The Kip Keino Classic &ndash; and, indeed, the 2021 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series &ndash; ended on a high with some incredible performances at Nairobi&rsquo;s Kasarani Stadium on Saturday (18).
In the closest finish of the day, the 100m duel between USA&rsquo;s Trayvon Bromell and Kenya&rsquo;s Ferdinand Omanyala produced two of the fastest performances in history in the short sprint as Bromell won in a world-leading 9.76 ahead of Omanyala&rsquo;s African record of 9.77 (1.2m/s).
Bromell had a good start from the blocks and quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field before Omanyala began to close in on the US champion in the final stages. Bromell just held on for victory and improved his PB by 0.01, moving to equal sixth on the world all-time list, two places ahead of Omanyala. 
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 &ldquo;I may not have grabbed the gold in Tokyo, but given where I came from, I feel I&rsquo;ve already won,&rdquo; Bromell posted on social media after the race. &ldquo;Five years ago I underwent surgery. 2017-19 I was at home watching track from the couch. Now it's 2021 and I&rsquo;m the sixth fastest in history.&rdquo;
Other than the 2009 World Championships final and 2012 Olympic final, this was the only other time in which two men have finished inside 9.80 &ndash; with legal wind &ndash; in a 100m race. It should be noted, however, that Nairobi&rsquo;s altitude would have benefited the sprints events.
USA&rsquo;s Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley made good use of the occasion to end his season with a 200m PB. The former 400m specialist came off the bend in first place then continued to pull ahead of Botswana&rsquo;s Isaac Makwala, crossing the line in 19.76 (2.0m/s). Makwala took second place in 20.06 and Filippo Tortu, the anchor leg runner on Italy&rsquo;s victorious Olympic 4x100m team, placed third in 20.11. 
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 Three winners from the World U20 Championships that were held at the same venue last month emerged victorious again here as they ran against some of the world&rsquo;s best senior athletes.
It took almost 20 minutes, and two false starts in between, for one of the most anticipated events of the programme to finally start; the women&rsquo;s 200m between Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast and Namibia&rsquo;s Christine Mboma, the Olympic silver medallist and world U20 champion.
Ta Lou held a slight lead in the first half of the race, but Mboma came strongly on the home straight to win in 22.39 (0.2m/s). Ta Lou was second in 22.98 while Aminatou Seyni of Niger took third place in 23.33.
Before Mboma, another world U20 champion &ndash; Kenya&rsquo;s Vincent Keter &ndash; had defeated a quality field to win the men&rsquo;s 1500m in 3:35.99. Abdelatif Sadiki of Morocco came second in 3:36.63 followed by Adihena Kasaye of Ethiopia in 3:38.18.
Noah Kibet had earned the bronze medal at the World U20 Championships, but he surprised a high-quality senior 800m field with a bold move on the last lap that his competitors could not match. He won the race in 1:44.97 ahead of Collins Kipruto (1:45.68) and Cornelius Tuwei (1:45.90). Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Rotich was fourth.
From the celebrations Soufiane El Bakkali produced after winning the men&rsquo;s steeplechase, it became clear that he really wanted the win as much as the Kenyan runners wanted to beat him on their home soil. 
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 The Olympic champion waited until the last 300m before sprinting and opening the gap at the front. The rest followed him in a single file as the Moroccan went ahead to win the race in 8:21.20. Abraham Kibiwot took second in 8:22.33 ahead of Chala Beyo who finished third in 8:23.37. Immediately after the win, El Bakkali could hardly contain his delight as he removed his singlet and walked around the stadium bare-chested.
In the women&rsquo;s race, Celliphine Chespol, who has battled with injuries since 2019, returned to winning ways in 9:30.55. The expected showdown between 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng and Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai didn&rsquo;t materialise as both failed to finish. Fancy Cherono and Jackline Chepkoech finished second and third respectively.
Arguably, the most predictable outcome came in the women&rsquo;s 1500m. Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon ran behind Winnie Nanyondo, who was one of the pace makers here, and ensured she did just enough to hold off Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hirut Meshesha to win the race in 4:02:40. Meshesha ran 4:03.01 for second place while Freyweyni Hailu ran 4:04.39 for third place. 
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 Mary Moraa was delighted to secure another home victory, winning the 800m in 2:00.11 ahead of world champion Halimah Nakaayi (2:00.63).
Having narrowly missed out on Olympic selection in both the 10,000m and 5000m, Margaret Kipkemboi Chelimo enjoyed a comfortable victory in the 5000m in 14:55.27, finishing 17 seconds ahead of Eva Cherono and Lilian Kasait Rengeruk.
Four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek won the men&rsquo;s hammer with 78.33m, while Katrine Koch Jacobsen set her eighth and ninth national records of the year to win the women&rsquo;s hammer. Having already become the first Danish woman to throw beyond 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69 metres earlier in the season, she continued her remarkable progress in Nairobi with throws of 70.54m and 71.09m.
Elsewhere, Serbia&rsquo;s Milica Gardasevic won the women&rsquo;s long jump with a wind-assisted 6.68m (2.2m/s) and Aliaksei Katkavets was the only man to throw beyond 80 metres in the javelin, winning with 82.65m.
Justin Lagat for World Athletics

The Kip Keino Classic – and, indeed, the 2021 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series – ended on a high with some incredible performances at Nairobi’s Kasarani Stadium on Saturday (18).

