Dortmund on Sunday (7).
The 26-year-old produced her winning leap in the second round, then followed it with four fouls. She didn&rsquo;t need to improve on her second-round mark, though, as she won comfortably from Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova of Belarus, who jumped 6.56m.
Joris van Gool of the Netherlands won the men&rsquo;s 60m in a national record of 6.58, beating Konstantinos Zikos of Greece (6.64). In the women&rsquo;s event, Jennifer Montag set her third PB of the year, winning in 7.21.
In the 1500m, Caterina Granz gained revenge on fellow German Katharina Trost, the winner in Karlsruhe last week where Granz placed third. This time Granz won in a world-leading 4:10.33, beating Trost by 0.23.
Just 0.01 separated Andreas Kramer and Adam Kszczot in the men&rsquo;s 800m. Sweden&rsquo;s Kramer got the verdict over the world indoor champion, winning in 1:47.64. The men&rsquo;s 1500m was more clear cut as Kenya&rsquo;s Kumari Taki won in 3:39.12, finishing more than a second ahead of Canada&rsquo;s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (3:40.21). 
<h3>Lillemets joins 6000-point club in Tallinn</h3>
One year since missing the 6000-point barrier in the heptathlon by just four points, Estonia&rsquo;s Risto Lillemets returned to the Indoor Combined Events meeting in Tallinn and smashed through that standard with a world-leading 6089.
Compatriot Hans-Christian Hausenberg led after the first two events, equalling his 60m PB of 6.82m and leaping 7.62m in the long jump. Vitali Zhuk of Belarus then took the lead thanks to a 16.51m heave in the shot and he ended the first day with a one-point lead over Lillemets after clearing 2.01m in the high jump. Lillemets, who had set PBs of 6.97 in the 60m and 7.28m in the long jump, moved up the standings thanks to a 2.07 jump.
Lillemets took the lead after the 60m hurdles (8.14) and followed it with a 5.01m vault. Hausenberg moved into second, just nine points adrift of Lillemets, after clearing 5.11m but he decided not to start the 1000m. Lillemets clocked 2:42.15 in the 1000m to secure victory with 6089, becoming the 11th Estonian man to score 6000 points.
Zhuk finished second overall with 6010. Germany&rsquo;s Tim Nowak, the 10th-place finisher in the decathlon at the World Championships in Doha, failed to record a height in the pole vault but managed to finish third overall with 5086.
The women&rsquo;s pentathlon went down to the wire. Poland&rsquo;s world U20 bronze medallist Adrianna Sulek led after the second event, but Ukraine&rsquo;s Anastasiya Mokhnyuk clawed back the deficit in the shot put (13.78m) and took the lead.
Mokhnyuk increased her lead to 59 points after leaping 6.09m in the long jump, but Sulek produced a lifetime best of 2:16.97 in the 800m to regain the lead and take victory with a PB of 4442. Mokhnyuk, who finished eight seconds adrift of Sulek in the final event, scored 4393 for second place.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Mondo Duplantis improved the world lead in the pole vault to 6.03m at the Perche Elite Tour Meeting in Rouen, France, on Saturday (6).

World Athletics Indoor Tour round-up: Duplantis tops 6.03m in Rouen, world leads from Sagnia and Lillemets

Golden Spike meeting director Jan Zelezny today announced the latest top names for the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on 8 September.
Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, who leads the world lists this year with his lifetime best of 22.91m, will try to maintain his winning streak. The world silver medallist, who last week threw 22.56m in Des Moines, will have one eye on the meeting record of 22.27m set last year by Tom Walsh.
Triple jump rivals Christian Taylor, Hugues Fabrice Zango and Pedro Pablo Pichardo will clash again. Zango came out on top in Szekesfehervar earlier this month, leaping a world-leading 17.43m to finish just ahead of Taylor (17.34m) with Pichardo in third (17.28m).
In the men&rsquo;s 5000m, world silver medallist and world U20 record-holder Selemon Barega will target the meeting record of 12:48.81 set in 2003 by Saif Saeed Shaheen, the steeplechase world record-holder.
Two-time world champion Sam Kendricks will face 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie and Olympic champion Thiago Braz in the men&rsquo;s pole vault, while the women&rsquo;s event features Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw, winner at the recent Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, Swedish record-holder Michaela Meijer and Slovenian record-holder Tina Sutej.
In the women&rsquo;s 300m hurdles, two-time world champion Zuzana Hejnova &ndash; who holds the world best for the rarely-run event at 38.16 &ndash; will be up against world leader Femke Bol, European champion Lea Sprunger and Britain&rsquo;s Jessie Knight.
Several other clashes had been announced previously, including Sifan Hassan taking on Letesenbet Gidey in the 5000m, Daniel Stahl, Andrius Gudzius and Kristjan Ceh in the discus, and Babora Spotakova and Sara Kolak in the javelin.
Organisers for World Athletics

Golden Spike meeting director Jan Zelezny today announced the latest top names for the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on 8 September.

