If there’s one thing Shamier Little knows how to do, it’s how to bounce back.

Little's road to redemption leads to Eugene

Noah Lyles offered another fluent demonstration at Lausanne&rsquo;s Athletissima IAAF Diamond League fixture tonight (5) that he could be the next big thing in the men&rsquo;s sprints as he equalled his 2018 world-leading time and personal best of 19.69 to win a 200metres stacked with talent from his equally young compatriots.
It was another hugely talented US athlete, Michael Norman &ndash; who won last month&rsquo;s NCAA 400m title in a 2018 world-leading 43.61 and followed up with a 200m victory in Paris last Saturday in 19.84 &ndash; who led into the final straight, but Lyles moved smoothly past his right shoulder over the final 50 metres.
Norman clocked 19.88, with Ecuador&rsquo;s Alex Quinonez third in 20.08, one place ahead of Norman&rsquo;s University of Southern California team-mate Rai Benjamin, winner of his own NCAA title over 400m hurdles in 47.02, who clocked 20.16.
After doing a no doubt carefully choreographed dance of celebration, Lyles pronounced himself &ldquo;very pleased&rdquo; to have matched his best time, although he added: &ldquo;It could have been faster.&rdquo;
<h3>Mihambo edges Spanovic</h3>
Germany&rsquo;s Malaika Mihambo earned a dramatic victory in the women&rsquo;s long jump as, with her last effort, she matched the lead of 6.90m that Olympic bronze medallist Ivana Spanovic had established with her first effort, winning by virtue of a better second jump &ndash; which, at 6.70m, was just three centimetres farther than the Serbian&rsquo;s second best.
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Malaika Mihambo takes a big win in Lausanne</div>
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Spanovic, third in this year&rsquo;s world lists with 6.99m, had one final chance to tip the result her way, but could only manage 6.62m.
Colombia&rsquo;s reigning Olympic triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen did her best to add to the drama as she produced her best of the night with a final effort of 6.77m to take third place.
&ldquo;I am very happy it came together,&rdquo; said Mihambo. &ldquo;The Berlin European Championships are a huge target for me, especially competing at home.&rdquo;
It was a disappointing evening for the two Britons involved &ndash; Shara Proctor was fifth with 6.62m, and Lorraine Ugen, who heads the current world lists with the 7.05m she produced to win the national title last weekend, was seventh with 6.48m.
For Olympic champion Tianna Bartoletta of the United States, however, the evening was even worse as she was unable to start.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault was similarly tight, and won eventually by Greece&rsquo;s world and Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi, although it needed a season&rsquo;s best of 4.82m for her to do so, with the &ldquo;revitalised&rdquo; 36-year-old London 2012 champion Jenn Suhr of the United States matching her height but taking second place on countback.
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Katerina Stefanidi takes the win in Lausanne</div>
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Countback also determined the third-placed competitor, Anzhelika Sidorova, with New Zealand&rsquo;s Eliza McCartney fourth with the best record of four vaulters clearing 4.72m.
McCartney&rsquo;s compatriot, the world shot put champion Tomas Walsh, earned victory in unanswerable fashion with a late effort of 21.92m that rendered all the previous shifts in competition irrelevant.
<h3>Walsh threatens 22 metres</h3>
Darrell Hill of the United States, the defending Diamond League champion, had established an opening lead with an effort of 21.04m, only for Poland&rsquo;s Michal Haratyk to move past him in the fourth round with 21.21m.
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Tom Walsh in Lausanne</div>
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However the blue touch paper was already lit under the Kiwi &ndash;and in round five &ndash; boom! 21.92m. By the way he walked away you knew he knew the job was done, even before the scoreboard confirmed the distance.
Although the man with whom he has boxed-and-coxed for most of the season, US Olympic champion Ryan Crouser, is hors de combat after injuring himself during the national championships, Walsh, who leads the 2018 world list with 22.67m, is ticking all the boxes he can to establish his own pre-eminence.
In the absence of Qatar&rsquo;s world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim, who injured his ankle in attempting a world record height of 2.46m in Hungary on Monday night, Authorised Neutral Athlete Danil Lysenko made the most of his opportunity, winning with a season&rsquo;s best of 2.37m.
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Danil Lysenko jumps to victory in Lausanne</div>
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Australia&rsquo;s Brandon Starc and Jeron Robinson of the United States took second and third respectively after clearing 2.29. Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi, still seeking the fitness he lost in a traumatic moment of injury on the brink of the Rio Olympics, cleared 2.25 but finished last on countback.
<h3>One centimetre separates Taylor from Pichardo</h3>
One centimetre was all that separated perennial men&rsquo;s triple jump rivals Christian Taylor and Pedro Pablo Pichardo &ndash; and it was the US world and Olympic champion who did enough to win with a third round of 17.62m that overtook the Cuban&rsquo;s second round lead.
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Another Lausanne victory for Christian Taylor</div>
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Shamier Little of the United States won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in a season&rsquo;s best of 53.41 after running neck and neck down the home straight with Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell, second in a personal best of 53.46 ahead of Little&rsquo;s compatriot Georganne Moline, who clocked 53.90.
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Shamier Little en route to her 400m hurdles win in Lausanne</div>
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Nikola Ogrodnikova of the Czech Republic won the women&rsquo;s javelin with a best of 65.02m, although China&rsquo;s Liu Shiying looked briefly as if she might have turned things round with her last effort before it was confirmed as being 64.46.
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Lausanne javelin throw winner Nikola Ogrodnikova</div>
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Slovenia&rsquo;s Martina Ratej was third with 63.28.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Noah Lyles offered another fluent demonstration at Lausanne’s Athletissima IAAF Diamond League fixture tonight (5) that he could be the next big thing in the men’s sprints as he equalled his 2018 world-leading time and personal best of 19.69 to win a 200 metres stacked with talent from his equally young compatriots.

Lyles takes 200m showdown in Lausanne - IAAF Diamond League

A US triple jump record from Keturah Orji of the University of Georgia and a dominant sprint double from University of Oregon sprinter Ariana Washington highlighted the final day of the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday (11).&nbsp;
Orji's jump of&nbsp;14.53m broke Tiombe Hurd's 12-year-old national mark of 14.45m by eight centimetres and moved her to seventh in the world this year. The 20-year-old, who finished fourth in the triple jump at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland earlier this year, had a previous best of 14.29m, which didn't appear to be under threat after a foul and three jumps of 13.93m, 13.98m and 13.96m during Saturday's competition.
However, in the fifth&nbsp;round Orji broke new ground, leaping out to 14.53m (1.2m/s) to set a US record, which was more than good enough to take her second successive NCAA title&nbsp;ahead of runner-up Simone Charley of Vanderbilt, who jumped 13.77m.
"I can never tell how far I jumped, but I can tell if it was a good jump, and that fifth-round jump I was really happy with," Orji told reporters afterwards. "When I fouled my first jump, it messed up my run-up to the second, so my timing was off for a bit. This is a really good ending to my collegiate career and hopefully I can carry this into the [Olympic] trials."
On the track,&nbsp;Ariana Washington was the undoubted star performer, the 19-year-old student thrilling the crowds at the University of Oregon with a commanding sprint double.&nbsp;
Washington came from behind to win the 100m title in 10.95, a run aided by a following wind of 2.6m/s, just holding off Ashley Henderson of San Diego State, who was runner-up in 10.96.&nbsp;
Just 45 minutes later, Washington was back on track for the 200m final, and this time her closest challenge was presented by a teammate, Deajah Stevens. However, Washington was once again too strong, too fast, and looked composed as she stormed across the line to win in 22.21 (1.9m/s) ahead of Stevens, 22.25, the fifth and sixth fastest times in the world this year. Harvard's Gabrielle Thomas took third in 22.47. &nbsp;
<h3>World lead for Little, Okolo a class apart</h3>
In the women's 400m hurdles, there was never any doubt where the title was headed, as world silver medallist Shamier Little appeared to have that secured, barring an injury or accident. The only question was how fast the Texas A&amp;M student could go.&nbsp;
The answer: very fast.&nbsp;
Little powered around the track and left her competitors trailing as she clocked a world-leading time of 53.51, a personal best by 0.23 which gave her a third successive NCAA title. Behind her there was a yawning gap back to the second-placed athlete, Kentucky's Kiah Seymour, who ran 54.67, while Arizona's Sage Watson took third in 54.85.&nbsp;
Little's brilliance&nbsp;was&nbsp;matched&nbsp;in the other one-lap event, the 400m, as Courtney Okolo of the University of Texas blazed to a 50.36-second clocking to retain the title she won back in 2014.&nbsp;
Okolo, 22, is currently the second fastest 400m runner in the world, having run 49.71 in Baton Rouge in April, but windy conditions prevented her repeating that sub-50-second performance in Eugene.&nbsp;
After a steady opening 200 metres, her acceleration on the turn carried her clear of the field, and&nbsp;she came home well ahead of runner-up Taylor Ellis-Watson of Arkansas, who ran 50.86.&nbsp;
"I didn't run the first part of my race as I should have, but I'm happy," said Okolo. "I wanted to get the meet record, but I'll have other opportunities to run fast."
A little over an hour later, Okolo returned to the track to anchor Texas in the 4x400m, and when she received the baton just 10 metres in arrears for the final leg, the fate of her competitors looked to be sealed.&nbsp;
Okolo once again ran a steady opening 200 metres, before blasting to the front midway down the home straight, carrying her college to victory in 3:27.64 ahead of the University of Arkansas, 3:27.94.&nbsp;
In the 4x100m, Louisiana State University continued their dominance, powering to victory in 42.65 ahead of the University of Southern California in 42.90.&nbsp;Aided by their individual sprint stars, the University of Oregon finished a close third in 42.91.&nbsp;
While the US may dominate the present in terms of the 100m hurdles, Kentucky's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn showed the powerhouse may come under threat in future. In a race where the first six athlete smashed the 13-second barrier, aided by a wind of 3.8m/s, the Puerto Rican took a decisive win in 12.54.&nbsp;
<h3>Collegiate steeplecase record for Frerichs&nbsp;</h3>
Courtney Frerichs enjoyed a solo run to victory in the women's 3000m steeplechase, but in truth, the New Mexico student had more than just the NCAA title in her sights.
Frerichs had in mind the collegiate record of 9:25.54, run by Jenny Simpson back in 2009, and after seven-and-a-half laps of composed running, it was mission accomplished as she came home a distant winner in 9:24.41.
There was an equally dominant winner in the women's 800m, albeit one who employed very different tactics. Shea Collinsworth of Brigham Young University led through 400m in 59.40 and 600m in 1:30.95, but it was then that Raevyn Rogers of the University of Oregon surged to the lead, opening an immediate advantage and running a 29.64 last 200m to take the title in 2:00.75.
After a two-day duel between pre-event favourites Akela Jones and Kendell Williams, the heptathlon came to an exciting end on Saturday.
Williams took an early lead in the 100m hurdles, the event in which she is the world junior champion, after clocking 12.83 to Jones' 13.10. Jones closed the gap to just three points after the high jump, clearing 1.81m to Williams' 1.78m, and then went into a clear lead after producing 14.75m in the shot, more than two metres farther than Williams' best effort.
Jones ended the day by posting a marginally faster time than Williams in the 200m, 23.73 to 23.78, to bring her day-one tally to 3951, 141 points in front of the defending champion.
The second day started with the event in which Jones is the world junior champion, the long jump. As was the case in the high jump, the Kansas State student was some way down on her best, but her 6.37m leap kept her comfortably in front of Williams, who managed 6.13m.
Williams closed the gap a bit in the javelin, throwing 40.30m to Jones' 34.56m, but still faced the tough task of having to beat Jones by 7.59 seconds in the 800m to challenge for the overall victory.
In the final event, Jones went off too quick and paid the price for it, having to jog the final 200m to cross the line in 2:39.04. Williams judged her effort much better and came home in 2:17.89 to successfully defend her title with a score of 6225. Jones' mistake proved costly as she slipped to third with 6063, 25 points behind Erica Bougard.
South African distance star Dominique Scott made it a distance double in the 5000m, employing similar tactics that carried her to victory in the 10,000m earlier in the week, changing gears on the penultimate lap and breezing to victory in 15:57.07.&nbsp;
The women's 1500m saw Mississippi State's Marta Freitas take victory in 4:09.53, a win she almost gifted to Stanford's Elise Cranny after celebrating early. Cranny finished just one hundredth of a second behind in 4:09.54.&nbsp;
Wisconsin's Kelsey Card took victory in the women's discus, her best effort of 63.52m coming in the fifth round, while in the women's high jump, the title went to Kansas State's&nbsp;Kimberly Williamson, who cleared 1.88m.&nbsp;
The University of Florida won the men's team title, while the University of Arkansas won the women's team event, taking victory ahead of the hosts, the University of Oregon.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF&nbsp;

A US triple jump record from Keturah Orji of the University of Georgia and a dominant sprint double from University of Oregon sprinter Ariana Washington highlighted the final day of the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday (11). 

Orji and Washington the stars on final day of NCAA Championships

Just 20 years old, Shamier Little has already banked world junior, NCAA and US 400m hurdles titles. The US athlete also won a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing and here she takes time out of her busy life to answer our personal bests questions.&nbsp; <h3>My best achievement in athletics</h3>I may have won a silver medal at the World Championships, but I would say becoming world leader this season (she first achieved the feat with a 54.68 run in May and then did so again by running 53.74 to secure the NCAA title in Eugene). To become a world leader at such a young age is big. That is when everybody starts to turn their attention on you. To have that world-leading mark, which appears in the corner of every women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles race screened on TV, is major.&nbsp; <h3>My greatest rival</h3>I would say I have two. One would be the Jamaican hurdler Janeive Russell. She won gold at the 2012 World Juniors in Barcelona, which was a final I failed to finish. From that point on I&rsquo;ve always kept a close eye on her and managed to beat her in the 2015 World Championship final, where she finished fifth.The other would be Keni Harrison (the NCAA 100m hurdles champion and 400m hurdles silver medallist who also reached the semi-finals in the 100m hurdles at the 2015 World Championships). We haven&rsquo;t raced very often but because she has such a great reputation and is such a good hurdler, I always have butterflies when I compete against her. I know because of her quality we are really going to push each other.<h3>My best friend in athletics</h3>Latario Collie-Minns, the Bahamian triple jumper (the 2011 world youth champion and 2012 world junior bronze medallist). He and his twin, Lathone, are like brothers to me. He is a year older than me and started at Texas A&amp;M the year before I did. We are both quiet, but secretly very goofy. They taught me so much. We have got really close over the past few years. <h3>The best track venue</h3>The Barcelona Olympic Stadium, where I competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships. It is a blue track and I like blue tracks. Competing there was really a turning point for me. It was first time away from the US and I remember everything about the meet including even my bib number. The beach was nice. It was so different to life in the US.<h3>My best achievement outside of athletics</h3>It would be attending Texas A&amp;M and getting an education. I major in agriculture leadership and that is big for me. The course teaches me how to be a leader, which is important because I&rsquo;m quiet and more a go-with-the-flow type of person.<h3>My greatest disappointment&nbsp;&nbsp; </h3>I was ranked No.2 in the country as a sixth grader for the 200m hurdles going into the National (age-group) Championships, but I got a hip flexor injury beforehand. I ran the first round, but it was terrible and I had to stop. I was devastated at the time because I had been really excited by the event.&nbsp; <h3>My greatest indulgence</h3>Cookies. I could eat six cookies a day! I have cut back from that, but it is a major thing for me &ndash; eating and baking cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are my favourite. I could easily get a big tub and eat six cookies.<h3>My greatest race</h3>I think it would be in Eugene when I won the NCAAs earlier this year in a world-leading time of 53.74. I became a world leader and since that point it has meant all eyes have been on me.Steve Landells for the IAAF

Just 20 years old, Shamier Little has already banked world junior, NCAA and US 400m hurdles titles. The US athlete also won a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing and here she takes time out of her busy life to answer our personal bests questions.  

Personal bests – Shamier Little

Zuzana Hejnova came to Beijing to defend her world title from Moscow two year, and after an injury-stricken 2014, in the final she had to deal with the whole new generation of fast and fierce ladies. But the Czech&rsquo;s execution in Wednesday night&rsquo;s race was impossible to match.Many expected this final to turn into a duel between Hejnova and Jamaica&rsquo;s Kaliese Spencer. Spencer was dominant in 2014, winning the Diamond Race title and the Commonwealth Games. She started this season off strong, as well, and despite missing more than a month through injury mid-summer, the Jamaican in Beijing looked strong and confident.But, as so often happens in the hurdles, one small mistake can turn the race upside down. Spencer caught on the second hurdle, and even though she kept running, her involvement in the chase for a medal was effectively over.In the meantime, USA&rsquo;s Cassandra Tate, just like in preliminary rounds, went out the fastest and was confidently leading throughout the first half of the lap. On the bend, however, the American started to visibly tire out and lose her rhythm, having to curtail her steps before attacking hurdles.Hejnova, in turn, was flawless, once again proving that the second half of the race is definitely her forte. A 2:03 800m runner and a sub-52 400m runner, the Czech successfully uses her speed endurance to maintain rhythm and stay aggressive, when the lactic acid starts to flow.On the home straight, Hejnova was already in the lead. And, to make matters worse for her, Tate clipped the ninth hurdle with her trail leg, losing her last realistic hopes for victory.Crossing the line in 53.50, a 2015 world-leading time, Zuzana Hejnova also made the history in addition to sending the small contingent of Czech fans into rapture. Despite the illustrious roll-of-honour, she became the first ever athlete to successfully defend the world title in this event.Second place was taken by a Team USA representative, but it wasn&rsquo;t Tate who wilted over the final metres. The 2014 world junior champion and 2015 US champion Shamier Little had a rough path to the final. She had issues with her rhythm in the heats, finishing fourth with the second slowest qualifying time of the first round. In the semi-final, Little missed out on automatic qualification and but just scraped into the final on time.It&rsquo;s not surprising, pundits were saying, as the 20-year-old had every reason to be tired. She had a full collegiate season and managed to squeeze in a win at the Pan American Games across the border in China before the trip to China.&nbsp; But tonight, in lane two and the inside lane for the runners, Little just ran her own race, didn&rsquo;t make any noticeable mistakes, and finished second in 53.94. Just like Hejnova, the young athlete played her best cards at just the right moment and came away with her first global championship medal as a senior.It wasn&rsquo;t Little&rsquo;s fastest race of the season, her personal best remains the 53.74 that won her the US title in June, but the Texas A&amp;M student will not be too worried about that.Tate, despite the mishap on the home stretch, finished third in 54.02, just 0.01 off her personal best set when finishing behind Little at the US championships.Denmark&rsquo;s Sara Petersen, in many respects the discovery of this season, was finishing strong, but came just short up of a medal, taking fourth in 54.20; while Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell was fifth in a personal best of 54.64.Elena Dyachkova for the IAAF

Zuzana Hejnova came to Beijing to defend her world title from Moscow two year, and after an injury-stricken 2014, in the final she had to deal with the whole new generation of fast and fierce ladies. 

Report: women's 400m hurdles final – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr kept the crowd happy when she propelled herself over a world-leading 4.82m before having three unsuccessful tries at what would have been a US record of 4.93m in Eugene on Sunday (29).The world indoor record-holder had effectively clinched her seventh US outdoor title with a first-time clearance at 4.70m.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still working on a lot of things," said Suhr. "It&rsquo;s a challenge peaking for Worlds, because you&rsquo;ve also got to peak for this meet. You need to be on your game and you won&rsquo;t be going to worlds."After a silver medal at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow two years ago, and having never won a world title indoors or out, Suhr will go to Beijing later this summer as the favourite for a gold medal, which will hang alongside the one she won in London.Justin Gatlin won the 200m in a personal best of 19.57 which was also a world-leading mark as well as a stadium and meeting record.Gatlin&rsquo;s training partner Isiah Young finished a distant second in 19.93.<h3>Kovacs successfully defends shot title</h3>Joe Kovacs won a classy shot put competition and successfully defended his US title with 21.84m as three other men went beyond 21 metres. The 2009 world champion Christian Cantwell made his fourth World Championships team with 21.64m while Jordan Clarke will make his debut at the event after finishing third with a personal best of 21.49m.One man to surprisingly miss out was two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting who could do no better than seventh with 20.79m. It will be no consolation that nobody has ever put so far but finished so low down the results.Shamier Little, wearing what has now become a familiar neon-green bow in her hair, was just short of her world-leading 53.74 set on the same track when winning the NCAA crown two weeks ago but took the 400m hurdles title with 53.83."There was a lot of commotion on the final turn. People were hitting hurdles, one girl fell," said Little. "I told myself, &lsquo;OK, the race begins now'."Behind her, Cassandra Tate made another big improvement. After running a personal best of 54.51 in the semi-finals, Tate sliced exactly half a second off her best when finishing second in 54.01.<h3>Oliver finds his best form</h3>World 110m hurdles champion David Oliver showed that he is rounding nicely into his best form ahead of Beijing by winning his specialist event in 13.04, having set a season&rsquo;s best of 13.08 earlier in the day as the fastest man in the semi-finals.Jenna Prandini won the 200m on what, as a University of Oregon student, she calls her home track in 22.20 (0.4m/s)Behind Prandini, Candace McGrone took second in 22.38 and Jeneba Tarmoh third in 22.44.In fourth place was world junior champion Kaylin Whitney, who is still only 17 and who set a world youth best of 22.47, shaving 0.02 off her own mark she has clocked on two previous occasions.Omar Craddock won the men&rsquo;s triple jump with 17.53m ahead of two-time world bronze medallist Will Claye, who had a best of 17.48m.Long jump winner Marquis Dendy also qualified for the US team in the triple jump after finishing third in 17.23m. All three men, as well as Christian Taylor who won last year&rsquo;s Diamond Race and will also compete in the Beijing triple jump, are products of the University of Florida.Barbara Nwaba won the heptathlon, part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge, with 6500 points prevailing over Sharon Day-Monroe by just 42 points after the pair had battled for supremacy since the third event.<h3>Meeting record for Jager</h3>Evan Jager won his fourth US title in the 3000m steeplechase as he took control with a kilometre remaining and unleashed his signature kick to win in a meeting record 8:12.29. Donn Cabral set a personal best of 8:13.29 for second place.In the men&rsquo;s 800m, Nick Symmonds captured his sixth US national title in 1:44.53 ahead of Eric Sowinski, who was second in 1:44.53, with training partner Casimir Loxsom third in 1:45.35. Symmonds was in last place at the bell as Duane Solomon went through 400m in 49.76."I did say (before the race) if Duane goes out in 49 and 1:16 (for 600 metres) he's going to take some people with him that might not be able to maintain that pace," said Symmonds, who was fifth with 250m to go. "When Duane said he's going to make the race honest, it helps me out a lot. If I'm going to go from eighth to first, it's a lot easier to do that in the outside of lane one than in lane three trying to battle bodies."One year after giving birth to her daughter, and famously running in the championships 12 months ago while seven months pregnant, Alysia Montano captured her sixth US 800m title in 1:59.15.The US contingent for Beijing will be the same three women that went to the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Brenda Martinez finished in second in 1:59.71 as Ajee Wilson closed for third place, wearing just one shoe, in 2:00.05. "I really don&rsquo;t think that I would&rsquo;ve been able to do such an amazing feat and winning another championship after pregnancy," said Montano. "I didn&rsquo;t think a national championship would happen this soon."The women&rsquo;s 5000m saw the top three separated by less than one second. Nicole Tully was the first woman across the finish line in 15:06.44 ahead of Marielle Hall, who was second in 15:06.45, with Abbey D&rsquo;Agostino third in 15:06.59. Ryan Hill stunned the Hayward Field crowd as he upset local hero Galen Rupp to win a slow men&rsquo;s 5000m in 13:50.69.&nbsp; Ben True, second in 13:51.09, also finished ahead of Rupp, who was third in 13:51.54.The 2011 world champion Jenny Simpson had little trouble coming home faster than everyone else down the home straight of the women&rsquo;s 1500m to win, albeit in the modest time of 4:14.86. Chris Chavez for the IAAF

Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr kept the crowd happy when she propelled herself over a world-leading 4.82m before having three unsuccessful tries at what would have been a US record of 4.93m in Eugene on Sunday (29).

Suhr and Gatlin post world-leading marks at US Championships

Shamier Little moved to the top of the 2015 world 400m hurdles list with her 53.74 run to win at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on Saturday (13).Sporting a bright yellow flower in her hair, Little had to come from behind to win down the home straight and overhaul Keni Harrison, who had won the 100m hurdles earlier, on the run in after the 10th hurdle.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t see her until the eighth hurdle,&rdquo; the 20-year-old Little told local reporters after successfully defending the title she won in 2014. &ldquo;I knew we were pretty close so I knew I had to keep my form, that was the only way I was going to be in contention for the victory. I just went after it and gave it my all; that last few metres after the 10th hurdle is a killer.&rdquo;It was a huge personal best for the Texas A&amp;M student, who took the world junior title less than 12 months ago on the same Hayward Field tack. She started the summer with 55.07, the time she ran to win the 2014 NCAA title as a teenager. She brought that time down to 54.68 last month and has now become the first woman to run faster than 54 seconds this year.Harrison also made a huge improvement to 54.09 and although she finished as the runner-up to Little for the second consecutive year in the 400m hurdles, she did leave Eugene with an NCAA title to her name after winning the 100m hurdles in 12.55, helped by a following wind of 1.7m/s.Behind Harrison, Cindy Ofili &ndash; sister of the well-known British international hurdler Tiffany Porter who was a three-time NCAA 100m hurdles winner &ndash; improved by 0.21 to 12.60 to take second.Behind the leading pair, third-place finisher Dior Hall improved the world junior record (subject to conforming with the ratification procedures) with 12.74.The previous mark of 12.84 had stood to Cuba's Aliuska Lopez since 1987, nine years before the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships silver medallist was born.Jenna Prandini, running on her home track as a University of Oregon student, won the 100m in a wind-assisted 10.96 (3.1m/s), just getting the verdict from Morolake Akinsun who was 0.01 in arrears.Prandini almost made it a double later in the afternoon but had to settle for second in a thrilling 200m which saw Dezerea Bryant, who had been third in the 100m, speed to a 22.18 victory.Prandini was second in 22.21 while Kamaria Brown and Kyra Jefferson &ndash; the latter possibly the slight favourite after being the fastest in Thursday&rsquo;s semi-finals with 22.26 &ndash; were third and fourth but given the same time of 22.24. The first six women home all set personal bests, helped by a 1.9m/s breeze on their backs.<h3>Home knowledge helps Oregon to title</h3>Another home triumph for the University of Oregon, which followed in the footsteps of their male counterparts on Friday and won the overall women&rsquo;s team title, was delivered by Raevyn Rogers over two laps of the track.Natoya Goule, who was to eventually finish sixth, controlled the race for the first 600m but, going into the final bend, the 18-year-old Rogers went through the gears and pulled away to win in personal best of 1:59.71.&ldquo;I still can&rsquo;t believe that happened,&rdquo; said the 2013 world youth bronze medallist, who admitted that she had almost been overcome by pre-race nerves and vomited twice. &ldquo;I just wanted to win, and I was going to accept whatever. I wasn&rsquo;t aiming for 1:59, but I was just happy that it came with me trying to focus on my race.&rdquo;The pick of the field events on Saturday was the triple jump, won by Keturah Orji.Like Rogers, Orji was also a bronze medallist two years ago in Donetsk but she showed her growing maturity to add 17cm to her best with a second-round leap of 14.15m, breaking the US junior record in the process. In addition to the win, it was also partial compensation for Orji after a below-par long jump competition on Thursday, when she could do no better than seventh.Shelbi Vaughan, a Texas A&amp;M team-mate of Little&rsquo;s, won the discus with 61.39m, more than two metres ahead of her nearest rival."It wasn&rsquo;t the series I was hoping for,&rdquo; said Vaughan, despite having had the best winning distance for 11 years. &ldquo;My back was tightening up on me a little bit, so I couldn&rsquo;t get it around much, but I&rsquo;m really happy with another victory and defending my title.&rdquo;Times in the long distance events were relatively modest, partly due to the gusting wind which helped produce good performances in the sprints and hurdles, but British runner Rhianwedd Price still managed to win the 1500m in a personal best of 4:09.56, holding off Shelby Houlihan in a battle for the line, the latter finishing second in a best of 4:09.67.Colleen Quigley took the 3000m steeplechase in a personal best of 9:29.32.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Shamier Little moved to the top of the 2015 world 400m hurdles list with her 53.74 run to win at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on Saturday (13).

Little wins NCAA 400m hurdles in world-leading 53.74

At the 13th Johnson/JJK Invitational in the US town of Westwood, shot putter Joe Kovacs reached a lifetime best of 22.35m on Saturday (11), the longest distance in the world since 2010.His big put came in the third round and he also had three other valid efforts between 21.15m and 21.77m in his first competition of 2015 after having given the indoor competitions a miss.Kovacs' previous best was 22.03m, the best in the world outdoors last year, when he won the 2014 US title last JuneBut before Saturday, that was actually his last victory as his best form seemed to desert him during July and August on the international circuit in Europe, apart from finishing second at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London when he reached 21.44mTia Brooks won the women&rsquo;s shot in Westwood with 18.49m. Brazil&rsquo;s throwers were also on form in California. Jucilene de Lima won the women's javelin with 61.23m and Fernanda Borges took the discus with 62.80m.The best mark on the track came in the women&rsquo;s 200m, with Kimberly Duncan clocking 23.07 into a 0.9 metres-per-second breeze.Olympic 400m champion Kirani James opened his 2015 campaign in fine style when he ran 44.31 at the 36th Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, his fastest ever start to the season. His compatriot Bralon Taplin was second in a personal best of 44.89.In the women&rsquo;s 100m, Muna Lee won in 11.21 (0.4m/s) while there were some good times in the 200m with Kamaria Brown the best woman in 23.01 (0.0m/s) and South Africa&rsquo;s Anaso Jobodwana winning the men&rsquo;s event in 20.38 (0.6m/s).World record-holder Aries Merritt won the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles in 13.29 while world junior 400m hurdles champion Shamier Little won her specialist event in 56.43.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

At the 13th Johnson/JJK Invitational in the US town of Westwood, shot putter Joe Kovacs reached a lifetime best of 22.35m on Saturday (11), the longest distance in the world since 2010.

Kovacs 22.35m shot put, Kirani James 44.31 season openers

The cry of jubilation Shamier Little let loose on crossing the finish line in the women’s 400m hurdles might have been one of relief.Her 55.66 victory gave her the fifth-fastest junior mark of the year: Little now owns four of those five, all run here at Hayward Field.“To go 55 seconds, and this being my third time doing it (in finals), it's great,” said Little after the race. “I didn't know what my time would be but it felt great. Most hurdlers get out fast. I do, too, but it's a different kind of fast.”Little’s race was under control through to the seventh hurdle, when she visibly pulled away from the field and escaped to the win.“I don't like to run off of anybody,” Little explained. “I got to about 150m [to go] when I felt I had it. My coach was screaming around the ninth or 10th hurdle. I was just focusing on getting my feet down and getting my trail leg over.”It was Little’s second time in a World Junior Championships 400m hurdles final. In Barcelona, poised to pick up a medal, Little tumbled to the track over the last hurdle and did not finish. She had entered that meeting with the third-fastest junior mark in the world and a reasonable hope of a medal; she left with only motivation to do better next time.In 2013, Little clocked 58.80 over high school barriers at the Penn Relays. A Chicago native, Little’s Illinois state federation contests 300m hurdles rather than 400m hurdles, so she had little opportunity to contest the longer race. She returned with a vengeance as a Texas A&amp;M first-year student in 2014.Between her collegiate campaign, which culminated in an NCAA title at the same Hayward Field track which hosted the US Junior Championships and the World Juniors, Little has run faster than 56 seconds a total of five times in 2014, four of them at Hayward Field. Seven of the top 10 junior times in 2014 also belong to Little.The 55.07 she ran in June to take the NCAA title makes her the second-fastest US junior ever, behind only Lashinda Demus, the 2002 world junior champion and 2011 world champion. After that, the US junior title was almost a formality for Little on the way to the World Juniors.Little’s mother often travels to see her daughter compete. A good basketball player at Eastern Tennessee University, Little’s mother cleared 1.72m in the high jump. She steered Little into athletics at the age of eight and encouraged her to run the long hurdles, even though Little still says: “I didn’t like the 400m, why would I like the hurdles?”Little’s mother selected the stars-and-stripes hair bow she wore in the World Junior Championships final and was yelling excitedly from high in the stands halfway down the home straight on Saturday. “My mom probably has the scrapbook for this year all planned out,” said Little. “It'll go in there and then I'll find a new bow for the next competition.”She cites Queen Harrison, who ran the 100m hurdles at the 2013 IAAF World Championships but the 400m hurdles in 2011 and at the London 2012 Olympic Games, as her athletics inspiration, and the two occasionally correspond on Twitter.The obvious parallels, though, are with Demus, the 2011 world champion in the 400m hurdles. Demus’ winning time at the 2002 World Junior Championships was a world junior record at the time, 54.70, and the championship came after Demus won an NCAA title as a first-year student at the University of South Carolina.Her course from World Juniors to a senior championship was far from straight; to make the 2008 US Olympic team she had to run in the Trials barely a year after her twin sons were born. The 400m hurdles is an event where most juniors need several years of additional development to make an impact at the senior level, and Demus’s experience shows that Little, whose journey at the 400m distance has barely begun, has a clear course to follow.&nbsp; Parker Morse for the IAAF

The cry of jubilation Shamier Little let loose on crossing the finish line in the women’s 400m hurdles might have been one of relief.

Little no longer a diminutive figure in the world of hurdling

Triumph and tragedy has seemed to accompany the USA senior 4x100m teams in equal amounts in recent years but their junior counterparts showed their elders how to slickly pass the baton with two superb wins at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 on Saturday (26).The men take pride of place by virtue of crossing the line in 38.70, the third-fastest junior performance in history, only bettered by their compatriots at the 2004 and 2012 championships.Jalen Miller produced a sold first leg and handed off to 100m silver medallist Trayvon Bromell, who ran a terrific back straight to give the USA the edge over an inspired Japan.Kendal Williams, the 100m winner, had a slightly ragged bend but still handed over in the lead to 200m gold medallist Trentavis Friday who showed he could shine on Saturday as well after his feats the preceding night with a storming last leg that took his team clear of their Japanese rivals.Japan came home second in 39.02, just 0.01 shy of their Asian junior record that was set at the last championships two years ago in Barcelona. &nbsp;&nbsp;Kaylin Whitney anchored the USA home in the women’s 4x100m with a world-junior-leading 43.46, the eighth fastest junior time in history and the third quickest in the history of the World Junior Championships.Still 16, the Florida high school student completed an excellent week at Hayward Field, winning the 100m bronze on Wednesday then the 200m title on Friday before getting her second gold medal on Saturday afternoon with temperatures edging over 30 degrees Celsius..Teahna Daniels put the US team into the lead after the first exchange, ahead of Jamaica, Germany and Trinidad and Tobago.The hosts squad then had individual sprint finalists Ariana Washington and Jada Martin combine to give a comfortable lead to Whitney, who secured their country’s ninth world junior title in the event and the sixth consecutive one since 2004.Jamaica’s Sasha Forbes, Kedisha Dallas, Saqukine Cameron and Natalliah Whyte were a distant second in 43.97.No Little trips this timeShamier Little redeemed herself after her disappointment at the last edition of the championships in Barcelona two years ago when she fell at the last barrier while in medal contention, by taking the 400m hurdles title in convincing fashion with 55.66.The Texas A&amp;M student, who arrived in Eugene with the fastest junior time in the world when winning 55.07 at the NCAA Championships last month, ran a controlled first half of the race and hit the second bend even with Great Britain’s Shona Richards before going through the gears.Richards finished second in a national junior record of 56.16.Croatian discus throwing is on a high at the moment, and Martin Markovic did what his illustrious compatriot Sandra Perkovic was unable to do six years ago when the championships were held closer to home in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz and where she finished third, and bagged a world junior title.Markovic took the lead with his opening 64.70m and, after a foul, he unleashed the 1.75kg implement out to 66.94m, a national junior record by more than a metre as he became the third-best junior thrower ever.Germany’s Henning Prufer followed up his world youth silver medal with another of the same colour at junior level after a personal best throw of 64.18m in the fourth round.Rouguy Diallo took the women’s triple jump title with a massive wind-assisted 14.44m.Diallo, who led the qualification with a personal best of 13.77m, showed her superb form from the start when landed at a wind-assisted distance of 14.24m.After a foul in the second round, Diallo then improved to 14.44m with a 3.3m/s wind with her third effort to confirm her gold medal position. It was the second-longest leap under any conditions in the history of the World Junior Championships.She was then rewarded with a wind-legal French junior record of 14.20m in the following round to solidify her lead.Two-time Cuban junior champion Liadagmis Povea also had the best competition of her life, taking the silver medal with a windy 14.09m. Bahrain finally strikes goldThe women’s 3000m steeplechase title was captured by Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet in 9:36.74. Jebet simply ran away from the field over the last kilometre of the race to win Bahrain’s first ever IAAF World Junior Championships gold medal, and their first women’s medal of any hue.Kenya’s world youth champion Rosefline Chepngetich began surging at the end of the third lap in a bid break the pack up but then Jebet moved up and got to the front just before the 2000m mark, which was reached in 6:26.18. Chepgnetich and her teammate Daisy Jepkemei, the defending champion, ran away from the pack followed Jebet but had no response to her kick on the last lap and came home second and third respectively.Earlier in the afternoon, USA’s Tre’tez Kinnard was the fastest of the three men’s 800m semi-final winners in 1:48.04, but the favourite for the final on Sunday remains Kenya’s 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships gold medallist Alfred Kipketer, who was a comfortable winner of his semi-final in 1:48.67.At the end of the penultimate day of the championships, USA are leading the way on the medal table, the host nation having eight gold medals, four silver medals and five bronze medals. Russia and France are the next best with three gold medals apiece.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Triumph and tragedy has seemed to accompany the USA senior 4x100m teams in equal amounts in recent years but their junior counterparts showed their elders how to slickly pass the baton with two superb wins at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 on Saturday (26).

Day five report: Friday helps make Saturday special for the USA – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014

Shamier Little redeemed herself from her disappointment in Barcelona 2012 by taking the 400m hurdles title in convincing fashion with 55.66.The Texas A&amp;M student, who arrived in Eugene with the fastest junior time in the world when winning in 55.07 at the NCAA Championships last month, ran evenly with Great Britain’s Shona Richards in the first half of the race but took the lead around the second bend before she entered the homestretch.Little noticeably played it safe over the last hurdle and slowed down to avoid a repetition of the stumble that took her out of the medals in Barcelona two years ago. With her mother cheering up from the stands, Little finished strong off the final barrier to hold off fast-finishing Richard and fellow US hurdler Jade Miller.Richards and Miller were rewarded with British junior record of 56.16 and a personal best of 56.22 respectively.Three other athletes set personal bests, including Zurian Hechavarria, who improved the Cuban junior record to 56.89 to finish fourth.Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

Shamier Little redeemed herself from her disappointment in Barcelona 2012 by taking the 400m hurdles title in convincing fashion with 55.66.

Report: women's 400m hurdles – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014

Young sprinters and hurdlers rewrote the record books, while Mary Cain confirmed her serious intentions at the under 20 level at the USA Junior Championships, held in Eugene on Saturday and Sunday (5-6).The event was held at historic Hayward Field, the same venue that will host the IAAF World Junior Championships on 22-27 July. And a number of remarkable results achieved there last weekend provided a glimpse as to what the world will see in just two weeks as the top two finishers in each event secured selection.The weekend’s outstanding performer was sprinter Kaylin Whitney. The 16-year-old went into the competition with a 100m personal best of 11.27, but improved on that in the heats with 11.17 (0.8m/s) before further improving to a stunning 11.10 (0.9m/s) in the final.Not only is it the fastest time in the world this year by a junior athlete, it is also a world youth best, breaking the long-standing mark of 11.13 set by Chandra Cheeseborough in 1976.Whitney returned on Sunday for the 200m and replicated her achievements from the shorter sprint, setting another world youth best and world junior lead when clocking 22.49 (1.3m/s).“I’m not perfect yet. I still have so much to work on, in my technique, for example,” said Whitney. “But I am happy I could put together a strong race today and run such a fast time. I wasn’t feeling much pressure; I was focused and treated this like any other meet. At the Worlds, it’s going to be lots of fun. And in the relay, it’s going to be crazy. And it will be fast.”Double world youth medallist Ariana Washington will represent the USA internationally again, as she finished second in the 100m with a season’s best of 11.30. The 200m silver went to Jada Martin, who set a personal best of 23.02.Fellow record-breaking Trayvon Bromell set the world junior 100m record of 9.97 (subject to ratification) on this same track in June at the NCAA Championships, so the expectations coming into the men’s 100m were high. Would the fastest junior sprinter in the world be able to secure a team spot? And would he be able to run even faster?But 19-year-old Trentavis Friday stole a bit of the spotlight from Bromell, running the second-best 100m time ever by a junior athlete with his 10.00 (1.6m/s) in the heats. In the final, however, Friday false started and was disqualified.Bromell, meanwhile, was calm. He clocked 10.08 in his heat and 10.07 (1.2m/s) in the final, winning the national title by a big margin. Friday redeemed himself on Sunday, winning the 200m in a wind-aided 20.03 (+2.9). “My coach told me to forget about the false start and re-focus. He said: ‘Usain Bolt did that, and you can do it!’” said Friday. “We were already talking about the relay with Trayvon, and it’s going to be great. The competition will be strong, Jamaicans are coming, but with both of us on the team, we’re running 38!”Kendal Williams captured two silver medals, clocking 10.27 in the 100m and a windy 20.46 in the 200m.Record-breaking hurdles racesThe similarly-named Kendell Williams, the combined events specialist, returned to the venue of her recent NCAA heptathlon title and this time won the 100m hurdles with a US junior record.Her time of 12.87 (2.0m/s) improved the previous mark by 0.04 and takes her to second on the world junior all-time list, just 0.03 behind the world junior record set by Aliuska Lopez in 1987.In second, Dior Hall set a personal best of 13.00 to enter the world junior all-time top 10.“With the Worlds being so late in July, we decided to take it easier and have more fun in training, to be able to recover in time for an indoor pentathlon,” said Williams. “And it proved to be a good decision – I ran a huge personal best today.”Coming into the 400m hurdles final, Shamier Little owned the six fastest performances this year by a junior athlete. Now she has seven.Little – who was in a position to win a medal at the last World Junior Championships before she tripped over the final hurdle – clocked 55.43 for the win, just 0.36 off her PB.But she was far from unchallenged. 14-year-old Sydney McLaughlin was leading for most of the race and clocked a stunning 55.63 for second, not only a world age-14 best, but also superior to the world age-15 and age-16 bests. McLaughlin is too young to compete at the 2014 World Junior Championships, but will be eligible for the next two editions.In the men’s event, pre-race favourite Timothy Holmes claimed the title with 50.02. He is one of two junior athletes to have run sub-50 this season, the other being Jamaica’s world youth champion Jaheel Hyde.After false starting at the senior US Championships, world junior 4x400m champion Kendall Baisden redeemed herself in the 400m by winning in 52.21. World youth silver medallist Olivia Baker set a personal best of 52.46 to capture the second team spot.In the men’s one-lap final, Tyler Brown dipped under 46 seconds for the first time in his career, clocking 45.74 to become the third-fastest junior in the world this season. Lamar Bruton took second in a close battle with Michael Cherry, 46.11 to 46.12.Cain makes her choiceMary Cain won the 1500m silver medal at the US Championships in Sacramento, and just one week later was challenging her peers for a team spot in the 3000m.It was her first race of the season over this distance, which meant she also needed to achieve the 9:35.00 entry standard for the World Juniors. She did that with ease, leading all the way through and stopping the clock at 9:15.81, an outdoor PB but some 13 seconds shy of her indoor best.“We chose 3000m because I felt I’d be more challenged, I don’t have that much experience in this event,” said Cain. “Plus there is just one round at the Nationals, as opposed to the 1500m, so I can train through this meet.“There will be an Ethiopian girl, who already ran 8:41. When I saw this time, I was like ‘oh my gosh’. But then I got really excited. I don’t shy away from competition. And I’m ready for whatever race it will be: sit-and-kick, or a faster pace right from the start.”World youth medallists back in actionKeturah Orji, a double medallist in the horizontal jumps at last year’s World Youth Championships, captured the women’s triple jump title with a season’s best of 13.45m.Another world youth medallist, Raevyn Rogers, won the 800m in 2:04.40 after leading throughout the race. Sabrina Southerland demonstrated a strong finishing kick to claim the second team spot in 2:04.83.Alexa Efraimson captured the 1500m title in a close battle with another top teenage runner, Elise Cranny. Efraimson, the world youth bronze medallist, clocked 4:16.87 while Cranny ran 4:17.40.In just his second ever competition with the under-20 6kg implement, 2011 world youth shot put bronze medallist Braheme Days posted 19.95m to take the title. His season’s best of 21.16m puts him third on this year’s world junior list.Top marks in field eventsIt was only when the in-stadium announcer mentioned it that discus thrower Valarie Allman discovered she led this year’s world junior list. She even improved on her world-leading mark and personal best with her first attempt, sending the implement to 57.45m. Her mark remained unchallenged for the rest of the competition.“I don’t really follow my international peers and I try not to focus on being a world leader, because I tend to overthink it sometimes,” said Allman. “I had a pretty bad competition at the NCAA Championships here in June, so we went back to basics in training, and everything went well today. Now I can say that I like Hayward Field, and I’m excited to see other throwers from all over the world in the sector soon.”Travonn White set a personal best of 8.04m (1.7m/s) to secure team selection and victory in the long jump. The mark takes him to second in the world this season among juniors. Only Asian junior champion Wang Jianan has jumped farther.Cole Walsh improved his pole vault PB by 23cm to gain victory over Devin King on count back. Walsh cleared 5.35m on his first attempt, while King did it on his third.The nation’s best junior shot putter Raven Saunders had to use a crowd-funding website to enable her to travel to Eugene for this competition, and was happy to win with a solid 17.04m to ensure she will compete in Eugene again this summer.“This is the best track I’ve been to,” she said. “So many great athletes came through here, and so many great things happened here. It was designed for athletics, not for football or any other sport, so it has a perfect design and you have a special feeling competing here.”USA’s team will be announced by USA Track and Field this week.Elena Dyachkova for the IAAF

Young sprinters and hurdlers rewrote the record books, while Mary Cain confirmed her serious intentions at the under-20 level at the USA Junior Championships, held in Eugene on Saturday and Sunday (5-6).