Bromell blasts to world-leading 9.76 in Nairobi

The Kip Keino Classic – and, indeed, the 2021 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series – ended on a high

Bouncing back from his first 100m defeat since 2019, Trayvon Bromell won the 100m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on Tuesday evening (13) to re-establish himself as the favourite for gold at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Bromell&rsquo;s victory in 9.98 was among the highlights of the British Muller Grand Prix that also featured a meeting and Spanish record in the men&rsquo;s 3000m by Mohamed Katir and wins by Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, Dutch hurdles star Femke Bol and German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter.
The seventh Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season came just 10 days before the 23 July opening of the Tokyo Games and 17 days before the start of the athletics competition on 30 July.
Bromell, who clocked a world-leading 9.77 in June and won the 100m in 9.80 at the US Olympic Trials last month, had finished a disappointing fifth in 10.01 at last Friday&rsquo;s Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
In cool conditions in northeast England, Bromell regained much of the form that has made him the world&rsquo;s top 100m sprinter over the past two years. He burst quickly out of the blocks in lane five, surged to the front and led the rest of the way.
British runners CJ Ujah and Zharnel Hughes finished second and third in 10.10 and 10.13, respectively. Canada&rsquo;s Andre de Grasse, the Olympic and world 100m bronze medallist, settled for fourth, and Fred Kerley, third at the US Trials, was fifth &ndash; both also timed in 10.13.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take that win and I really want to get back into training, get my body under wraps, recover and get ready for Tokyo,&rdquo; Bromell said. &ldquo;I want to be healthy and I'm blessed for that.&rdquo;
Tokyo will be the second Olympics for Bromell, who was carried off the track after injuring his achilles in the sprint relay at the 2016 Rio Games.
&ldquo;I just hope I'm making everybody proud and not just in chasing medals but in the sense of teaching people to keep fighting even when things are rough,&rdquo; he said.
The final event of the evening produced the meet&rsquo;s top performance when Katir clocked 7:27.64 to move to third on the European all-time list and 15th on the world all-time list, one place ahead of Eliud Kipchoge. It came just two months after Katir won the 5000m on the same track in Gateshead. And last week in Monaco, he set a national 1500m record of 3:28.76.
Now Katir heads to Tokyo on an exceptional run of form. 
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 &ldquo;I had a dream to be part of the Olympic Games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I've worked very hard to achieve this goal and this performance is the consequence of working hard and training in the mountains. The first time I won in Gateshead it gave me a lot of confidence and positive energy and I thought, 'Hey, I can make it&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Thompson-Herah, the Olympic 100m and 200m champion, won the 200m on Tuesday in 22.43, ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Jodie Williams in 22.60 and Nigeria&rsquo;s Blessing Okagbare in 22.61.
The Jamaican had been scheduled to face world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, but the British star withdrew ahead of the meet with a tight hamstring.
&ldquo;It helps me to build my confidence to get that win on the board,&rdquo; Thompson-Herah said. &ldquo;It may not be my fastest time but I'm still pleased with that. I need to get the work in to get that curve as quick as possible and keep pushing forward.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Tokyo will be my second Olympics and I'm pretty excited now,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been there and I know what it feels like and, even though there are no crowds, I will hope to put on a show.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, 21-year-old Bol extended her unbeaten run this season to six races with a third consecutive victory over US rival Shamier Little &ndash; and this time it wasn&rsquo;t close.
Bol pulled away down the homestretch to win going away by 10 metres in 53.24, while Little finished second in 54.53. Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell was third in 54.66.
The race lacked the tight finish and blistering times of the previous two meetings between Bol and Little. Bol edged Little at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on 4 July, clocking 52.37 to move to fourth on the world all-time list. Little, who finished fourth at the US Trials and failed to qualify for Tokyo, ran 52.39 for fifth on the world all-time list.
The two faced off again two days later in Szekesfehervar, with Bol fending off Little to win in 52.81 to the US hurdler&rsquo;s 52.85. 
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 &ldquo;It was nice that this time I was out in front of Shamier so it was mentally different because the other two times I have been chasing,&rdquo; Bol said. &ldquo;So that was a really good exercise especially with Tokyo on my mind.
&ldquo;I couldn't have had a better preparation for Tokyo and I cannot wait now. I am so excited I can finally go.&rdquo;
Bol will be a medal contender in Tokyo in a star-studded event that also features the two US athletes with the two fastest times on the world all-time list &ndash; Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad. McLaughlin won the US Olympic Trials last month in 51.90, smashing Muhammad&rsquo;s world record by more than a quarter of a second with the first sub-52 time in history.
Vetter came to Gateshead with hopes of challenging Jan Zelezny&rsquo;s 25-year-old javelin world record of 98.48m, or at least Steve Backley&rsquo;s meeting record of 90.81m. The German came close to the world record last year with a throw of 97.76m and threw 96.29m to win his event at the European Team Championships in May.
But the conditions were not ideal on Tuesday and Vetter sealed victory with 85.25m on his sixth and final throw. Fellow German Julian Weber was second with 81.07m.
&ldquo;The world record is possible in Tokyo,&rdquo; Vetter said. &ldquo;You can't plan throws though and if it happens, it happens. The first goal is staying healthy, getting the gold medal and then I think about the world record.&rdquo; 
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 Isaiah Harris, fourth at the US Trials, took the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:44.76, with Wycliffe Kinyamal of Kenya second in 1:44.91 and Peter Bol of Australia third in 1:45.22. Clayton Murphy, winner at the US Trials, lagged in sixth place in 1:45.72.
&ldquo;I was happy with that,&rdquo; Harris said. &ldquo;I kind of wanted to PR but to get a win is just as good.&rdquo;
Jamaicans finished 1-2 in the 110m hurdles, with Tokyo-bound national champion Ronald Levy triumphing in 13.22 ahead of 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod in 13.42.
&ldquo;I just came out here to execute,&rdquo; Levy said. &ldquo;I fell short at the start but I picked it up at the end.&rdquo;
McLeod, who missed out on a place in Tokyo after finishing last at the Jamaican Olympic Trials, felt a measure of satisfaction after his improved performance in Gateshead.
&ldquo;I am a bit out of it but happy to finish healthy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now I'm just going to try and finish the season well and keep putting in the performances. I've got to get some quality work in and then we can see where we go from there.&rdquo;
Ukraine&rsquo;s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk won the women&rsquo;s long jump with a best jump of 6.77m, beating world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany with 6.65m.
World heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, making a comeback after tearing her achilles last December, was satisfied with her leap of 6.10m.
&ldquo;I didn't know what to expect. It was all about the feeling, I was about trying to get on to the board, it was about getting back to my 19-stride run-up,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I only got one no-jump. It's proved I've made big strides and that I can come out and do the full five jumps off my full approach.&rdquo;
World indoor champion Sandi Morris of the US won the pole vault in 4.76m, with British record-holder Holly Bradshaw second with 4.71m and Wilma Murto of Finland third with 4.61m.
&ldquo;I've had a really tough time this last month,&rdquo; Morris said. &ldquo;I've had a couple of bad meets and my confidence was lacking a bit so I really needed today. I decided that I'd have no expectations and just have fun and any time I jump for fun I always jump high. It's amazing how you can have five bad meets and one good meet and your world flips back to normal.&rdquo;
Britain&rsquo;s Cindy Sember won the 100m hurdles in 12.69 ahead of Payton Chadwick of the US in 12.75 and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands in 12.78.
In the men&rsquo;s mile, Elliot Giles held off fellow British athlete Jake Heyward in a photo finish to win in a personal best 3:52.49. Heyward clocked a PB of 3:52.50.
Katie Grace of the US took the women&rsquo;s mile in a world-leading 4:27.20, and Jamaica&rsquo;s Stephenie Ann McPherson won the women&rsquo;s 400m in 50.44.
Portugal&rsquo;s Pedro Pablo Pichardo, a two-time world silver medallist, won the men&rsquo;s triple jump with a best leap of 17.50m. Donald Thomas of The Bahamas won the men&rsquo;s high jump with a best of 2.25m.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

Bouncing back from his first 100m defeat since 2019, Trayvon Bromell won the 100m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on Tuesday evening (13) to re-establish himself as the favourite for gold at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Bromell and Katir shine in Gateshead at final pre-Olympic test

Seven months after tearing her achilles tendon, world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson believes she will be ready to contend for a medal at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
The UK star is set to compete in the women&rsquo;s long jump on Tuesday night (13) at the Muller British Grand Prix in Gateshead, England, the final Wanda Diamond League meeting before the Tokyo Games.
Making her first extensive public comments about her injury, Johnson-Thompson told reporters that she felt &lsquo;&rsquo;devastated&rsquo;&rsquo; when she ruptured the achilles of her jumping leg last December but has now fully recovered in time for the Games. &nbsp;
"It&rsquo;s been seven months," she said. "I&rsquo;m back. I&rsquo;m fully fit and ready to go.
"I&rsquo;m 100 percent, everything is healed," Johnson-Thompson added. "In fact, my left leg is now stronger than my right because of it. So I&rsquo;m in a good place. This injury in a way is not a blessing but it&rsquo;s just helped me focus on the process a lot more."
Johnson-Thompson has competed only once this year, clearing 1.84m in the high jump at a low-key meet in France last week.
"I just haven&rsquo;t had the training and the competition practice that I normally would have," she said. "I&rsquo;m 100 percent in my body. It&rsquo;s been a tough road but I&rsquo;m happy that it&rsquo;s actually worked out. At one point, it could have gone one of two ways, but I&rsquo;m glad it went in the best direction for me where I&rsquo;m able to compete at my third Olympics."
Despite the lack of competition, Johnson-Thompson said she remains intent on making the podium in Tokyo, where the heptathlon events begin on 4 August.
"That&rsquo;s my aim," she said. "I wouldn&rsquo;t have worked as hard as I have for the last seven months to get to the position I&rsquo;m in. My goals haven&rsquo;t changed, but circumstances beforehand have changed. I just know that I&rsquo;m pushing every day to still achieve my targets.&rdquo;
Johnson-Thompson said she hasn&rsquo;t set any specific targets for her appearance in Tuesday&rsquo;s long jump, where she will face world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany.
"I don&rsquo;t know what the conditions will be," she said. "I haven&rsquo;t done long jump since the Stockholm Diamond League last year. I just want to go out there and try to put together a good series of jumps." 
<h2>Bromell shrugs off rare 100m defeat</h2>
US 100m champion Trayvon Bromell isn&rsquo;t concerned about his disappointing fifth-place finish at last Friday&rsquo;s Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting in Monaco. 
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 Considered the favourite for 100m gold in Tokyo, Bromell clocked 10.01 in the Monaco race won by American teammate Ronnie Baker in 9.91.
Bromell, who clocked a world-leading 9.77 in June and won the US Olympic Trials in 9.80, hadn&rsquo;t lost a 100m race since 2019.
He&rsquo;ll look to bounce back on Tuesday in Gateshead, where he goes up against Fred Kerley, who qualified for Tokyo by finishing third in 9.86 at the US trials, and Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse, the Olympic and world 100m bronze medallist.
Bromell noted that Monaco and Gateshead are his first overseas competitions since 2016. He said he has also been training more to run 100m rounds at the trials and the Olympics rather than one-off meeting races.
"I just want to focus on getting some runs in," Bromell said. "I don&rsquo;t look at Monaco and be like mad or anything. Obviously I had some technical issues. Probably one of the worst days for a sprinter and I still run 10.01 - I can&rsquo;t be mad at that."
The American downplayed his status as the man to beat in Tokyo.
"I respect everybody," he said. "I just go out there and focus on my lane. Trying to stay stable and humble as possible, not to count anybody out. I don&rsquo;t want to get complacent."
Bromell wasn&rsquo;t ready to predict what time will be need to win gold in Tokyo.
<div>
"The time doesn&rsquo;t matter," he said. "It&rsquo;s the medal, the opportunity, the race itself. At the end of the day, if you win with 10.0, it&rsquo;s still a gold medal. If you go that fast or go 9.7 or 9.6, I&rsquo;m going into the race just wanting to be the first person to the line." 
<h2>McLeod 'heartbroken&rsquo; over Olympic team omission</h2>
Olympic 110m hurdles gold medallist Omar McLeod is still hurting over his omission from Jamaica&rsquo;s team for the Tokyo Games. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60ec728aca5da8490e9ed50d.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Dealing with cramps, McLeod finished last in the final at the Jamaican Olympic Trials last month, missing out on a top-three berth required for selection to the team. He hit the first hurdle with his lead foot and never got back into the race won by Ronald Levy in 13.10.
"I'm very heartbroken," said McLeod, adding that the schedule at the trials offered little recovery time after late night semifinals.
"In the morning I had a severe cramp before the race," he said. "I just didn&rsquo;t know what to do. When my name was not on the list I was pretty heartbroken."
Had he been healthy, McLeod believes he could have run spectacular times.
"I&rsquo;ve proven that over and over," he said. "I went into the championships as a world leader. I was competing well. I was going to treat the trials just the same.
"I thought I could run a ridiculous time, potentially a Jamaican record or world record. I had nothing else to prove. I was ready to go defend that title."
McLeod said he and his team had exhausted all appeals and efforts to try to win a place on the team. He said he had nothing special to prove in Tuesday&rsquo;s hurdles in Gateshead.
"I&rsquo;m just running on emotions right now," he said. "I&rsquo;m mentally not in a good place. I&rsquo;m trying my hardest to focus and do the best that I can, but nothing promised for tomorrow. Just going to give it my heart like I always do."
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
</div>

Seven months after tearing her achilles tendon, world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson believes she will be ready to contend for a medal at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.

Johnson-Thompson eyes Olympic podium in comeback from injury

With the Tokyo Olympics less than two weeks away, many of the world&rsquo;s top athletes will get a last chance to test their competitive form when they line up in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead, England, on Tuesday (13).
US sprinter Trayvon Bromell, German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter, Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson-Herah and British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson are among the top names entered in the Muller Grand Prix.
Despite the late withdrawals of British world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Dutch middle-distance star Sifan Hassan, the meet features an array of world and Olympic champions and will serve as a crucial tune-up ahead of Tokyo. 
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 The seventh Diamond League meeting of the season &ndash; and second in Gateshead &ndash; comes just 10 days before the 23 July opening of the Tokyo Games and 17 days before the start of the Olympic athletics competition on 30 July.
Many athletes are returning to the venue in northeast England for the second time this season. Gateshead hosted the Diamond League opener in May after the meeting was moved from Rabat, Morocco. Tuesday&rsquo;s meeting was originally scheduled to take place at the Olympic Stadium in London but was switched to Gateshead due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
World 100m leader Bromell will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance in last Friday&rsquo;s Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting in Monaco, where he clocked 10.01 and finished fifth in a race won by American teammate Ronnie Baker in 9.91. It was Bromell&rsquo;s first 100m defeat since 2019, having won four races in 2020 and 10 this year.
Bromell, who ran 9.77 in June for the fastest time in the world this year and won the 100m in 9.80 at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene last month, will be determined to regain the form that made him the favourite for gold in Tokyo.
Bromell will go up against Fred Kerley, who qualified for Tokyo by finishing third in 9.86 at the US trials, and Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse, the Olympic and world 100m bronze medallist. Isiah Young, who has clocked 9.89 this season, is also in the 100m line-up, along with British sprinters Adam Gemili and Chijindu Ujah.
About 40 members of Team GB&rsquo;s athletics team for Tokyo &ndash; more than half the entire squad &ndash; will be in action in Gateshead. Missing, however, will be Asher-Smith, who pulled out citing a tight hamstring. She opted not to take any risks ahead of the Olympics.
&ldquo;As you all know, I love running in front of a home crowd but I have to make smart decisions for myself and my body ahead of Tokyo,&rsquo;&rsquo; Asher-Smith said in a statement on Twitter. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to those who were hoping to see me run this week but I&rsquo;m looking forward to making you all proud in a few weeks&rsquo; time.&rdquo;
Asher-Smith had been scheduled to run the 200m in a marquee matchup against Thompson-Herah, the reigning Olympic 100m and 200m champion. The Jamaican will now be the favourite in a field that also includes American Tamara Clark, who finished fourth in the US Olympic Trials in a personal best of 21.98.
Hassan, the women&rsquo;s world champion at 1500m and 10,000m, also withdrew due to a tight hamstring and preferring not to take any chances before Tokyo, where she looks set to contest the 5000m-10,000m double. Hasan had been scheduled to run the mile, in which she holds the world record of 4:12.33. Winnie Nanyondo of Uganda, who has a season&rsquo;s best of 4:00.84 in the 1500m, and American Kate Grace, who clocked 1:57.36 for the 800m in Stockholm, now start as favourites.
The men&rsquo;s mile has past winner Jake Wightman of Britain in the field along with European indoor 800m record-breaker Elliot Giles, who will be running the 800m in Tokyo.
If conditions are good, Vetter could challenge Jan Zelezny&rsquo;s 25-year-old javelin world record of 98.48m. The German came close last year with a throw of 97.76m and threw 96.29m to win his event at the European Team Championships in May. Vetter has been successful competing in Britain, winning the world title in London in 2017.
Javelin records have been set in the UK before, with Zelezny throwing 95.66m in Sheffield in 1993 and Britain&rsquo;s Steve Backley setting a mark of 90.98m at London&rsquo;s Crystal Palace in 1990. Also in the javelin field in Gateshead are world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad &amp; Tobago.
Still making her way back to full fitness after an Achilles injury, Johnson-Thompson is entered in the women&rsquo;s long jump, where she will take on world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany. In Stockholm, Mihambo produced the best jump of 7.02m in the third round but settled for second place in the new final-three format when her final effort of 6.77m was bettered by the 6.88m of Ivana Spanovic of Serbia. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/2d33a4db-0c3f-40b9-860a-7150dacfb0dc.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="650" />
 In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, 21-year-old Dutch star Femke Bol will resume her rivalry with US athlete Shamier Little for the third time this season.
Bol, the European indoor 400m champion who is unbeaten in five hurdles races this season, edged Little in the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on 4 July, clocking 52.37 for the fourth fastest time in history. Little, who finished fourth at the US trials and failed to qualify for Tokyo, ran 52.39 for the fifth fastest time in history.
The two faced off again two days later at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meet in Hungary, with Bol fending off Little to win in 52.81 to the American&rsquo;s 52.85.
The men&rsquo;s 800m field is headed by Clayton Murphy, who won the US Olympic Trials in 1:43.17. He will face the men who finished third and fourth behind him &ndash; Bryce Hoppel and Isaiah Harris &ndash; as well as world silver medalist Amel Tuka, who will be seeking Bosnia and Herzogovina&rsquo;s first ever Olympic medal in Tokyo.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault features US champion Katie Nageotte, the world leader with a jump of 4.95m, plus world indoor champion Sandi Morris of the US and British record-holder Holly Bradshaw.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

With the Tokyo Olympics less than two weeks away, many of the world’s top athletes will get a last chance to test their competitive form when they line up in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead, England, on Tuesday.

Bromell, Thompson-Herah and Vetter headline last Diamond League before Tokyo

World leader Trayvon Bromell heads the 100m line-up while Malaika Mihambo will continue her Wanda Diamond League tour when the series moves on to the Muller British Grand Prix in Gateshead on 13 July.
The USA&rsquo;s 2016 world indoor 60m champion Bromell ran 9.77 in June for the fastest 100m in the world so far this year and followed that with a win at the US Olympic Trials. He will test himself again in Gateshead, as he takes on Canada&rsquo;s multiple global gold medallist Andre De Grasse and US Olympic Trials third-placer Fred Kerley, plus British athletes Adam Gemili, CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes and Reece Prescod.
&ldquo;I am really enjoying my season so far and looking forward to racing 100m at the Muller British Grand Prix,&rdquo; said Bromell, who is set to return to Diamond League action for the first time since 2016 when he competes in Monaco on 9 July. That will be his first race outside of the USA since 2019 and there he will also face De Grasse and Kerley, among others.
&ldquo;I remember running in northern England at a street athletics event in Manchester five years ago and the support was great from the fans so I am hoping there will be similar atmosphere in Gateshead.&rdquo;
After Diamond League competition in Florence, Oslo and Stockholm, Germany&rsquo;s world champion Mihambo will turn her attention to Gateshead where she will be joined in the long jump by Britain&rsquo;s world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who continues her comeback after injury, plus British long jumpers Jazmin Sawyers and Abigail Irozuru.
The seventh meeting in the Diamond League series will also feature the already-announced Dina Asher-Smith in the 200m, Sifan Hassan in the mile, Keni Harrison in the 100m hurdles, Johannes Vetter in the javelin and Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault.
Organisers for World Athletics

World leader Trayvon Bromell heads the 100m line-up while Malaika Mihambo will continue her Wanda Diamond League tour when the series moves on to the Muller British Grand Prix in Gateshead on 13 July.

Bromell, De Grasse, Mihambo and Johnson-Thompson set for Gateshead

Three years ago, it seemed implausible that Trayvon Bromell and Allyson Felix would represent the United States at a 2020 Olympic Games. Bromell was coping with a debilitating sequence of injuries, and Felix was coming off a difficult childbirth.
Now that it is the 2021 Olympics, they will be running for medals in Tokyo.
Bromell won the 100m in 9.80 (0.8m/s), and Felix made her fifth Olympic team during the USA Olympic Trials on Sunday night (20) in Eugene, Oregon.
The 25-year-old Bromell once thought his end had come. He left the Rio Olympics in a wheelchair after aggravating a heel injury.
He has had two achilles surgeries over the past five years, and in a span of three-and-a-half years ran three races. He was effectively out of athletics. He credited religious faith for turning around his life, on and off the track.
&ldquo;When I went down in 2016, I realised I didn't know what was going on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In 2018, I wondered if I wanted to live anymore. What resource am I not going to for this change?
&ldquo;My mom told me to try God. Since devoting myself, things have changed.&rdquo;
In a high-quality final, the top four men finished inside 9.90, and 9.91 &ndash; recorded by teenager Micah Williams of host University of Oregon &ndash; was only sufficient for fifth place. It was the fastest first five in trials history.
Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley, the latter dropping down from the 400m, claimed the two other Olympic spots, finishing second and third respectively in 9.85 and 9.86. 200m specialist Kenny Bednarek was fourth in 9.89. World 200m champion Noah Lyles started poorly and was seventh in 10.05.
Following this victory and his world-leading 9.77 from earlier this month, Bromell will head to Tokyo as a gold-medal favourite.
&ldquo;I feel with confidence sometimes comes complacency. And for me, I don't like to get complacent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For me, I'm still going to go home and train as if I'm not being talked about at all.&rdquo;
On a day celebrated as Father&rsquo;s Day, the top two in the women&rsquo;s 400m were both mothers.
Quenara Hayes &ndash; who became a mother in October 2018 and has this year returned to sub-50-second form &ndash; finished first in 49.78, just 0.06 shy of the PB she set when winning the 2017 US title.
Felix closed rapidly to clock 50.02. Third spot was taken in 50.03 by Wadeline Jonathas, who was fourth at the 2019 World Championships. Kendall Ellis clocked 50.10 for fourth place, narrowly missing a team spot by just 0.07. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d06508953a9cd50196b962.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" />
 &ldquo;When your body is out for eight to nine months, plenty of nights I would cry,&rdquo; said Felix. &ldquo;I was trying to rush the process.&rdquo;
Felix made the team, 17 years removed from winning a 200m silver medal in Athens in 2004. She gave birth to a daughter in 2018, and she was at Hayward Field to see her mother race.
&ldquo;There has been so much that has gone into this,&rdquo; Felix said, &ldquo;and there were many times where I didn't think I would get to this moment.&rdquo;
She said she was &ldquo;absolutely sure&rdquo; she would not try for Paris 2024. 
<h2>Winkler breaks North American hammer record</h2>
Rudy Winkler broke Lance Deal&rsquo;s 25-year-old North American hammer record with a distance of 82.71m.
Winkler opened with 80.75m to break the meeting record, then followed it with his winning mark in round two. He went on to record three more throws beyond 80 metres, including an 82.10m effort in round four. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d0655d953a9cd50196b968.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Daniel Haugh (79.39m) and Alex Young (78.32m) also set PBs to finish second and third. The three men now occupy the second, fifth and sixth places on this year&rsquo;s world list.
Hal Connolly was the last US man to win Olympic gold in the hammer, and Deal was the last medallist with his silver in Atlanta in 1996. Winkler said his 80-metre throws felt effortless.
&ldquo;I was more prepared for this than I have been for anything in my life,&rdquo; said Winkler, who had a case of Covid-19 in spring 2020 but was never hospitalised. 
<h2>Redemption for Harrison and Scantling</h2>
The five-year wait since the last Olympic Trials has felt like an age for Kendra Harrison and Garrett Scantling.
On that occasion, back in 2016, Harrison finished sixth in the 100m hurdles while Scantling was fourth in the decathlon, meaning they both missed out on making the US team for Rio. But this time both were clear winners of their respective events.
Harrison, who went on to set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.20 later in 2016, won on Sunday in Eugene in a season&rsquo;s best of 12.47, finishing 0.01 ahead of Olympic champion Brianna McNeal. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d065de953a9cd50196b96b.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Christina Clemons and Gabbi Cunningham were close behind, both timed at 12.53 and separated by just five thousandths of a second in third and fourth. With four women finishing inside 12.54, it&rsquo;s the highest quality 100m hurdles race in history outside of global championships.
McNeal is currently appealing a five-year ban for a doping violation, but received permission from the Court of Arbitration of Sport to compete. If her appeal is denied, Cunningham will take the third spot on the US team for Tokyo.
The decathlon was of similar high quality. Scantling, who had led since the second event, started where he left off on day two, charging to a PB of 13.88 in the 110m hurdles. He then uncorked a lifetime best of 48.17m in the final round of the discus before clearing 5.15m in the pole vault.
A 64.21m throw in the javelin brought his tally to 8074 points and he still had one event to go. He ended his competition with 4:57.75 in the 1500m to secure victory &ndash; and his place on the Olympic team &ndash; with 8647, a mark that moves him to eighth on the US all-time list. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d06545953a9cd50196b965.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Steven Bastien sat in fourth place at the end of the first day and remained in contention on day two, helped by a 14.24 run in the 110m hurdles. He moved up the leaderboard once again, thanks to a 4:22.21 run in the 1500m, elevating him to second place and a PB of 8485.
Zach Ziemek, who finished seventh at the 2016 Olympics, excelled in the pole vault, sailing over 5.55m to keep alive his dream of competing at a second Games. Combined with his points from the high jump (2.14m) and long jump (7.74m), he became the first decathlete in history to score more than 3000 points in the jumps events in one decathlon. Ziemek maintained a podium finish during the final two events, eventually placing third with a PB of 8471.
In a high quality competition, the top six finishers exceeded 8100 points and the top nine men bettered 8000.
Michael Norman took the 400m in 44.07 over Michael Cherry, 44.35. Randolph Ross, who ran a world-leading 43.85 on this same track to win the NCAA title earlier this month, seized the third spot in 44.74. Norman said he had one pre-Olympics race in Szekesfehervar but that he would otherwise concentrate on training.
&ldquo;In 2016, there were no expectations, no goals, have fun and see what happens,&rdquo; said Norman, who was fifth in the 200m at that year&rsquo;s trials as an 18-year-old. &ldquo;This year everything was done with a purpose, and I had a goal in mind.&rdquo;
Keturah Orji set a meeting record of 14.52m on her final attempt in the triple jump, having held the lead since her opening leap of 14.40m. Former US record-holder Tori Franklin was second with 14.36m.
Vashti Cunningham won her fourth successive US title with a high jump of 1.96m. She passed 1.99m and missed three attempts to tie her outdoor world lead of 2.02m.
Roy Jordan for World Athletics
&bull; <a href="https://results.usatf.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

Bromell won the 100m in 9.80 (0.8m/s), and Felix made her fifth Olympic team during the USA Olympic Trials on Sunday night (20) in Eugene, Oregon.

Bromell back to his best while Felix and Winkler make history in Eugene

The USA&rsquo;s Trayvon Bromell stormed to seventh on the world 100m all-time list on Saturday (5) by running a world-leading 9.77 (1.5m/s) at the NACAC New Life Invitational &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in Miramar, Florida.
Lining up alongside just three competitors, the 2016 world indoor 60m champion got a strong start and powered away to become just the ninth man to ever break 9.80 for 100m.
It continues an impressive return for the 25-year-old, who has overcome injury struggles during the past few years. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
MEN'S 100M WORLD LEADER TRAYVON BROMELL WINS THE 100M with an incredible 9.77s for the best mark in the world this year at the NACAC NEW LIFE INVITATIONAL ⭐️And you saw it live on the Panam Sports Channel⭐️ 🥇Trayvon Bromell🇺🇸9.77 🥈Marvin Bracey🇺🇸9.85 🥉Chris Royster🇺🇸10.08 <a href="https://t.co/SEaiYpSCVW">pic.twitter.com/SEaiYpSCVW</a>
&mdash; Panam Sports (@PanamSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/PanamSports/status/1401296836032352267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 Bromell&rsquo;s time in Miramar improves on his previous best of 9.84 which he ran in 2015 and equalled the following year.
Behind him, Marvin Bracy ran a PB of 9.85, with the pair having run respective wind-assisted times of 10.01 and 10.06 (2.2m/s) in an earlier heat. In that first round,&nbsp;Yohan Blake ran a slightly wind-aided 9.97 (2.1m/s).
On a day of fast sprint times which had <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/warholm-world-300m-hurdles-best-oslo-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier seen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce become the second-fastest female 100m sprinter in history with 10.63 in Kingston</a>, Elaine Thompson-Herah &ndash; with whom Fraser-Pryce had previously shared the Jamaican record at 10.70 &ndash; claimed her own victory thanks to a 10.87 (1.2m/s) run in Miramar.
She finished ahead of the USA&rsquo;s Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta and Jamaica&rsquo;s Briana Williams, who both dipped under 11 seconds with respective times of 10.96 and 10.97. Double Olympic champion Thompson-Herah also won the 200m in 22.54 (1.2m/s). 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/90f503ef-e804-4911-a982-4bb96fac2a35.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="560" /> Elaine Thompson-Herah wins the 100m at the NACAC New Life Invitational (&copy; Jeff Porter)
 Bartoletta also contested the long jump and finished second with a wind-assisted 6.75m (3.7m/s) as Canada&rsquo;s Christabel Nettey leapt 6.78m (2.7m/s) to win. Britain&rsquo;s Lorraine Ugen was third with a best of 6.74m (2.7m/s).
The USA&rsquo;s world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad dominated the 400m hurdles, clocking 54.50 to finish more than a second ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Ronda Whyte with 55.65, while Tobi Amusan and Michael Dickson claimed sprint hurdles wins with respective wind-assisted times of 12.44 (2.2m/s) in the 100m hurdles and 13.16 (2.6m/s) in the 110m hurdles.
The 400m races were won by Deon Lendore (45.48) and Wadeline Jonathas (51.91), while Aje&eacute; Wilson (2:01.50) and Marco Arop (1:44.93) claimed victory in the 800m events.
Photos by&nbsp;Jeff Porter
<a name="nash"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>McLaughlin runs world-leading 52.83 in Nashville</h1>
World silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin sped to a sub-53-second clocking in her first 400m hurdles race of the year when winning at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville on Sunday (6).
The 21-year-old had contested a few sprint hurdles races already this year, topped by a 12.65 PB last month at Mt SAC, and had recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 51.16 for 400m flat, so it was clear McLaughlin was in form. Her aim in Nashville was to put all of that together in a 400m hurdles race. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/db5f37c7-499a-4b2a-956a-017dcd370ad2.jpg?cachebuster=eb204b5a-a112-406a-b810-1bfe0449f319" alt="" width="1000" height="600" />
 Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic finalist Leah Nugent, drawn in lane three, went out the hardest and led at half way. But McLaughlin, drawn two lanes outside Nugent, maintained her composure and edged into the lead on the top bend. She continued to push ahead and, despite a small adjustment to negotiate the penultimate barrier, went on to stop the clock at 52.83.
Not only is it the third-fastest time of McLaughlin&rsquo;s career, it&rsquo;s also the fastest season opener of any 400m hurdler in history. With five sub-53-second times to her name, McLaughlin now ties Lashinda Demus as the most prolific sub-53-second performer in history.
&ldquo;I just had to get the rust off and I&rsquo;m glad to be back,&rdquo; said McLaughlin, whose PB of 52.23 makes her the second-fastest woman in history. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done a couple of races at short distances and one at 400m, but getting the two combined is good. It&rsquo;s good to just be able to feel that tempo. My improved speed over short hurdles is helping. Once you open it up, it feels easier.&rdquo;
Earlier in the programme, Katie Nageotte notched up another pole vault victory. The Pan-American silver medallist effectively had the competition won with her first-time clearance at her opening height of 4.41m, but she went on to clear 4.61m, 4.75m and then 4.85m before ending her series with three misses at 4.95m.
New Zealand&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 22.00m in the men&rsquo;s shot put, backing it up with efforts of 21.78m and 21.66m. World silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd won the women&rsquo;s event with a season&rsquo;s best of 19.26m.
Elsewhere, two-time world champion Sam Kendricks won the pole vault on countback from US teammate Matt Ludwig, both clearing 5.71m. And world champion Steven Gardiner was a comfortable winner of the men&rsquo;s 400m, clocking 45.06.
<a name="pra"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>Allman throws 67.74m in Prairie View</h1>
World discus finalist Valarie Allman produced the second-best throw of her career to highlight the USATF Showcase &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in Prairie View on Sunday (6).
The 26-year-old, who holds the US record at 70.15m, moved into the lead in the third round with 65.88m, overtaking Jamaica&rsquo;s Shadae Lawrence (62.48m). Allman then improved to 67.07m before producing her best of the day in round six, throwing 67.74m to move to third on this year&rsquo;s world list.
At a meeting where throwing events produced most of the highlights, Nigerian record-holder Chukwuebuka Enekwechi landed a season&rsquo;s best of 21.53m to win the men&rsquo;s shot put while Gwen Berry won the women&rsquo;s hammer with 72.80m, beating Oceania record-holder Lauren Bruce by 21 centimetres.
On the track, Natasha Hastings won a long sprint double with season&rsquo;s bests, taking the 200m in 23.09 (1.3m/s) and the 400m in 51.45. Allie Wilson won the 800m in 1:59.92.
<a name="tat"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>Charlton and Campbell among winners in Tatabanya</h1>
Britain&rsquo;s Taylor Campbell threw a PB to achieve an Olympic qualifying mark in the hammer, while Bahamian 100m hurdles record-holder Devynne Charlton was also among the winners at the Hungarian GP Series &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Tatabanya, Hungary, on Saturday (5).
Campbell&rsquo;s best before this year had been 74.98m but he improved to 75.82m in April and then 76.97m in May before adding more than a metre to that with 78.23m in Tatabanya to better the Tokyo standard of 77.50m. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR TOKYO OLYMPICS!!!! 😳😳😳PB 78.23m. I&rsquo;m in absolute shock right now. I have dreamt about this moment so many times since I was a kid. 🇬🇧❤️ <a href="https://t.co/UyPFgKOQyu">pic.twitter.com/UyPFgKOQyu</a>
&mdash; Taylor Campbell (@TaylorLC1996) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorLC1996/status/1401154315079884800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 For Charlton, who clocked 12.61 at the USATF Golden Games in May, her winning mark this time was 12.85 (-0.6m/s) to finish ahead of home favourite Luca Kozak with 12.92. Brazil&rsquo;s Gabriel Constantino won the 110m hurdles in 13.51 (-0.5m/s) ahead of Shane Brathwaite with 13.62, while Liberia&rsquo;s Emmanuel Matadi ran 10.18 (-0.7m/s) to triumph in the 100m from Alonso Edward with 10.20.
Janka Molnar clocked a Hungarian U23 record of 56.17 to win the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, while Kenya&rsquo;s Cornelius Tuwei won the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:46.07 and Hungary&rsquo;s Bianka Bartha-Keri clocked a 2:01.34 PB to win the women&rsquo;s event.
Kenya&rsquo;s Rosefline Chepngetich and Wilberforce Kones were top in the 3000m steeplechase events, with respective times of 9:33.51 and 8:29.43.
Ukraine&rsquo;s Iryna Gerashchenko won the women&rsquo;s high jump, clearing 1.94m, while Malaysia&rsquo;s Nauraj Singh Randhawa achieved 2.27m to win the men&rsquo;s competition.
Over at the Denka Athletics Challenge Cup &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Niigata, Japan, on Sunday (6), Yuki Hashioka leapt 8.23m (1.3m/s) to win the long jump.
The 2018 world U20 champion opened his series with 8.19m (-0.2m/s) in the first round, before 8.23m in the second. Hibiki Tsuha placed second with two 7.86m jumps.
Nozomi Tanaka won the women&rsquo;s 1500m in 4:09.06.
Jess Whittington and Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

The USA’s Trayvon Bromell stormed to seventh on the world 100m all-time list on Saturday (5) by running a world-leading 9.77 (1.5m/s) at the NACAC New Life Invitational – a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting – in Miramar, Florida.

Bromell speeds to 9.77 100m in Miramar, McLaughlin runs 52.83 in Nashville

Jamaica's double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah is among the large field of world-class athletes listed for action at the inaugural North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) New Life Invitational on Saturday (5).
The&nbsp;World Athletics Continental Tour&nbsp;Silver meeting will be staged at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida, USA.
Thompson-Herah is entered in the women&rsquo;s 100m and 200m, with the 100m field also including her fellow Jamaicans Natasha Morrison and Briana Williams, Bahamian Tynia Gaither, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Kelly-Ann Baptiste and the USA's Tianna Bartoletta.
Thompson-Herah is second on the 2021 world rankings at 10.78, trailing only the USA's sprint sensation Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson (10.72). Morrison is fourth with a 10.87 run, while Williams is 11th at 10.98. Gaither is also in the top 20, her 11.02 clocking placing her at number 13.
In the longer sprint, Thompson-Herah will be challenged by Williams, Gaither, Great Britain&rsquo;s Jodie Williams and the USA's Brittany Brown, the 2019 world silver medallist.
Bartoletta, the 2016 Olympic long jump gold medallist, is also on the entry list for her specialist event. Bartoletta will face strong challenges from fellow American Malaina Payton, Jamaica&rsquo;s Chanice Porter, Briton Lorraine Ugen and Canadian Christabel Nettey.
In the 400m hurdles, Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad takes on 2021 world leader Shamier Little (53.12). The two Americans are not set to have things all their own way, however, as the list of challengers includes in-form Jamaicans Rhonda Whyte and Shiann Salmon.
The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles is also packed with quality, including Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, Nigerian Tobi Amusan and American Christina Clemons.
Among the men that will feature at the NACAC New Life Invitational are US sprint star Trayvon Bromell, the world 100m leader at 9.88, and Samoan discus thrower Alex Rose.
Jamaican Chrisann Gordon-Powell and American Wadeline Jonathas go head-to-head in the women&rsquo;s 400m. American Aje&eacute; Wilson is expected to dominate the women&rsquo;s 800m and in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, Dominican Republic&rsquo;s Ana Tima is one to watch.
Some 200 athletes from 27 countries are expected to be on show at the event which starts at 2pm (Eastern Daylight Time).
Organisers for World Athletics

Jamaica's double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah is among the large field of world-class athletes listed for action at the inaugural North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) New Life Invitational on Saturday (5).

Thompson-Herah, Bromell and Muhammad headline New Life Invitational

The USA&rsquo;s Trayvon Bromell and Matthew Centrowitz have both had their fair share of injury setbacks over the past few years but showed they remain on course in this Olympic season by claiming dominant wins at the Track Meet, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in California on Saturday (15).
Two weeks after his world-leading 9.88 in Florida, Bromell ran 9.92 to win the 100m by 0.3 ahead of Chris Royster, meaning the 2016 world indoor 60m champion has posted two of the three fastest times in the world so far this year.
For 2016 Olympic champion Centrowitz, the winning time of 3:35.26 was his fastest since the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha and it saw him finish almost a second clear ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s Jake Heyward in a PB of 3:36.24 and Marc Scott in 3:36.28. Moving ahead with 200m to go, Centrowitz looked fully in control and eased away for a dominant victory. There had been some drama at the start as athletes&nbsp;jostled for position, with&nbsp;Moh Ahmed and&nbsp;Eric Avila falling.
Double world champion Sifan Hassan made her outdoor 2021 debut, winning the 5000m by a huge margin in 14:35.34. The Dutch runner had a big lead over the rest of the field after just a couple of laps, and by the time she reached the half-way mark she had a 13-second margin over her pursuers. She passed through 3000m in 8:46.79 and her pace dropped slightly in the closing stages, but she still won unopposed.
Josette Norris made up a bit of ground over the final few laps, finishing second in 14:51.42. Rachel Schneider (14:52.04) and Emily Sission (14:53.84) were next to finish, and Canada's Kate Van Buskirk was the fifth woman to finish inside 15 minutes (14:59.80).
Another Olympic champion to take a win was Jamaica&rsquo;s Omar McLeod as, competing in his first 110m hurdles race since the world final in 2019, he ran 13.11 (1.4m/s) to beat Devon Allen with 13.26. In only his third race since 2018, 2012 Olympic gold medallist Aries Merritt clocked 13.90 in sixth.
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/8b690c17-ee6e-4741-9173-673d63e7839b.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Omar McLeod in the 110m hurdles&nbsp;(&copy; Kirby Lee)
 There was a big win for Britain&rsquo;s Katie Snowden in the 1500m as she improved her PB from 4:05.29 to an Olympic qualifier of 4:02.98 after a home straight surge. She finished half a second ahead of Kate Grace (4:03.54), with Jessica Hull third (4:04.16) and 2017 world steeplechase champion Emma Coburn fourth (4:04.28).
European 1500m champion Laura Muir joined her British compatriot in success, winning the 800m in 1:58.71 as the top five &ndash; also including Allie Wilson, Adelle Tracey, Hanna Green and Hanna Green &ndash; all finished inside two minutes.
The USA&rsquo;s multiple world medallist Brittney Reese won the long jump with a 6.80m (0.4m/s) leap, while Kendall Ellis ran 50.30 to win the 400m, