With just over one year to go until the World Athletics Championships take place in Hungary for the first time, a galaxy of global stars are set to light up the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Szekesfehervar on Monday (8).
The latest World Continental Tour Gold meeting will offer a tantalising glimpse for athletes and spectators alike on what next year&rsquo;s showpiece event in nearby Budapest will bring.
In a line-up already teeming with the sport&rsquo;s biggest names, USA&rsquo;s 400m hurdles record-breaker Sydney McLaughlin was a late addition this week, bringing the number of gold medallists from the recent World Athletics Championships Oregon22 appearing at the meeting to 13.
There will be huge interest on McLaughlin &ndash; who turns 23 on Sunday, the day before the competition &ndash; in her first outing since her astonishing world record of 50.68 to win in Eugene. Fresh from winning Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham, Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell is among her opposition.
Another trailblazing athlete set to compete is pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis. The world and Olympic champion continues his competitive campaign off the back of breaking the world record in Eugene as he builds towards the European Championships in Munich. World silver and bronze medallists Christopher Nilsen of the USA and Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines will also take to the runway in Szekesfehervar.
After setting a world-leading time of 10.66 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Selesia on Saturday, 10-times world gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce shows no signs of applying the brakes to her season. The jet-heeled Jamaican has world indoor champion Mujinga Kambundji and US duo Twanisha Terry and Tamari Davis &ndash; the second-fastest U20 athlete in history &ndash; among her opposition.
Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s teammate and fellow speed queen Shericka Jackson will be looking to harden her grip as the dominant 200m runner of the moment.&nbsp; Olympic bronze medallist Gabrielle Thomas is also in the line-up along with USA&rsquo;s World Championships representatives Tamara Clark and Jenna Prandini.
There is an intriguing line up for the men&rsquo;s 400m. World 400m hurdles champion Alison Dos Santos is a man in supreme form and confidence, and fresh off another victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Silesia, the Brazilian will test his speed on the flat against some formidable opposition, including Olympic fourth-place finisher Michael Cherry and World Championships fourth-place finisher Champion Allison, both of the USA.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In the field, the men&rsquo;s discus provides an exciting match-up with newly crowned world champion Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia going up against Olympic champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden. Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson, who set a PB of 70.42m at the Swedish Championships on Saturday, is also in the field, meaning three members of the exclusive 70-metre club will be in attendance.
The men&rsquo;s hammer offers up another clash of the champions with five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek going up against fellow Pole and Olympic gold medallist Wojciech Nowicki. Olympic silver medallist and world bronze medallist Eivind Henriksen of Norway will once again try to get the better of the Polish duo.
In the women&rsquo;s hammer, world champion Brooke Andersen of the USA has to face the challenge of world bronze medallist Janee&rsquo; Kassanavoid and Olympic bronze medallist Malwina Kopron of Poland.
In the sprint hurdles, two-time world champion Grant Holloway of the USA and Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico head the line-ups in the men&rsquo;s 110m and women&rsquo;s 100m events respectively. Holloway will take on newly crowned Commonwealth champion Rasheed Broadbell, while Camacho-Quinn faces former world record-holder Kendra Harrison and 2019 world champion Nia Ali.
In the men&rsquo;s short sprints, USA&rsquo;s world silver and bronze medallists Trayvon Bromell and Marvin Bracy-Williams have past world champions Christian Coleman and Yohan Blake and three-time meeting winner Akani Simbine among their opposition in the 100m. In the 200m, meanwhile, Olympic and world silver medallist Kenny Bednarek and world bronze medallist Erryion Knighton will start as favourites.
Another top-quality line up is the men&rsquo;s shot put, featuring recent world silver and bronze medallists Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde, plus 2017 world champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand. Croatia&rsquo;s 2016 Olympic champion Sara Kolak heads the line up in the women&rsquo;s javelin. She&rsquo;ll face Cuban champion Yulenmis Aguilar and European U20 champion Elina Tzengko.
In the jumps, Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy is a star attraction in the men&rsquo;s high jump, while 2017 European U20 champion Milica Gardasevic of Serbia and Agate de Sousa of Sao Tome and Principe are the leading contenders in the women&rsquo;s long jump.
In the women&rsquo;s 800m, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diribe Welteji returns to her usual distance after an impressive victory over 1500m at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia. And in the men&rsquo;s two-lap event, the home crowd will be hoping for a breakthrough for Hungary&rsquo;s former hurdles specialist Daniel Huller.
The action gets underway at 12:45 local time at the meeting named in honour of Hungary&rsquo;s much respected former sprinter, commentator and athletics official.
Chris Broadbent for World Athletics

Numerous newly-crowned world champions will be in action at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial

McLaughlin and Duplantis among multitude of world champions heading to Szekesfehervar

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce celebrated Jamaican Independence Day by scorching to a world-leading 10.66 (+0.5m/s) in a magnificent display of controlled speed to win the women&rsquo;s 100m at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial &ndash; a last-minute addition to the 2022 Wanda Diamond League calendar &ndash; in Silesia on Saturday (6).
In the stadium known locally as &lsquo;The Witches Cauldron&rsquo;, persistent rain couldn&rsquo;t prevent some of the world&rsquo;s premier athletes from conjuring their special brand of magic, as Mondo Duplantis also produced another spellbinding performance.
It was the first ever Diamond League meeting to take place in Poland and it did not disappoint with nine meeting records, a Diamond League record and six Polish all-comers&rsquo; records.
Jamaican legend Fraser-Pryce, who has won five world titles and two Olympic gold medals over 100m, showed she has lost none of her edge since the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, running clear of a world-class field for her second Diamond League meeting victory of the year, following Paris in June.
&ldquo;I always come into races expecting to run fast,&rdquo; said the ebullient sprinter. &ldquo;Last year I set a meeting record here, now it is a Diamond League and it is a lot more competitive with many top athletes. I came here prepared for it to be cold or raining, but it was not so bad, it actually got warmer later in the day.
&ldquo;Last year I felt a lot of pressure on me and this year I decided to just have fun,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;It is amazing to be this consistent. I am always excited to compete and see what I can do.&rdquo;
USA&rsquo;s Aleia Hobbs was second in 10.94 and Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Marie-Jos&eacute;e Ta Lou was third in 11.00.
Another athlete well used to firsts is world and Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis. Fresh from his world record-breaking exploits in Eugene, the Swede looked like an athlete at the very peak of his powers, as the opposition slipped away in the rain.
In his second vault of the competition, he cleared 5.83m and was already the last man standing. To the delight of the crowd, he made a first-time clearance at 6.00m. He then targeted an outdoor all-comers&rsquo; record of 6.10m and although the bar wobbled, he succeeded at the third attempt to thrill an appreciative audience.
He bowed out there, having done more than enough in less-than-ideal conditions. &ldquo;It is a little unfortunate with the weather, because the last two days the weather was like 32 degrees, sunny and warm. But it is what it is.
&ldquo;It would be nice to have that today. But I like the way I was able to jump today. I do not think I could have jumped very much higher today. I did not have enough speed to get even higher. The last one I had, it was a really good technical jump. I cannot complain at all. I am only a human and I am doing what I was able to do today.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t on a stiff enough pole (to go higher),&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pole I am surprised I could make 6.10m on. It&rsquo;s the highest I have ever made on that pole. I got everything out of that pole and what the day gave me.&rdquo;
Norway&rsquo;s Sondre Gottormsen and world bronze medallist Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines were second and third, both clearing 5.73m.
The hammer competitions were poignant events, as the meeting is named in honour of Poland&rsquo;s 2000 Olympic champion Kamila Skolimowksa who died suddenly and prematurely in 2009. And the moment was not lost on men&rsquo;s winner Pavel Fajdek, the five-time world champion who has hit a rich vein of form after retaining his title in Eugene.
He uncorked a second-round throw of 81.27m, a Diamond League record and his second-best throw of the season to claim victory from Olympic champion and Polish teammate Wojciech Nowicki, whose best was a fourth-round throw of 79.19m. Frances Quentin Bigot was third with 78.83m
&ldquo;I have been competing in a lot of Diamond League competitions, but this one is special,&rdquo; said Fajdek. &ldquo;It is most important especially for Kamila Skolimowska who is in our hearts, so we always try to give our best here.
He was said the conditions were not an issue for him. &ldquo;As a kid I trained in all weather, whether it was raining or snowing or when it was really hot, so I am prepared for any conditions. The rain can never make me worse. I even throw better when it is raining!&rdquo;
The two hammer competitions took place simultaneously in the same circle, alternating between men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s throwers.
With home favourite and triple Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk missing the bulk of this season with a thigh injury, USA&rsquo;s Brooke Andersen has filled the void as world champion and world leader in the women&rsquo;s discipline.&nbsp;
She initially struggled to adapt to the weather and format, but managed to find her form in the final round. She landed the hammer at 75.76m to see off compatriot and world bronze medallist Janee Kassanavoid whose best was a second-round throw of 74.89m. Poland&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Malwina Kopron was third with 70.37m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was a very exciting competition,&rdquo; said Andersen. &ldquo;In the last round I finally managed to be more patient and focused. I was kind of rushing during the whole competition. It was kind of frustrating. Once I finally realised it, everything was okay.
&ldquo;This is actually first time I have competed in a mixed competition like this,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;When you see these guys throwing 80 metres, of course, you also want to throw the same or just get close to it. It makes you try harder, it was very exciting.&rdquo; 
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 Newly-crowned world champion Alison Dos Santos oozed confidence as he took the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in a meeting record. World Championships fifth-place finisher Khallifah Rosser of the USA made a race of it to the home straight, but Dos Santos charged away from the penultimate hurdle to win in a Polish all-comers&rsquo; record of 47.80, licking his lips as he crossed the line.&nbsp;
Rosser was a 0.5 adrift in second with France&rsquo;s Wilfried Happio, fourth in Eugene, third here in 48.74.&nbsp;
The flat 400m races also produced meeting records.
In the men&rsquo;s race, world gold and silver medallists Michael Norman and Kirani James renewed their rivalry. Norman ran a confident race, leading at 200m and not letting up until he crossed the line in a Polish all-comers&rsquo; record of 44.11, 0.44 clear of James. USA&rsquo;s Bryce Deadmon was third in 44.68. 
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 Netherland&rsquo;s Femke Bol produced a storming run to win the women&rsquo;s race, bagging her first ever sub-50-second run on the flat.&nbsp;
The world silver medallist over 400m hurdles showed superb speed to win in 49.75 for a national and meeting record. It helped propel Natalia Kaczmarek to her first run under 50 seconds too, as she finished second in 49.86. Third place went to Candice McLeod in 50.22.&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles, Olympic champion and world bronze medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico got back to winning ways. Despite trailing at halfway, she delivered her customary strong finish and outdipped world record-holder Kendra Harrison to win in a Polish all-comers&rsquo; record of 12.34 (+0.8m/s).
Harrison was just 0.03 behind with fellow US hurdler Tia Jones running a lifetime best of 12.49 in third.
In the men&rsquo;s long jump, Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece was another Olympic gold medallist looking to go one better than his second place in Eugene. And it was mission accomplished as he set a meeting record of 8.13m in the fifth round.
In the men&rsquo;s triple jump, Andy Diaz got the better of several global medallists, winning with a second-round best of 17.53m. World and Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo managed a best of 17.29m for second place and Olympic silver medallist Zhu Yaming of China leapt 17.25m to place third.
There was a slight surprise in the women&rsquo;s 1500m as world 5000m champion Gudaf Tsegay was beaten by Ethiopian teammate Diribe Welteji, the fourth-place finisher over 800m at the recent World Championships. 
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 The Ethiopians were well clear with two laps to go, but Tsegay was unable to shake Welteji, the 2018 world U20 800m champion. As they entered the home straight, Welteji made the decisive move and strode away to win in 3:56.91, a meeting record and personal best by more than two seconds. Tsegay was second in 3:58.81 and their fellow Ethiopian Hirut Meshesha was third in 4:00.93.&nbsp;
World champion Shericka Jackson logged yet another impressive victory as the Jamaican won the women&rsquo;s 200m with plenty in hand in 21.84, yet another Polish all-comers&rsquo; record. The speed endurance of world 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo came to the fore and she finished strongly to take second in 22.35 ahead of USA&rsquo;s Jenna Prandini in 22.39.
&ldquo;The race went according to plan,&rdquo; said Jackson. &ldquo;I just wanted to execute, focus on my lane and not look at what my rivals were doing. I approach all my races like that. I am not thinking about the world record. I just try to do my best; if it comes, it comes.&rdquo;
There was yet another meeting record in the women&rsquo;s shot with world champion Chase Ealey of USA landing a mighty 20.38m third-round throw. World bronze medallist Jessica Schilder scored a Dutch record with 19.84m in second, with Canada&rsquo;s new Commonwealth Games winner Sarah Mitton third with 19.44m.
&ldquo;After the World Championships I felt it would be hard to be in top shape so soon, but I&acute;m happy I was able to turn around so fast and come right back to my best,&rdquo; commented Ealey. &ldquo;I remain motivated and I want to break the American record at the Diamond League final. The ring was still wet after the rain today, but the conditions were not a big problem.
&ldquo;I have always enjoyed coming here. The atmosphere is very vibrant and the audience know the throws.&rdquo;
World silver medallist Joe Kovacs left it late to win the men&rsquo;s shot. His final-round throw of 21.79m just got the better of Tom Walsh &ndash; who travelled through the night to get to Silesia after winning the Commonwealth title in Birmingham yesterday &ndash; by nine centimetres. World bronze medallist Josh Awotunde was third again with a best of 21.35m.&nbsp;&nbsp;
In the men&rsquo;s 100m, world bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell got the better of US teammate and world silver medallist Mavin Bracy-Williams, clocking 9.95 to 10.00. In a photo finish, Ackeem Blake of Jamaica was third, sharing 10.00 dead.
In the men&rsquo;s 800m, world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir of Kenya was severely tested. Running wide and fifth into the home straight, he left himself a lot to do. But straining every sinew, he edged past compatriot Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich in the closing strides to win by 0.04 in 1:45.72. 
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 Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan bounced back from her World Championships disappointments to win the women&rsquo;s 3000m. Running within the pack, she made her move with 250 metres to go, taking over from long-time leader Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia. Looking strong and focused, she added a second kick with 100 metres to go and eased clear to win in 8:39.27.&nbsp;
World indoor bronze medallist Taye held off world 10,000m bronze medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi for second place in 8:40.14.
The women&rsquo;s javelin was won by world bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan with a dramatic final-round throw of 65.10m to snatch victory from evergreen double Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova, the Czech&rsquo;s best being an opening round 62.29m.
In the men&rsquo;s event, Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won with a fourth-round throw of 86.68m. Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber and USA&rsquo;s Curtis Thompson took second and third with 84.94m and 82.39m respectively.
The women&rsquo;s high jump was won by Uzbekistan&rsquo;s Safina Sadullayeva, taking a surprise win on countback over world silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, both clearing 1.92m.
Chris Broadbent for World Athletics

Five-time world champion runs the fastest 100m of the year

Fraser-Pryce flies to world-leading 10.66 in Silesia

Shericka Jackson believes that everything happens for a reason. On 2 August last year &ndash; when she missed the Olympic 200m semifinals by just four thousandths of a second &ndash; she might not have known what that reason was.
She does now.
Celebrating with her fellow medallists as she took her place at the centre of the press conference table for the first time in an individual international event, Jackson paused for a moment to reflect.
&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;ll not cry,&rdquo; said the 200m champion, fresh from her record-breaking 21.45 run at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Thursday (21). &ldquo;It taught me so much, that year. That I didn&rsquo;t make it in my favourite event.
&ldquo;It taught me that no matter what, you keep going. After the Olympic Games, I cried so hard, because I wanted to be in that 200m final and I wasn&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t meant to be, in that moment. I guess this is the moment. Last year was preparing me for this year and this is the moment. I&rsquo;m so grateful for it.&rdquo;
And what a moment. 
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Jamaica's Shericka Jackson celebrates her 200m victory at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (&copy; Getty Images)
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With a strong start and an even stronger finish, the 28-year-old left a stacked field in her wake, blazing to the second-fastest 200m of all time to get her first individual global gold.
She later explained how she had worked hard in training to perfect her curve running technique. It showed.
Narrowly behind her Jamaican compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce &ndash; the now five-time world 100m champion &ndash; at half way, Jackson found another gear down the home straight. Pulling away in the second half of her race, she was unchallenged as she reached the finish line to an eruption from the Hayward Field crowd, breaking the championship record ahead of Fraser-Pryce in 21.81 and Britain&rsquo;s defending champion Dina Asher-Smith in 22.02.
After five individual international medals &ndash; including world 100m silver in a PB of 10.73 just four days earlier &ndash; Jackson had finally got her gold. Even more remarkably, the performance completed an unprecedented sweep, as the 200m gold, 100m silver and two-time world bronze medallist became the first athlete in history to win a full set of World Championships medals across the three sprint events.
&ldquo;Competing in the 400m for so long and to start sprinting (in the 100m and 200m) last year is a great feeling,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I wanted to be among the best and I&rsquo;ve worked hard to be among the best. I&rsquo;m just grateful for the journey.&rdquo; 
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 On the world stage, Jackson&rsquo;s journey started at the 2010 World U20 Championships in Moncton, where she formed part of the Jamaican 4x100m squad. The following year she claimed bronze in the 200m at the World U18 Championships in Lille, also racing on the victorious medley relay team, and in 2012 she competed at the World U20 Championships in Barcelona.
Just three years later, she was a senior global medallist &ndash; dipping under 50 seconds for the first time with 49.99 to claim 400m bronze behind Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, where she also formed part of the winning Jamaican 4x400m team. Jackson made her Olympic debut in 2016, winning another major 400m medal thanks to a third-place finish and claiming another 4x400m podium place. She finished fifth at the 2017 World Championships in London and then, focusing on the 200m the following year, she claimed Commonwealth silver on the Gold Coast.
Her bronze medal collection grew again by two at the World Championships in Doha, with third-place finishes in the 400m and 4x400m, and she also helped the 4x100m team to another title.
Then injury struck. In late 2019 an X-ray revealed she had sustained two stress fractures, but the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics played to her favour. She focused on her recovery and after a few races in 2020, Jackson returned in 2021 to further demonstrate her versatility. Contesting the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m, she won three medals &ndash; 4x100m gold, 4x400m bronze and 100m bronze &ndash; at the Tokyo Olympics, and ended the year with PBs of 10.76 for 100m and 21.81 for 200m to go with her 49.47 400m best from 2019.
But she knew there was more to come.
Testing her speed during a debut indoor season, she finished sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March, running 7.04, and then made a statement by winning both the 100m and 200m titles at the Jamaican Championships &ndash; the latter in 21.55, then the third-fastest time in history. 
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World 200m silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, champion Shericka Jackson and bronze medallist Dina Asher-Smith (&copy; Getty Images)
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&ldquo;I knew I could go faster than 21.55,&rdquo; said Jackson, who pushed her compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah &ndash; the five-time Olympic gold medallist &ndash; down a place on the world 200m all-time list with her run in Oregon, to now sit second behind only world record-holder Florence Griffith Joyner with her 21.34.
On the work she has put in with her coach Paul Francis, Jackson added: &ldquo;I train with the quarter-milers and then I switch to the sprinters. I enjoy training with both groups. I have run two 400m races this season, and I think it was pretty good. I am strong, I am definitely getting faster, so I enjoy training with both groups.
&ldquo;One of my goals this year was to step out of my comfort zone. I run hard every day at practice. Me running hard here was just a practice run for me and that practice run gave me a gold medal, a national record and a championship record &ndash; I can&rsquo;t complain.
&ldquo;Last year, that helped me think about running the curve hard. I never ran the curve hard in the heats of the Olympics, and I think it cost me a place in the semifinals. So, I went back to the drawing board, and I worked really hard on that curve &ndash; every day. Every single day. I think it paid off.&rdquo;
There could be more to come, too, with Jackson named on the 4x100m squad for Oregon. After that she will turn her attention to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and beyond, looking to make even more magic moments.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022

Shericka Jackson believes that everything happens for a reason. 

World 200m champion Jackson: "This is the moment"

On an evening when two sporting legends were sitting trackside at Hayward Field &ndash; Tommie Smith and John Carlos &ndash; the current generation of sprinters served up spectacular displays of 200m running at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Thursday (21).
Noah Lyles of USA and Shericka Jackson of Jamaica both destroyed their rivals with the best performances of their careers, and some of the greatest 200m displays of all time, sizzling to respective times of 19.31 (0.4m/s) and 21.45 (0.6m/s).
Earlier in the night, Carlos and Smith sat beneath the stands at Hayward Field and spoke glowingly about the current generation of sprint stars. &ldquo;I like Mr Lyles,&rdquo; said Carlos. &ldquo;I looked at his career, I looked at his heart. He&rsquo;s a fighter.&rdquo;
Of course, the pair have more than that in common with the 25-year-old. At the US Olympic Trials last year, Lyles had worn a black glove &ndash; minus the fingers &ndash; and raised his fist in the air as he was introduced for the 100m, a nod to Smith and Carlos&rsquo;s Black Power salute on the 200m podium at the 1968 Olympics.
&ldquo;We have a good connection,&rdquo; said Lyles. &ldquo;We vacation at the same spots and have had plenty of great conversations. I remember something (Carlos) said to me once: 'A shy man will never eat, he&rsquo;ll just starve to death'. I was already hungry, but I got real hungry after that. I said I&rsquo;m going to risk it all, I&rsquo;ll go out there and speak my truth about Black Lives Matter.&rdquo;
In Lyles, Smith sees an athlete who&rsquo;s able to perform while using his platform to fight for equality &ndash;the same way they did five decades prior. The message Smith wanted to put across tonight?
&ldquo;What can you do to create that avenue of equality?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have to stand up for what we believe in so the younger generation will understand and have a purpose.&rdquo;
Before the men&rsquo;s 200m final, Smith and Carlos were introduced to the crowd and they received a rapturous reception, the love for them running just as deep as their love for the sport.
&ldquo;Track is the grandfather of all sports,&rdquo; said Carlos. &ldquo;Track and field was there before any of them.&rdquo;
And in Lyles&rsquo; and Jackson&rsquo;s performances, the sport showed its modern-day capacity to electrify an audience. 
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 Going into the 200m final, most saw 18-year-old US sensation Erriyon Knighton as the athlete with the potential to depose Lyles as world champion. And while Knighton produced his typically strong bend, this was one of those scenarios where the inside lane was no advantage, not when he had to witness the manner in which Lyles was bounding into the home straight ahead of him.
Down the home straight, Lyles powered clear, his speed so great it began to put everything he&rsquo;d learned and drilled thousands of times in training under great duress.
&ldquo;I was breaking down in form, which is something I never do,&rdquo; he said.
Lyles said he &ldquo;thought it was slow&rdquo; but when he hit the line, and saw 19.32, he was both thrilled and slightly frustrated, given it apparently tied Michael Johnson&rsquo;s former world record. &ldquo;I was like, you gonna do me like that?&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Then that number changed, and my whole mood changed.&rdquo;
The number it changed to was 19.31, moving him third on the world all-time list behind Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. Johnson soon went down to the track and gave him a hug. &ldquo;He was congratulating me, letting me know I am a fierce competitor,&rdquo; said Lyles.
The champion&rsquo;s delight was only enhanced &ndash; along with the home crowd&rsquo;s &ndash; when the minor medallists flashed up on screen, with Bednarek taking silver with 19.77 and Knighton third in 19.80. &ldquo;To be so young and be on the podium, there's more to come,&rdquo; said Knighton. &ldquo;Noah Lyles told me I will be one of the greatest in the sport. It feels good coming from him.&rdquo; Liberia&rsquo;s Joseph Fahbulleh unleashed his usual flying finish to take fourth in 19.84.
&ldquo;Everybody dreams of this day,&rdquo; said Lyles. &ldquo;But today was my day.&rdquo;
Minutes earlier, Jackson turned in an equally peerless performance to win the women&rsquo;s 200m in astonishing style, biding her time &ndash; relatively speaking &ndash; until the home straight, at which point she ran down 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and put daylight between her and field.
Her time of 21.45 was a championship record and moved her second on the world all-time list behind Florence Griffith-Joyner&rsquo;s 21.34. 
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 &ldquo;The fastest woman alive, the national and championships record, I cannot complain,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old. &ldquo;I was not thinking about any time or any records. I know Shelly is probably one of the best curve runners in the world so I knew she was going to go hard. I knew that if I wanted to get gold, I had to run the curve as hard as possible.&rdquo;
Fraser-Pryce held on well for silver with 21.81 while Britain&rsquo;s Dina Asher-Smith, the 2019 champion, took bronze with 22.02, the Briton dedicating the medal to her late grandmother, who passed away in recent months. Niger&rsquo;s Aminatou Seyni (22.12) and USA&rsquo;s Abby Steiner (22.26) were next best.
&ldquo;I was really, really tired physically and mentally and still I wanted to come out and have a good run,&rdquo; said Fraser-Pryce. &ldquo;This has always been an event that challenges me. What would that be if I did not challenge myself at these championships?&rdquo;
Elsewhere, world leader Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli of Kenya had a nervous wait following his heat of the men&rsquo;s 5000m, finishing sixth in a blanket finish in 13:24.56, outside the five automatic spots. World 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei was among those just ahead of him along with Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega, with Oscar Chelimo taking victory in 13:24.24.
Kipkorir ended up sneaking through to the final by less than half a second, with nine going through from the second heat, where Jacob Krop of Kenya took victory ahead of Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 13:13.30.
The men&rsquo;s 800m semi-finals produced their usual share of drama. Kenya&rsquo;s Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir led compatriot Wycliffe Kinyamal into the final in the first of three races, clocking 1:45.38, while Australia&rsquo;s Peter Bol clocked 1:45.58 in third to advance on time. Algeria&rsquo;s Djamel Sedjati took the second semi-final in 1:45.44 ahead of France&rsquo;s Gabrial Tual (1:45.53). In the third semi-final, Algeria&rsquo;s Slimane Moula claimed victory in 1:44.89 ahead of Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop (1:45.12), with Emmanuel Wanyonyi ensuring there will be a trio of Kenyans in the final, clocking 1:45.42 in third.
In the women&rsquo;s 800m Olympic champion Athing Mu looked completely composed as she sauntered to victory in her heat in 2:01.30, while Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson (2:00.88), USA&rsquo;s Raevyn Rogers (2:01.36), Jamaica&rsquo;s Natoya Goule (2:00.06) and France&rsquo;s Renelle Lamote (2:00.71) also won their respective heats, But the fastest of all into the semis was Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diribe Welteji who clocked 1:58.83 to win the first heat.
In the heat won by Hodgkinson, a collision on the last turn that resulted in Australia&rsquo;s Catriona Bisset falling and Italy&rsquo;s Elena Bello being impeded resulted in both athletes being advanced to the semi-final.
Defending world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India led the way in the men&rsquo;s javelin qualification, with Peters throwing 89.91m and Chopra 88.39m. Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic (85.23m) and Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber (87.28m) were the only others to throw beyond the automatic qualification mark of 83.50m. Germany&rsquo;s Andreas Hofman, an 87.32m thrower this year, recorded three fouls and was eliminated.
The men&rsquo;s triple jump qualification saw Pedro Pichardo of Portugal and Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso lead the way, with Zango ticking off the automatic mark in the second round with 17.15m and Pichardo jumping 17.16m in the first.
USA&rsquo;s Christian Taylor did not advance after jumping a best of 16.48m, signs of clear progress as he continued his comeback from a ruptured achilles tendon last year. &ldquo;Athletes or not, we all deal with setbacks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's just having that mindset of perseverance and resilience. I encourage athletes and non-athletes to still have that fight. There will be times when you want to give up, but your breakthrough could be right around the corner. Just keep fighting.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Jackson goes to No.2 all-time with 21.45, Lyles breaks Johnson's US record with 19.31

200m winners Jackson and Lyles make history in Oregon

Call it the Shericka Sweep.
Jamaica&rsquo;s Shericka Jackson owned the homestretch in the women&rsquo;s 200m, running the second-fastest time in history of 21.45 to complete a personal sweep on Thursday (21) at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Jackson, who obliterated Dafne Schippers&rsquo; championship record of 21.63, now has a gold medal in the 200m, a silver in the 100m from Sunday and bronze medals over 400m from the 2019 and 2015 editions of the World Championships. It makes her the first athlete in history to win a full set of World Championships medals across three sprint disciplines.
However, Jamaica was denied the first sweep of places in a women&rsquo;s 200m at the World Championships.
While Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce stormed to the silver medal with a season&rsquo;s best of 21.81 &ndash; just 0.02 off her PB &ndash; to add to her gold from the 100m, two-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finished seventh, clocking 22.39.
Defending champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain captured the bronze with a time of 22.02.
&ldquo;I am feeling great once I came out and put on the show,&rdquo; said Jackson, who celebrated her 28th birthday five days earlier (16). &ldquo;The fastest woman alive, the national and championships record, I cannot complain. I know that Shelly-Ann is probably one of the best curve runners in the world, so I knew she was going to go hard. I knew that if I want to get gold, I had to run the curve as hard as possible.&rdquo; 
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 Fraser-Pryce started in lane six, with all of her top rivals behind her. &ldquo;So I got to get off like nobody,&rdquo; the 35-year-old veteran said, &ldquo;and I really tried my best to win it and I am so grateful for the gift that I got.&rdquo;
While Fraser-Pryce had the fastest split for the first 100m, she was barely ahead of Jackson, 11.03 to 11.04. And then they were on the straight. &ldquo;I know I am strong and fast on coming home,&rdquo; said Jackson, &ldquo;so I knew if I eventually caught up with her, I could take it.&rdquo;
Her second 100m was an impressive 10.41 compared to 10.78 for Fraser-Pryce, who was the only sprinter in the field who was alive in 1988 when Florence Griffith Joyner set the world record of 21.34.
The race was as eagerly anticipated as the men&rsquo;s 200m, with an incredibly deep field. &ldquo;I just knew it was going to be a good race; my heart was fluttering,&rdquo; said Gwen Torrence the 1992 Olympic champion and a two-time world silver medallist in the 200m, &ldquo;but I just had my money on Shericka because she runs the 400m and her strength is just different.&rdquo;
Torrence said Jackson&rsquo;s demeanour reminds her of herself and of the great Jamaican champion Merlene Ottey. &ldquo;She has that stoic appearance about her,&rdquo; Torrence said.
Fraser-Pryce was the opposite of stoic, smiling broadly at the start, wearing pink cotton-candy coloured hair and beaming at the finish.
Fraser-Pryce won her 13th medal at the World Championships, her third silver to go along with 10 golds. This was only her second medal in the 200m, the other being gold in 2013.
&ldquo;Listen, I am tired,&rdquo; said Fraser-Pryce, who is also expected to run the 4x100m before these championships are over. &ldquo;I was really, really tired physically and mentally and still I wanted to come out and have a good run. This has always been an event that challenges me.&rdquo;
Running in lane three, Asher-Smith said that coming to the bend, &ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Go, go, go,&rdquo; and then we came out of the bend and here we are. Let&rsquo;s just keep going. I was not thinking about my technique, just maintaining my form.&rdquo;
The British sprinter, who has the Commonwealth Games and European Championships coming up, said that she was getting tired at the end and was &ldquo;so happy to make the podium.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The calibre the girls are running is so high right now,&rdquo; Asher-Smith said. &ldquo;I do not think we are going to see anything like that again. I knew I really had to run today.&rdquo;
Aminatou Seyni, who placed fourth in 22.12, is the first athlete from Niger to reach a World Championships final. &ldquo;I hope this experience will help me a lot to eventually aim for a world title,&rdquo; she said.
US hopes for a host nation medal were dashed. Abby Steiner of the US finished fifth in 22.26 and Tamara Clark was sixth in 22.32. Steiner was the world leader at 21.77 until Jackson eclipsed her with 21.55 on the same day in late June.
This was the 55th race of the season for the University of Kentucky star, who won both NCAA and US titles this year. Starting in lane eight, she said she wanted to get out as fast as she could. &ldquo;I tried to hold on, but unfortunately I did not have my race today,&rdquo; she said.
Jamaica has now passed the US in gold medals won in the women&rsquo;s 200m with five as Jackson joins Jamaican champions Ottey, who won in 1993 and 1995, Veronica Campbell-Brown (2011) and Fraser-Pryce.
Jamaica&rsquo;s 1-2 finish marked the sixth time that a nation put two women on the podium in the 200m and marks the second gold/silver after the US in 2005 (Allyson Felix and Rachelle Boone-Smith).
Karen Rosen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid; height: 110px;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; height: 22px;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 200m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">Shericka Jackson 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">21.45 CR</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;">Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9; height: 22px;">21.81 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">Dina Asher-Smith 🇬🇧 GBR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">22.02</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; height: 22px;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/results/women/200-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Women's 200m report

Jackson completes set of World Championships medals with 200m gold in Oregon

It might be a familiar sight &ndash; witnessing Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce flowing towards the finish line on her way to yet another global gold &ndash; but the awe it inspires doesn&rsquo;t diminish.
In front of a packed passionate Hayward Field crowd on day three of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, the Jamaican sprint star secured a record-extending fifth world 100m title, leading a Jamaican sweep of the medals in a championship record of 10.67 (0.8m/s).
It's almost 14 years since her first global title &ndash; 100m gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics &ndash; but Fraser-Pryce continues to make history. With her run in Oregon on Sunday (17), the 35-year-old becomes the first athlete to win five world titles in a single individual running event, leading the first ever sweep of the medals in this discipline at the World Championships.
Behind her, Shericka Jackson continued to demonstrate her impressive versatility, running a PB of 10.73 to add world 100m silver to the two 400m bronze medals she won in 2015 and 2019, while five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah claimed her first world 100m medal with a 10.81 run.
In the deepest ever women&rsquo;s World Championships 100m final, seven of the eight finalists dipped under 11 seconds, with best ever marks for fourth, sixth and seventh. In fourth was Britain&rsquo;s reigning world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, who equalled her British record of 10.83. Switzerland&rsquo;s world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji finished fifth in 10.91, while USA&rsquo;s Aleia Hobbs was sixth in 10.92, Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Marie-Josee Ta Lou seventh in 10.93 and USA&rsquo;s Melissa Jefferson eighth in 11.03.
"I can't even imagine the amount of times I've had setbacks and I've bounced back and I'm here again," said Fraser-Pryce. "I continue to remind myself that sometimes it's not because you don't have the ability, but it's the right time. Today was the right time." 
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 Fraser-Pryce sits third on the world 100m all-time list with the 10.60 she ran in Lausanne last August, putting her behind only USA&rsquo;s Florence Griffith-Joyner with her 10.49 world record from 1988 and Thompson-Herah with her 10.54 at Hayward Field almost a year ago. On Sunday evening it was all about the win, though the fierce competition meant it took a championship record to achieve it.
Showing superb consistency, it is Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s third 10.67 of the season, each mark having been achieved in a different continent.
She is now a 20-time global medallist &ndash; with 13 of those being gold &ndash; and she has the chance to add even more to that tally in Oregon as she is also entered for the 200m and 4x100m.
The first of Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s world 100m title wins came in Berlin in 2009, when she ran 10.73 as the Olympic champion to lead a Jamaican top two ahead of Kerron Stewart. She then claimed a sprint double in Moscow in 2013, regaining her 100m title and winning her first global 200m gold. She retained her world 100m title in Beijing two years later and returned to World Championships action in Doha in 2019 as a mother &ndash; her son Zyon arrived in 2017, with Fraser-Pryce having gone into labour while watching the world 100m final that year. In Doha she won 100m gold for the fourth time and again formed part of the victorious Jamaican 4x100m team to claim her fourth world relay win.
Added to this, Fraser-Pryce secured world 4x100m silver medals in 2007 and 2011 and then of course there are her three Olympic titles, four Olympic silver medals and one Olympic bronze.
The first to achieve five world titles in a single individual running event, only three other athletes in World Championships history &ndash; Sergey Bubka (pole vault), Pawel Fajdek (hammer) and Lars Riedel (discus) &ndash; have also won the same single disciple five or more times.
"I feel blessed to have this talent and to continue to do it at 35, (after) having a baby, still going, and hopefully inspiring women that they can make their own journey," added Fraser-Pryce.
Now she will prepare for the 200m, for which the heats take place on Monday. Jackson, Thompson-Herah, Asher-Smith, Kambundji and Ta Lou will be among those joining her.
&ldquo;I'm just grateful. Last year when I switched to the 100m I was scared, but I took my time and here I am today," said Jackson, who improved her 200m PB to 21.55 &ndash; the third-fastest ever time behind Griffith-Joyner&rsquo;s 21.34 world record and Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s 21.53 from Tokyo last year &ndash; when winning the Jamaican title. "Feeling good to be part of history and coming for more."
After her four individual Olympic gold medal wins, Thompson-Herah remains on the hunt for her first individual world title.
"I'm happy to get my first 100m medal and be on the podium for the first time," she said. "I've been working really hard, even though I had some struggles during the season."
The Jamaican trio had led the way in the semifinals, Thompson-Herah winning her race in 10.82 and Jackson taking hers in 10.84, while Fraser-Pryce eased to a 10.93 win in the third semifinal.
Asher-Smith went quickest in the heats the day before, running 10.84 for the second-fastest 100m heat time in World Championships history, just 0.01 off her own British record achieved when claiming silver in Doha. Fraser-Pryce won her heat in 10.87. The Oceania record also fell, New Zealand&rsquo;s Zoe Hobbs advancing to the semifinals with 11.08.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<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">WOMEN'S 100m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">10.67 CR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Shericka Jackson 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">10.73 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Elaine Thompson-Herah 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">10.81</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/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/results/women/100-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The 20-time global medallist leads a Jamaican 100m sweep ahead of Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah

Record-breaker Fraser-Pryce wins fifth world 100m title in Oregon

Sprint stars Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson have been named for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m on Jamaica's team for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.
The trio currently top the world list in the 100m, reigning champion Fraser-Pryce leading the way with 10.67 ahead of Jackson&rsquo;s 10.77 and Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s 10.79. They will all also contest the 200m in Oregon, an event in which Jackson clocked 21.55 at the Jamaican Championships for the third-fastest ever time behind Florence Griffith-Joyner and Thompson-Herah with her 21.53 from Tokyo last year.
In two highly-anticipated events, Thompson-Herah and Jackson seek their first individual world titles, while Fraser-Pryce looks to add to her five world 100m and 200m gold medals. Kemba Nelson joins them in the 100m and the 4x100m squad.
Fraser-Pryce&rsquo;s fellow 2019 individual world gold medallist Tajay Gayle goes in the long jump, while Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s fellow individual Olympic champion Hansle Parchment is joined by Rasheed Broadbell and Orlando Bennett in the 110m hurdles.
The 2011 world 100m champion Yohan Blake is selected for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, while Britany Anderson, Megan Tapper and Danielle Williams go in the 100m hurdles.
Following her transfer of allegiance from Great Britain, Adelle Tracey represents Jamaica for the first time and has been selected for the 800m and 1500m.
<h2>Jamaican team for Oregon</h2>
Women 100m: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Kemba Nelson, Elaine Thompson-Herah 200m: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Herah 400m: Candice McLeod, Stephenie-Ann McPherson, Charokee Young 800m: Chrisann Gordon-Powell, Natoya Goule, Adelle Tracey 1500m: Adelle Tracey 100m hurdles: Britany Anderson, Megan Tapper, Danielle Williams 400m hurdles: Rushell Clayton, Janieve Russell, Shiann Salmon High jump: Lamara Distin, Kimberly Williamson Long jump: Chanice Porter Triple jump: Shanieka Ricketts, Ackelia Smith, Kimberly Williams Shot put: Lloydricia Cameron, Danniel Thomas-Dodd Discus: Samantha Hall 4x100m: Remona Burchell, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Kemba Nelson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Briana Williams 4x400m: Roniesha McGregor, Candice McLeod, Stephenie-Ann McPherson, Natalliah Whyte, Stacey-Ann Williams, Charokee Young
Men 100m: Ackeem Blake, Yohan Blake, Oblique Seville 200m: Yohan Blake, Akeem Bloomfield, Rasheed Dwyer 400m: Nathon Allen, Jevaughn Powell, Christopher Taylor 800m: Navasky Anderson 110m hurdles: Orlando Bennett, Rasheed Broadbell, Hansle Parchment 400m hurdles: Jaheel Hyde, Kemar Mowatt, Shawn Rowe Long jump: Tajay Gayle, Wayne Pinnock Triple jump: Jordan Scott Discus: Fedrick Dacres, Treves Smikle, Chad Wright 4x100m: Kemar Bailey-Cole, Ackeem Blake, Yohan Blake, Conroy Jones, Oblique Seville, Jelani Walker 4x400m: Nathon Allen, Karayme Bartley, Anthony Cox, Javon Francis, Jevaughn Powell, Christopher Taylor&nbsp;
Mixed 4x400m: Junelle Bromfield, Akeem Bloomfield, Tiffany James-Rose, Gregory Prince

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson have been named for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m

Jamaica names team for World Championships in Oregon

In ideal conditions for sprinting, Shericka Jackson produced a dazzling run to complete a magnificent sprint double on the final day of the Jamaican Championships in Kingston on Sunday (26).
When Jackson burst the tape at 21.55 (0.0m/s), the third-fastest 200m time in history, it simultaneously triggered a moment of utter disbelief and euphoria among the large crowd in the national stadium. &nbsp;
Drawn in lane six, Jackson flew off the curve ahead of the field, which included Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
With 50m to go, the race was over as the versatile Jackson opened up an insurmountable lead that widened with each stride. She now sits behind only world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner (21.34) and&nbsp;Thompson-Herah (21.53) on the women's world 200m all-time list.
&ldquo;Honestly, I didn&rsquo;t expect to run this fast,&rdquo; said Jackson, who claimed Olympic 100m bronze in Tokyo and has three global 400m medals to her name. &ldquo;I knew I was in good shape and when I spoke to the coach yesterday, he wanted a proper execution and the curve was one of the areas discussed. I think I did well on the curve, my coach told me to run the first 100m hard and do whatever I want afterwards. I am just grateful.&rdquo;
Thompson-Herah, who claimed second, and Fraser-Pryce in third, recorded season's bests of 22.05 and 22.14 respectively.
&ldquo;This evening I came to give myself the opportunity to qualify for the 200m,&rdquo; said Fraser-Pryce, who won the sprint double at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. &ldquo;I am still not 100% sure if I&rsquo;m doing the sprint double at the World Championships (in Oregon), however, I&rsquo;ve placed myself in a position to make that decision and if I decide not to do it, then I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
On Friday, Jackson overcame some pre-race drama to win her first national 100m title in a season&rsquo;s best of 10.77 (0.9m/s).
The women&rsquo;s 100m finalists endured a lengthy delay before the start due to an equipment malfunction. Once the race got under way, however, there was no stopping Jackson as she became the first Jamaican woman to win national titles at 100m, 200m and 400m.
&ldquo;Last year was actually the first time I competed competitively in the 100m,&rdquo; said Jackson, whose winning time was 0.01 off her lifetime best.
Just as she did at the NCAA Championships, Kemba Nelson produced a clutch performance to finish second in a PB of 10.88. &ldquo;I feel great. It&rsquo;s kind of unbelievable,&rdquo; said Nelson, who recently graduated from the University of Oregon. &ldquo;To get a PR on home soil running out of lane eight is a job well done. I had good execution during the race and there&rsquo;s lots more to come, this is just the beginning.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, five-time Olympic champion Thompson-Herah, who was third in 10.89, expressed mixed sentiments. &ldquo;There was a delay, which was not our fault,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;After warming up, I came here to compete, this is not a training session where you can go through the motions and honestly, I almost walked away, I only stayed because I wanted to qualify for the World Championships. I felt very flat after waiting so long, fought my way through the line, and was happy that I came third, which I didn&rsquo;t know until afterwards.&rdquo;
Earlier in the heats, four-time world 100m champion Fraser-Pryce teased the enthusiastic audience as she accelerated to 10.70 (1.1m/s). But the 35-year-old, who has a wildcard entry for the World Championships, was only required to make an appearance at the event and so simply walked out of her blocks in the semifinals.
The men&rsquo;s 100m was a showdown between vastly experienced sprinter Yohan Blake, world champion back in 2011, and new members of the sub-10-second club Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake.
All three men got off to a strong start and powered away from the rest of the field with a rejuvenated Blake claiming the win in 9.85 (1.0m/s), his fastest time in 10 years.
&ldquo;You have to believe in yourself,&rdquo; said Blake. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the second-fastest man in the history of the sport. The naysayers kept me going, whenever they say I won&rsquo;t make it or I should give up, I use that to fuel me and push through.&rdquo;
Seville, who finished second in 9.88, was gracious in defeat. &ldquo;My plan throughout the championships was to be calm and conserve for the finals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am pleased with the time because it&rsquo;s close to my personal best. It was a tremendous run, although the only thing that went wrong was my execution, especially that last part where I got a little tight.&rdquo;
Ackeem Blake was third with a personal best of 9.93.
The sprint hurdles, due to Jamaica&rsquo;s large pool of talent, provided the usual excitement and disappointment. World U20 record-holder Britany Anderson overcame a sluggish start and found her rhythm to claim her first domestic 100m hurdles title in 12.53 (0.6m/s) ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper (12.60) and 2015 world champion Danielle Williams (12.66).
"I'm excited to be the national champion," Anderson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the fastest gun I&rsquo;ve ever heard, so my start wasn&rsquo;t the best, however, I kept my focus and momentum going straight through to the finish.&rdquo;
On the men's side, an intense battle between 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod and reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment was on the agenda in the 110m hurdles. The match-up fizzled midway as McLeod began to fade. Parchment, as is customary, got faster after the sixth hurdle, but a new threat appeared to his right in Rasheed Broadbell, who pushed him all the way to the tape. The Olympic champion prevailed in 13.14 (1.0m/s) over Broadbell (13.20) and Orlando Bennett (13.28), who both registered season's bests.
&ldquo;It was raining a lot during warm-ups, but it was very warm,&rdquo; said Parchment. &ldquo;I prepared myself well and tonight I put together a decent race, although my coach will be correcting a few things. I wasn&rsquo;t as&nbsp;powerful at the start&nbsp;as&nbsp;I would have liked, I slacked off a little bit, however, it was a good race overall.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, Andrenette Knight looked on course to claim her first domestic title. That was until tragedy struck. Knight, who blasted from the blocks, took a considerable lead before smashing into a hurdle entering the home straight and fell out of contention. Janieve Russell assumed the lead that she never relinquished, winning comfortably in a season&rsquo;s best of 53.63. Shian Salmon ran strong to finish second in 53.82, a personal best.
&ldquo;I am feeling really good, words can&rsquo;t explain,&rdquo; said Russell. &ldquo;I believe I&rsquo;m ready and I&rsquo;m going to the World Championships with a lot of confidence.&rdquo;
A tense finish in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles enthralled spectators, with Jaheel Hyde, who ran with sustained willpower, adrenaline and relentless strength until the last two hurdles, just holding off a strong challenge from Kemar Mowatt - 48.51 to 48.53.
World champion Tajay Gayle, who has a wildcard entry for the World Championships, struggled to get going in the men&rsquo;s long jump. He started badly, fouling his first two attempts followed by two sub-eight-metre efforts in the third and fourth rounds before things got worse in the fifth round when he landed awkwardly after another fouled attempt. It took 10 agonising minutes before Gayle, after receiving medical attention, exited the pit in a laboured manner. Gayle was unable to continue and passed in the sixth round.
Wayne Pinnock won the event, his first senior long jump title, after cutting the sand at 8.14m (0.7 m/s) in the first round. However, after feeling some discomfort,&nbsp;he too decided to pass on the next five rounds.
Shanieka Ricketts won the women&rsquo;s triple jump with 14.27m (-0.5m/s). Danniel Thomas-Dodd won the women&rsquo;s shot put with 18.79m.
In the absence of the injured Fedrick Dacres, Travis Smikle won the men&rsquo;s discus with 65.73m.
Noel Francis for World Athletics

Jackson records the third-fastest 200m in history at the Jamaican Championships

Jackson runs 21.55 200m to complete sprint double in Kingston

One month from today, the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 &ndash; the first to be held in the United States &ndash; will get under way at the all-new Hayward Field in Eugene.
One week from tomorrow, that same venue will stage the fearsome, first-three-home drama of the USATF Championships, where home athletes will seek to earn the right to return to the re-built arena once the global event starts on 15 July.
The perennial jeopardy of that event means that some of the most likely home medallists cannot yet be inked in for the World Championships. But wild card entries for defending champions mean that US athletes such as 200m gold medallist Noah Lyles, who has demonstrated convincing form in recent weeks and days, will count on toeing the line.
Prospective challengers for medals in Eugene, notably from Europe and Africa, have been laying down their markers in earnest over the last fortnight, however, as the meetings have come thick and fast. The level of excitement and anticipation is rising rapidly on the Road to Oregon. Cast your eyes over seven of the most notable hot spots&hellip;
&nbsp;
<h2>Javelin rivalry rising to the heights</h2>
Is any final at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 likely to be more competitive than the men&rsquo;s javelin? The answer right now would appear to be no.
A stupendous season of thrust and counter-thrust started at the opening Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha last month, when, taking advantage of a big following wind, Grenada&rsquo;s world champion Anderson Peters and Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch made best of the conditions to spear &ndash; sorry, spur &ndash; each other to new levels of performances.
Peters took a first-round lead with a national record of 88.96m but was pushed into second place in the fourth round when Vadlejch also threw a personal best of 89.87m.
The fifth round saw Peters re-take the lead with 90.19m, only for the Czech thrower to respond with 90.88m.
There was one more step up to be taken, however, and it was Peters who won with a final effort of 93.07m, moving himself to fifth on the world all-time list as he did so. 
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 Skip forward to the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo last Monday week &ndash; Peters maintained his winning run with an effort of 90.75m, with Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber second on 89.54m and 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago third on 89.07m.
Anyone else to join the mix? Ah yes. The Olympic champion. India&rsquo;s Neeraj Chopra made his 2022 debut in Turku last night and improved his national record to 89.30m. Ominous. But it was still not enough for victory on the night in a country that idolises the javelin event.
Home thrower Oliver Helander &ndash; coached by Finland&rsquo;s 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki &ndash; produced what he described as a &ldquo;perfect throw&rdquo; to win with a massive personal best of 89.83m.
So there are currently six men this season who have thrown farther than 89 metres. And Germans Andreas Hoffman, the 2018 European silver medallist, and Johannes Vetter, who won world gold in 2017 and world bronze in 2019, and who stands second on the all-time list with his 2020 effort of 97.76m, have yet to hit proper form. Yikes! 
<h2>Jackson shocks Thompson-Herah over 200m</h2>
That said &ndash; the women&rsquo;s 200m in Oregon could also turn out to be the most competitive of the championships.
Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah has made a strong start to the season, clocking 10.79 at the Eugene Diamond League meeting on 28 May to move to second in this season&rsquo;s world list, and producing a time of 22.25 in her first big 200m at last week&rsquo;s Rome Diamond League meeting.
But Thompson-Herah was surprisingly beaten to the line in the Olympic Stadium by her fellow Jamaican Shericka Jackson, the Olympic 100m bronze medallist and former 400m specialist, who won in 21.91. 
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 That is only enough to put Jackson third in this season&rsquo;s list, however, with Namibia&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma second on 21.87 and Abby Steiner of the United States top thanks to the 21.80 she clocked in winning the NCAA outdoor title in Eugene last Saturday.
And when you consider that Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas of the United States has run 21.98, and Britain&rsquo;s world champion Dina Asher-Smith, back from the hamstring injury that undermined her Olympic ambitions, has clocked 22.27, well, you get the picture. &nbsp;
Just for good measure, double Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas recently cast doubt on whether she would contest the single lap event in Oregon. If that means she is concentrating on her second main event, at which she holds the Commonwealth title, then watch out.
Although she was only fourth in Rome in 22.48, she has a 2019 personal best of 21.74.
Meanwhile Allyson Felix, the multiple world and Olympic medallist at 200m and 400m who is in her farewell season at the age of 36, is hoping to make an emotional farewell at her home World Championships.
Last but definitively not least, Felix&rsquo;s compatriot Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson will also be a serious contender if she can safely negotiate the trials, having won at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix in 22.38.
"I want to continue to thrive &ndash; I am the sun, I am the sunshine,&rdquo; said the social media sensation. 
<h2>Lyles &ndash; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fast! Official! It&rsquo;s fast!&rdquo;</h2>
The men&rsquo;s 200m also has chances of being the most competitive event in Oregon, given the form of the three main home protagonists.
Erriyon Knighton, aged 18, sent convulsions through the event on 30 April as he won in Baton Rouge in 19.49 &ndash; putting him fourth on the world all-time list behind fellow US sprinter Michael Johnson, who clocked a then world record of 19.32 at the 1996 Atlanta Games; Yohan Blake of Jamaica, who ran 19.26 at the 2011 Brussels meeting; and his compatriot Usain Bolt, who set the world record of 19.19 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Less than a year after missing an Olympic 200m medal by one place in Tokyo, where he was the youngest man to represent the United States at the Games in athletics since Jim Ryun in 1964, this prodigiously talented youngster has set a dizzying pace.
Can anyone match him? Can Knighton even match himself?
Regarding the former question, the 24-year-old world champion from Florida, Noah Lyles, who was bitterly disappointed to earn only individual bronze in Tokyo, has maintained the late season flourish he produced last year in his 2022 races.
Lyles recovered his fortunes in 2021 by winning in Eugene shortly after the Games in 19.52, just shy of his personal best of 19.50. On that occasion he left in his wake the fellow US sprinter who had taken silver ahead of him in Tokyo, Kenny Bednarek.
Lyles made clear his direction of travel at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix, where he greeted victory in 19.61 with an excited exclamation to the cameras: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fast! Official! It&rsquo;s fast!&rdquo;
While Bednarek has not been into the territory occupied by his US rivals so far this season, he has made a very sound start, winning on his debut at the Rabat Diamond League and then improving his time to 20.01 in earning a second victory at last week&rsquo;s Diamond League in Rome.
Also in the mix are two more hugely talented US athletes: Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley, who has run 19.80 this season, and Michael Norman, who finished just behind him in 19.83.
Meanwhile, Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia was massively impressive in bulldozering through the field after being metres behind to win the NCAA title in Eugene last Friday in 19.83. He is, in fact, the only non-US sprinter in this season&rsquo;s top 12.
And the Canadians &ndash; Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Olympic champion Andre De Grasse &ndash; are plotting their campaigns&hellip; 
<h2>Will Devon Allen quit athletics for NFL as a world champion?</h2>
Earlier this year Devon Allen announced that, at 27, he would be quitting athletics at the end of this season to take up a professional contract with National Football League side Philadelphia Eagles as a wide receiver.
Allen reached the 110m hurdles finals at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, finishing fifth in Brazil and missing a medal by one place in Japan. But his chances of leaving the sport with a global title rocketed at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix as he earned a stunning victory over the man who has broadly dominated the event over the past three years, fellow US star Grant Holloway. 
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 The latter followed up his world title in 2019 by taking silver at the Tokyo Olympics and this year won world indoor gold in Belgrade with imperious ease after equalling his world record of 7.29 in the heats.
But the leggy and affable Holloway was a distant second in 13.06 as Allen romped clear on the Icahn Stadium track to win in 12.84, moving himself up to third on the world all-time list behind the 12.81 run by Holloway in Eugene last year, and the 2012 world record of 12.80 run by another US talent, Aries Merritt.
Meanwhile, Jamaica&rsquo;s Hansle Parchment has shown himself to be in top form having won at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting in 13.09. All extremely fascinating&hellip; 
<h2>Mu sees Hodgkinson and raises her</h2>
Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson has her sights firmly set on world 800m gold in Oregon. As does her fellow 20-year-old Athing Mu of the US, who beat her to Olympic gold in Tokyo last year. Something has to give.
Hodgkinson eschewed an almost certain 800m medal at the World Indoor Championships in March as a precaution after feeling a muscle twinge in warm-up for the final &ndash; it had to be gold or nothing for her, and she didn&rsquo;t want to risk what promises to be a richly busy outdoor season.
After an impressive victory in Birmingham she travelled to the Eugene Diamond League keyed up for a pre-World Championships battle with her rival, only to find that Mu was a no-show following the after-effects of having Covid-19.
The Briton did all she could to lay down a big marker on the track where the world golds will be disputed, piling in to win in 1:57.72, the fastest time of the year.
The glove was down. And less than a fortnight later at the Rome Diamond League meeting it was firmly grasped by Mu as she answered the challenge by romping home to win in 1:57.01. 
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 This could be one of the great races not only of Oregon, but in World Championship history &ndash; immoveable object versus irresistible force. 
<h2>Big drama in the 400m hurdles</h2>
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles event is currently adjusting to the shock of Karsten Warholm, Olympic champion and world record-holder, stuttering to a halt after clearing the first hurdle in his season&rsquo;s debut at the Rabat Diamond League on 5 June and exiting with a problematic right hamstring.
In the aftermath, a sombre Warholm spoke of a &ldquo;cramp&rdquo;, but also of a &ldquo;tear.&rdquo; He and his lifelong coach Leif Olav Alnes, who have worked so hard this winter to prepare for the Norwegian&rsquo;s second world title defence, now have an unexpected challenge on their hands.
Meanwhile Brazil&rsquo;s 21-year-old Alison dos Santos, who followed home Warholm and Rai Benjamin of the United States in that coruscating Tokyo Olympic final, has made the best start to the season.
He beat Benjamin at the opening Diamond League meeting in Doha with a meeting record of 47.24, with the US athlete clocking 47.49 &ndash; those times being, unsurprisingly, the best of the early season. Two weeks later Dos Santos turned up on Benjamin&rsquo;s home ground, winning in his absence in 47.23.
Whether the Oregon final can match the soaring quality of the Tokyo Olympic final remains to be seen &ndash; but it could equal it for drama.
While the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles has been tipped on its head so far this year, the women&rsquo;s version has been a little more predictable, although equally competitive.
The Dutch Olympic bronze medallist, 22-year-old Femke Bol, produced a startling opening flourish at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on May 31 as she smashed the world best for 300m hurdle, reducing it from 38.16 to 36.86. 
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 Excitement surrounded her 400m hurdles seasonal debut at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo on 6 June, and she finished two metres clear in a meeting record of 53.94.
But the day before &ndash; as it happened &ndash; USA&rsquo;s Olympic champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin had run 51.61, just shy of her world record of 51.46, at the Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.
Bol returned to the fray at the Rome Diamond League, finishing way ahead in 53.02.
Meanwhile McLaughlin&rsquo;s compatriot Dalilah Muhammad, the Olympic silver medallist who has a wild card to defend her world title in Oregon, has posted an early time of 53.88.
Another big race is in prospect. 
<h2>Out of Africa, another medal contender</h2>
The African Championships that concluded in Mauritius on Sunday offered clear evidence of the challenge that continent will provide in Oregon.
Olympic and world bronze medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, a champion in 2018, won gold again with a best effort of 17.34m.
World indoor bronze medallist Abel Kipsang, fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, underlined his huge potential by winning the men&rsquo;s 1500m title.
Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, who heads this season&rsquo;s world list in the men&rsquo;s 100m after his 9.85 clocking in the thin air of Nairobi, added continental gold in 9.93, beating South Africa&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Akani Simbine on a photo-finish.
Gina Bass of The Gambia won the women&rsquo;s 100m title in 11.06 from Aminatou Seyni of Niger, who went on to win the women&rsquo;s 200m in 23.04.
Meanwhile, other potential African winners in Eugene have been making convincing cases for themselves. 
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 Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the phenomenal 17-year-old who won the world U20 men&rsquo;s 800m title on his home track of Nairobi last year, has maintained impressive momentum this season, winning in 1:44.15 in Ostrava and coolly outrunning Botswana&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos at the Rabat Diamond League meeting to win in 1:45.47.
At that same meeting in the Moroccan capital, local hero Soufiane El Bakkali, whose Tokyo victory in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase provided his country with its only medal from the Games, once again defeated his great Ethiopian rival Lamecha Girma in a race that nearly blew the roof off the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
Hayward Field is due more excitement very soon&hellip;
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Getting up to speed as the world’s best athletes prepare to hit full flow

Road to Oregon22 – seven hot topics with one month to go

Shericka Jackson secured the spotlight in a superb 200m showdown, while Kenya&rsquo;s Nicholas Kimeli stormed his way up the world 5000m all-time list on an evening of top-class action at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome on Thursday (9).
The earlier storm had passed and blue skies returned in time for the meeting, leaving it down to the athletes to produce the sparks and prompt thunderous support at the Stadio Olimpico for the fifth meeting in this season&rsquo;s Wanda Diamond League series.
In a field featuring four reigning global champions, it was Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic 100m bronze medallist Jackson who triumphed above them all in the women&rsquo;s 200m. Blasting out of the blocks, the versatile sprint talent surged off the final bend and couldn&rsquo;t be caught, setting a meeting record of 21.91 (1.3m/s) &ndash; her third-quickest ever time behind her 21.81 PB set in Zurich last year.
Becoming the first athlete to break 22 seconds in the event at this meeting, the 27-year-old &ndash; who also has world and Olympic 400m medals to her name &ndash; blazed away ahead of her five-time Olympic champion compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah (22.25), Britain&rsquo;s world champion Dina Asher-Smith (22.27) and two-time Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo (22.48).
&ldquo;I just wanted to come out and run a strong race, so I think I did pretty good,&rdquo; said Jackson, who will soon race for World Championships places at the Jamaican Championships. &ldquo;The thing is, when it comes to Jamaican trials or major championships, I try not to have a different mindset than when I am at a Diamond League meeting or a development meet. Anything could happen on the day, so I just focus on coming out and performing at my best.
&ldquo;After the trials, and if everything goes well, my aim is to add a gold medal to my name. I have many individual medals at 400m and 100m, but I need to get that gold medal in any event that might be.&rdquo; 
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 Similarly in the men&rsquo;s 5000m, Kenya&rsquo;s Nicholas Kimeli might have been up against multiple global gold medallists but he too left them all for dust, surging to seventh on the world all-time list with a world-leading 12:46.33 to break the meeting record that had been set by Eliud Kipchoge back in 2004.
Running behind Ethiopia&rsquo;s two-time world indoor 3000m champion Yomif Kejelcha through 3000m in 7:41.50 and 4000m in 10:15.10, Kimeli &ndash; who narrowly missed out on Olympic 5000m bronze in Tokyo &ndash; went on to battle with his compatriot Jacob Krop and edged to victory. Krop was right behind him in 12:46.79, a time that puts him joint ninth on the world all-time list with Kejelcha, who this time ran 12:52.10 for third.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega finished fourth (12:54.87) and Canada&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Mohammed Ahmed fifth (12:55.84) as the top eight all dipped under 13 minutes.
&ldquo;I am feeling great because I had never won a Diamond League race before and I really pushed to make it happen,&rdquo; said Kimeli. &ldquo;The race was very, very competitive.
&ldquo;Last year, I missed an Olympic medal and came fourth. So this year I really focus on our trials and coming home with a medal from the World Championships. This race has shown me that I am in good shape, and it has given me a lot of confidence.&rdquo;
<h2>Girma gets another sub-eight, Mu makes rapid return</h2>
Before 31 May, Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma had never broken eight minutes for the 3000m steeplechase. In the space of 10 days, the Olympic silver medallist has done it three times &ndash; first running a national record of 7:58.68 in Ostrava for a performance that puts him 12th on the world all-time list, then clocking 7:59.24 to finish second in Rabat and now, in Rome, storming to a dominant 7:59.23 victory.
Never troubled, Girma won by more than seven seconds ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Abraham Kibiwot (8:06.73), with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Olympic fourth-place finisher Getnet Wale third in 8:06.74. 
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 The women&rsquo;s 1500m saw Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hirut Meshesha, fresh from a PB run of 3:57.30 to win in Rabat, triumph again in a tactical race. The world indoor bronze medallist moved away from her compatriot Axumawit Embaye, the world indoor silver medallist who was third in Rabat, to win &ndash; 4:03.79 to 4:04.53, with Britain&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir third in 4:04.93.
At the pre-event press conference, USA&rsquo;s Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu had expressed her hope for something &ldquo;fast and under two minutes&rdquo; in Rome. Mission accomplished. Racing the day after her birthday, the 20-year-old was in fact almost three seconds under that two-minute barrier as she strode to a world-leading 1:57.01 to show no ill-effects from the Covid diagnosis that had prevented her from racing in Eugene last month.
Mu followed the pacemaker through the first lap in 56.42 and then kicked with 200m to go. Renelle Lamote of France gave chase and finished second in 1:58.48, with multiple Italian champion Elena Bello inspired to a big PB of 1:58.97, as she went sub-2:00 for the first time &ndash; one of eight athletes to dip under that barrier in this race.
Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Olympic 100m hurdles champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn carried her recent fine form to Rome, following her wins in Eugene and Ostrava with another victory at the Stadio Olimpico. Clocking a world-leading 12.37 (0.1m/s), she improved her own meeting record set last year by 0.01 and held off Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, who pushed Camacho-Quinn all the way but hit the last hurdle. She was second in 12.50, ahead of world champion Nia Ali (12.71). 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62a2664ef06b1f1e751f75ff.jpg" alt="Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Britany Anderson battle in the women's 100m hurdles at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome" />
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Britany Anderson battle in the women's 100m hurdles at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
After clocking 53.94 at a wet FBK Games in Hengelo, Dutch Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist Femke Bol had been hoping to build on that in better conditions in Rome. Although still racing on a damp track, she did exactly that &ndash; recording a season&rsquo;s best of 53.02, 10 days after she set a 36.86 world 300m hurdles best in Ostrava. Bol won by more than a second, with Jamaica&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Janieve Russell second in 54.18 and Ukraine&rsquo;s Anna Ryzhykova third in 54.50.
Four years after his 400m win in Rome, the versatile Fred Kerley claimed the 100m crown, clocking 9.92 (0.2m/s). The Olympic silver medallist got a strong start and was clearly away, leaving the rest of the field behind as he matched the season&rsquo;s best he ran in Nairobi last month. His US compatriot Kyree King was second in 10.14.&nbsp;
Grenada&rsquo;s multiple Olympic medallist Kirani James also maintained his winning record in Italy, clocking 44.54 to take the 400m ahead of USA&rsquo;s Vernon Norwood in 44.81. James, who won world U18 200m and 400m titles in Bressanone in 2009, was narrowly ahead off the final bend and although initially under pressure from Norwood, he was strongest in the closing stages. USA&rsquo;s Michael Cherry was third in 45.24.&nbsp;
USA&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek raced to a dominant win in the men&rsquo;s non-Diamond League 200m, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of 20.01 (-0.1m/s) ahead of South Africa&rsquo;s Luxolo Adams (20.33) and Filippo Tortu (20.40), who anchored the Italian 4x100m team to victory at the Tokyo Olympics.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s 3000m race walk was won by Italy&rsquo;s Francesco Fortunato in 10:57.77 from Gianluca Picchiottino in 10:59.91. The event was held to celebrate Massimo Stano and his Olympic 20km race walk win in Tokyo and the 30-year-old charged to third place in 11:06.15, to big cheers from the Stadio Olimpico crowd.
<h2>Ceh continues to impress</h2>
Slovenia&rsquo;s European U23 discus champion Kristjan Ceh continued his superb season with a meeting record-breaking throw of 70.72m to achieve his third Diamond League victory of the year. After his world-leading national and Diamond League record of 71.27m in Birmingham, the 23-year-old threw 69.68m in Rabat on Sunday and again faced a strong field in Rome featuring all three Tokyo Olympic medallists.
Holding his nerve, he improved the 12-year-old meeting record three times, first with 69.06m, then 69.71m and again with 70.72m in the final round, after encouraging the crowd to clap along in support. Those claps soon turned to fierce cheers as the final distance was confirmed, as he added almost two metres to the meeting record set by Poland&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Piotr Malachowski in 2010. Ceh also came close to that mark with his third-round 68.76m.
Austria&rsquo;s Lukas Weisshaidinger ended up being his closest challenger, throwing 68.30m in the fifth round, while Sweden&rsquo;s Olympic and world champion Daniel Stahl was third with 65.87m from his third throw.
&ldquo;Every competition it is getting better and better, so it is a good result here today,&rdquo; said Ceh. &ldquo;Having competed against the three medallists from the Olympic Games does not make me more nervous than usual, because I am always nervous before every competition. My first throw showed that, but I tried to focus on my technique and avoid added pressure.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62a24e5e264580cf2d9693d5.jpg" alt="Kristjan Ceh continues his win streak in the discus at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome" />
Kristjan Ceh continues his win streak in the discus at the Wanda Diamond League in Rome (&copy; Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)
</div>
USA&rsquo;s two-time world champion Joe Kovacs took command in the men&rsquo;s shot put, throwing 21.85m in the third round for a lead he wouldn&rsquo;t relinquish. There was a close battle for the runner-up spot, with Croatia&rsquo;s 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Filip Mihaljevic throwing a season&rsquo;s best of 21.18m in the fourth round, Poland&rsquo;s Konrad Bukowiecki matching that mark in the fifth and Brazil&rsquo;s world indoor champion Darlan Romani recording 21.15m.
USA&rsquo;s Sandi Morris went into the pole vault contest as the world leader and she took that mark even higher in Rome, clearing 4.81m before having three attempts at 4.90m. The two-time world indoor champion entered at 4.40m and had first-time clearances up to 4.60m, before needing two attempts at 4.70m &ndash; a height that secured her the win &ndash; as well as 4.75m and 4.81m. Four athletes cleared 4.60m, with Britain&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw and Italy&rsquo;s Roberta Bruni sharing second place on countback.
USA&rsquo;s two-time double NCAA champion JuVaughn Harrison triumphed in the high jump to leave home favourite Gianmarco Tamberi still searching for his first win at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea. Harrison cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 2.27m to win on countback ahead of Norbert Kobielski, while joint Olympic champion Tamberi claimed another third-place finish in front of a passionate adoring audience as one of three athletes to clear 2.24m.
Ukraine&rsquo;s world silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk soared to success in the long jump, leaping 6.85m to win by six centimetres ahead of Germany&rsquo;s Olympic, world and European champion Malaika Mihambo. USA&rsquo;s Quanesha Burks was just two centimetres off that, finishing third with 6.77m.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Meeting records fall and world leads are set on evening of top-class action at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea 

Jackson wins sprint showdown, Kimeli reigns in Rome

Beyond the headline-grabbing rivalry of Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, there has been another remarkable Jamaican sprinting success story from 2021.
Shericka Jackson completed the Caribbean nation&rsquo;s Olympic medal sweep by taking bronze in the women&rsquo;s 100m behind the illustrious duo. But she can justifiably stake a claim to being the most talented all-round sprinter of them all, having become the first Jamaican woman to run under 11 seconds for 100m, under 22 seconds for 200m and under 50 seconds for 400m.
She is only the 10th athlete ever to achieve all three landmark times in the women&rsquo;s sprints, and only the third since 2000, following in the hallowed spike marks of Olympic gold medallists Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6151c40c912d7f745f03fef8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Jackson&rsquo;s best over 400m came at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where 49.47 earned her bronze, and this year she slashed her 100m best to 10.76 in Tokyo and her 200m best to 21.81 at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich.
As a double world bronze medallist and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist over one lap, Jackson is no stranger to speed. But few recognised her potential at the short sprints. &ldquo;Because I have always run 400m, a lot of people don&rsquo;t actually know how good a talent I am,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp; &ldquo;I am so grateful for this year. This year has led to so many people who never knew, to see I had that talent.&rdquo;
What a year it was. As well as earning 100m bronze in Tokyo, she added 4x100m gold and 4x400m bronze for a unique hat-trick. The only real blot on an amazing year came in the Olympic 200m, when she misjudged her finish, eased up too much and was eliminated in the heats. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6151c488912d7f745f03ff04.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;It was a fantastic season. I can&rsquo;t complain,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;There were ups and downs. There were some lessons that I had to learn. I have learned so much from this year just sprinting. I have run personal bests, won medals, it was a wonderful season for me.&rdquo;
She is also philosophical over her error in the 200m.
&ldquo;I never lost focus and I said, &lsquo;everything happens for a reason&rsquo;. I may not know the reason. I may have a goal that I go into a championship with and the goals that I have set myself, but God may not have planned the same for me.
&ldquo;But for people to see how great an athlete I can be, to run great for 100m to 400m, it&rsquo;s a good feeling,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;A lot of people never knew I was that good. In 2019, I ran the 400m and got a medal, then I came back and ran the 4x400m relay and I ran 4x100m. Basically, it went unnoticed because most people watch the (short individual) sprints.
&ldquo;So, this year I was able to sprint and run a leg of the 4x400m. That was a great moment for me after the disappointment of the 200m. Well, I wouldn&rsquo;t call it a disappointment &ndash; it was a lesson I have to learn.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6151c3e5912d7f745f03fef5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 The postponement of the Olympics to 2021 was also a blessing for Jackson. &ldquo;After the 2019 season, in the November, I did an X-ray and found I was running on two stress fractures. For me to be here in 2021 is such a good feeling.
&ldquo;In 2020, I struggled so much,&rdquo; added Jackson, who recorded season&rsquo;s bests of 22.70 for 200m and 51.76 for 400m during her brief 2020 campaign. &ldquo;I kept going because I never wanted to take one full year off and not do any activity. It was mentioned about doing surgery, but I never wanted to do that. I had a teammate who did that, and it was good for him, but by observing and listening to him, I just never wanted to be in that position.
&ldquo;I stopped competing in August of last year and took some time off. I spent most of the time in the pool. When I found out in November (2019), I never started training back again until March which was a struggle, because at that time they hadn&rsquo;t yet put off the Olympics.
&ldquo;I was really worried, I wanted to get back. But when I found out they had postponed the Olympics, it was a really, really good thing for me. I just continued to work on where I was, working with the physio. We did a lot of pool stuff and she helped me so much with the healing. I&rsquo;ve been to so many physios where it wasn&rsquo;t working, so for her to work with me it was such a good feeling. I am so grateful.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6151c43c912d7f745f03fefe.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Even more remarkably, Jackson spent a chunk of her season still training for 400m before turning her attentions to the 100m and 200m.
&ldquo;A lot of people don&rsquo;t know, half of this season I was training for the quarter mile,&rdquo; she admits &ldquo;It was only once the season got underway that I realised I was going to sprint (shorter events). I had a strain, but I was speedy, so it was a good switch for me.&rdquo;
She opened her European season at the Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on 23 May with a 400m of 53.40, below her typical form. But six days later, she turned her season round with a swift 11.02 over 100m back in Jamaica, her previous best being 11.13 from 2018. In discussions with her coach Paul Francis, they decided to change tack and instead focus on the 200m, also tackling the 100m in a bid to earn a relay spot.
The results went way beyond expectations. At the Jamaican Championships and Olympic Trials, Jackson finished second in the 100m in 10.82, having clocked a PB of 10.77 in the semifinals, and then followed it with a 21.82 run over 200m, both times behind Fraser-Pryce and just ahead of Thompson-Herah, which earned her individual selection in the short sprints and two relay spots at the Tokyo Olympics.
Beyond her success in Japan, Jackson also enjoyed success on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, including victory over 200m in Stockholm (22.10) and second place in the Final at Zurich in 21.81. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6151c466912d7f745f03ff01.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 After finishing her season at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Meeting in Zagreb with another second-place finish, Jackson was looking forward to some well-earned down time after her whirlwind season.
&ldquo;For me, I am just going to have some junk food for one week. I don&rsquo;t want to have too much weight to lose,&rdquo; she smiles. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have a nice bit of relaxation, eat some nice food and probably go to the hotel. I&rsquo;m not too much of a fussy person, I like to relax, I like to read, listen to music. They are things I will do in my off season.&rdquo;
But the fires are already burning inside for the possibilities that lie ahead.
&ldquo;I am willing to run all events,&rdquo; says Jackson, not ruling out a return to the one-lap sprint. &ldquo;If my coach says we will run the 400m, I am always up for it. I like to challenge myself. I don&rsquo;t limit myself to what I can do. I go after what I want, I work really hard. If it means going back to the 400m next year, I am definitely up for that task.
&ldquo;But for me, I love challenges and this year was one of them. The sprinting challenges me a lot. If my coach and I discuss that and I go back to the 400m, I have no problem. It is not a problem to run all events.&rdquo;
Chris Broadbent for World Athletics

One of the most remarkable Jamaican sprinting success stories from 2021

Jackson: ‘I love challenges and this year was one of them’

In one of the greatest sprint races of all-time, Elaine Thompson-Herah stunned with an Olympic record of 10.61 (-0.6m/s) to retain her 100m title at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Saturday (31).
Leading an all-Jamaican podium, the 2016 Olympic 100m and 200m winner blazed away from her rivals to claim the crown ahead of multiple global gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rio Olympic 400m medallist Shericka Jackson, as the top three all dipped under 10.80.
The equal second-fastest time in women&rsquo;s 100m history, Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s mark improves by 0.01 an Olympic record which had been set by world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner in Seoul in 1988. The fast-starting Fraser-Pryce ran 10.74 for her seventh Olympic medal, while Jackson clocked a 10.76 PB for a second Olympic bronze and Ivory Coast&rsquo;s multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou finished fourth in 10.91.
European indoor 60m champion Ajla Del Ponte&rsquo;s breakthrough year continued with a fifth-place finish, as she ran 10.97 which came after her Swiss record of 10.91 in the heats. Her teammate Mujinga Kambundji, the world 200m bronze medallist, ran 10.99 in sixth, while the USA&rsquo;s Teahna Daniels was seventh (11.02) and Britain&rsquo;s Daryll Neita eighth (11.12).
It was an incredible return to global stage success for Thompson-Herah, who has had a series of injury struggles since winning her sprint double in Rio five years ago.
Throwing her left arm out in celebration as she crossed the finish line, the 29-year-old then let out a series of screams and sank to the track in delight as the magnitude of her achievement hit her. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055e4b176cbc337abe9550.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" /> (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 &ldquo;I couldn't find the words,&rdquo; she said later. &ldquo;I screamed so loud because I was so happy.
&ldquo;I've been injured so much. I'm grateful I could get back out on the track this year to retain the title. I've been keeping faith all this time. It is amazing."
Performances achieved in the build-up to the Games had put the women&rsquo;s 100m well and truly in the spotlight, with eight women having dipped under 10.90 in the months leading up to Tokyo. The final more than lived up to its top billing.
As the clock approached 9.50pm local time at Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium, the lights dimmed before the track was illuminated in turn with the name of each athlete in the final. Then it was time for the athletes themselves to light up the track.
Fraser-Pryce, making a bid to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic athletics event three times, got a strong start but she and Thompson-Herah were neck and neck by half way. From there, Thompson-Herah seemed to find another gear and she powered away to become the fourth woman to successfully defend the Olympic 100m title.
For Fraser-Pryce, it is another medal to add to an incredible collection which also features her two 100m golds from 2008 and 2012, plus 200m and 4x100m silvers and 100m bronze collected during the past two Games. During that time she has also become a nine-time world champion and a mother to son Zyon, and the 34-year-old had led the season top list going into Tokyo with her 10.63 &ndash; which now sees her sit third on the world all-time list &ndash; from Kingston in June.
"The aim of an athlete lining up, of course, is always to win but that didn&rsquo;t happen tonight," she said. "But I am still very grateful to make the final and to be able to stand at the podium at my fourth Olympic Games.
"Putting it in perspective, I am really grateful for the opportunity that I had tonight.
&ldquo;I am really excited that female sprinting is going to another level, and that is truly remarkable. It speaks for the depth that we have in terms of females.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61070cda4234d9290eeaf5c5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" />
 Before these Games, only five sub-10.80 times had ever been run at the Olympics. But in the semifinals alone, four were recorded as Fraser-Pryce eased over the line in 10.73, Thompson-Herah clocked 10.76, Ta Lou ran 10.79 after equalling the African record with 10.78 in her heat and Jackson also clocked 10.79.
Neita had made the final by a thousandth of a second, running 11.00 (.992) to pip Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Michelle-Lee Ahye&rsquo;s 11.00 (.993). But Neita&rsquo;s British teammate Dina Asher-Smith, the world 200m champion who also claimed 100m silver in Doha two years ago, was left in tears after injury caused an early end to her Olympics campaign. After finishing third in her semifinal in 11.05, the national record-holder with 10.83 explained how she had torn her hamstring at the British Championships and she later announced her withdrawal from the 200m in Tokyo.
Now Thompson-Herah will attempt to complete a second successive Olympic double, with Fraser-Pryce, Jackson, Ta Lou and Kambundji among the athletes all set to join her in a return to the track for the 200m heats on Monday (2).
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
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<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 100m MEDALLISTS</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Elaine Thompson-Herah 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">10.61 OR</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">10.74</td>
</tr>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Shericka Jackson 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">10.76 PB</td>
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<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/women/100-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
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&nbsp;

In one of the greatest sprint races of all-time, Elaine Thompson-Herah stunned with an Olympic record of 10.61 (-0.6m/s) to retain her 100m title at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Saturday (31).