Crouser, Taylor, Bol and Barega confirmed for Ostrava

Living up to his star billing, Armand Duplantis came painstakingly close to breaking the world record in the pole vault on Tuesday (4) night at the PSD Meeting Dusseldorf, the third stop on the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour.
After early massive clearances at 5.80m, a world-leading 5.90m, a meeting record 5.95m and then his fifth career clearance at 6.00m, Duplantis hoped his momentum would take him where none have traveled before. He had the bar raised to 6.17m, one centimetre better than Renaud Lavillenie's world record set six years ago.
After a solid first attempt, his second was painfully close, the cross bar first nudged slightly with his knee on the way up and brushed by his arm on the way down. Nonetheless it was the best jump of the 20-year-old's career, and one of the finest vaults in history. His last wasn't as good but strong enough to leave the impression that more world record attempts will be in the offing soon.
Was he expecting a near-miss at the world record in his first competition of the season?
"I thought it was possible," he said. "That second attempt at 6.17 was as good as I could have expected.
"Training's been going really well. I feel very fit, very in shape. You don't think that everything's going to be put together in your first meet just because you're physically fit. But it came together. It came together nicely, it came together at a good time. I'm excited about the rest of the season."
Sam Kendricks was second at 5.80m, and bowed out after one attempt at 5.90m and two at 6.00m.
<h3>Chepkoech breaks Kenyan indoor 1500m record</h3>
Duplantis&rsquo;s heroics produced one of the evening&rsquo;s six world-leading performances. The most impressive on the track came in the women's 1500m where Beatrice Chepkoech smashed her own Kenyan national indoor 1500m record.
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Beatrice Chepkoech wins the 1500m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Dusseldorf</div>
&nbsp;
Bouncing back from a disappointing fourth place finish in Karlsruhe, the 3000m steeplechase world record holder was clearly the dominating force in the race, upping the tempo as she broke away from the pacesetter with three-and-a-half laps to go. Only Axumawit Embaye, the winner in Karlsruhe, gave chase. But Chepkoech was relentless, clicking off nearly identical laps of 32.07 and 32.05 over laps five and six. The seventh, nearly a second quicker at 31.25, cushioned the Kenyan's lead and ultimately put it out of reach.
Her 4:02.09 performance, the fastest in the world this season, clipped 0.12 from the national record she set in Glasgow in 2018. It also took more than two seconds from the meeting record she set that same year.
Embaye's persistence was rewarded with a 4:02.96 season's best for second, earning her enough points to maintain her lead in the Tour standings. Winnie Nanyondo was third in 4:06.13, a national indoor record for Uganda.
Filip Ingebrigtsen's victory in the men's 1500 was even more dominant. Taking the lead with two laps to go, the Norwegian pulled away en route to a 3:36.32 win, another world lead, to keep the Dusseldorf 1500m title in family hands. Last year, his younger brother Jakob took the win. The mark clipped more than two seconds from his previous indoor best of 3:38.62.
Belgian Ismael Debjani was a distant second in 3:39.05, also a lifetime best, with Kenya's Vincent Kibet third in 3:39.49.
<h3>Barega takes 3000m showdown</h3>
Selemon Barega made good on his word to produce a fast race, winning his 3000m face-off with Bethwel Birgen after a gutsy battle over the final lap.&nbsp;
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Selemon Barega wins the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Dusseldorf</div>
&nbsp;
Running in his season's debut, Barega powered past the Kenyan as they entered the straight to take a convincing win in 7:35.71, another world lead, indoor personal best and meet record.
His Ethiopian compatriot Getnet Wale snuck in for second in 7:36.03 with Birgen, the winner in the Boston and Karlsruhe legs, next in 7:36.21, a personal best.
Another step behind, Birhanu Balew of Bahrain was fourth, his 7:38.67 breaking the Asian record.
<h3>Reuther end Kszczot's Dusseldorf reign</h3>
The first upset of the night came in the men's 800m where world indoor champion Adam Kszczot's streak of seven straight Dusseldorf victories finally came to an end. Fittingly, to local star Marc Reuther, who produced the biggest international win of his career before a hometown crowd.
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Marc Reuther wins the 800m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Dusseldorf</div>
&nbsp;
"Having the crowd behind me really helped push me past Kszczot," the winner said, after a convincing 1:46.13 win.
More accurately, not letting Kszczot past him.&nbsp;
Running in midpack through the first 400m, Kszczot looked to be doing what he does indoors so well: positioning himself for the kill over the final 100 metres. He moved into second with just over 120 metres to go, looking ready to pounce on Reuther as he chased the German around the final bend. But Reuther held him off there and again through the final straight to notch the win.
Reuther returned home after his world leading 1:45.39 in Erfurt two nights ago, so to say he was an underdog wouldn't be quite fair. But holding off a world champion will certainly serve as a confidence booster for the 23-year-old.
Amel Tuka was next in 1:47.29, but behind first section winner Marcin Lewandowski, who clocked 1:47.23 to finish third overall.
<h3>Mihaljevic dominates shot put&nbsp;</h3>
Filip Mihaljevic produced the finest indoor competition of his career, dominating the shot put and wrestling the world lead from Tomas Stanek in the process.
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Filip Mihaljevic, winner of the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Dusseldorf</div>
&nbsp;
Competing in his 2020 debut, the towering Croat threw beyond 21 metres on four of his five measured efforts, capped by a 21.52m effort in the second round to break the national record. He was fairly consistent as well, hitting 21.37m in the second round and 21.43m in the sixth. Mijahalovic, the world indoor bronze medallist in 2016, wasn't far from his 21.84m outdoor best set last year.
Poland's Konrad Bukowiecki was second with 20.92m, just ahead of Stanek, who reached 20.89m in round three.
<h3>Clemons and Al Youha speed to hurdles wins</h3>
Christina Clemons, the meeting record holder in the 60m hurdles, defended her turf, sneaking by the field in lane 8 to take the win in 7.91, equalling her season's best. The world indoor silver medallist found herself midpack after three hurdles, but fought back in the waning stages to hold off German Cindy Roleder by 0.03.
Karlsruhe winner Tobi Amusan of Nigeria was third in 7.96. Clemons and Amusan will meet again in Torun on Saturday.
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Yaqoub Mohamed Al Youha on his way to winning the 60m hurdles at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Dusseldorf</div>
&nbsp;
Yaqoub Mohamed Al Youha of Kuwait scored an upset in the men's race, scorching to a 7.54 win, moving up to No. 2 all-time on the Asian lists. Konstantinos Douvalidis was second in 7.61.
Gina Bass and CJ Ujah capped the action on the track with wins in the 60m.
Competing in just her second indoor competition, Bass clocked 7.16 to break her own national indoor record for The Gambia. Ajla del Ponte of Switzerland was a distant second in 7.27, just ahead of Karlsruhe winner Shania Collins, who clocked 7.28.&nbsp;
Ujah equalled his career best of 6.53 to hold off Brandon Carnes of the US who clocked 6.56. European champion Jan Volko was just another tick back in 6.57, equalling his own Slovak national record.
<h3>De Witte notches first Tour win</h3>
Lisanne De Witte kicked off the main programme with a convincing victory in the 400m. Running in the first section, the Dutch record holder held off Poland's Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, the European champion outdoors, by nearly two-tenths of a second in 52.30, a new indoor personal best, to move atop the Tour standings. The Pole, who was making her indoor debut, clocked 52.49. Lea Sprunger of Switzerland won the second section in 52.50, also a season's best, to finish third.
Neele Eckhardt's second round leap of 14.17m was enough for the victory in the women's triple jump, another world lead and a personal best for the German. Patricia Mamona of Portugal was second with 14.09m.
The World Athletics Indoor Tour resumes with the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland, on Saturday.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Living up to his star billing, Armand Duplantis came painstakingly close to breaking the world record in the pole vault on Tuesday (4) night at the PSD Meeting Dusseldorf, the third stop on the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour.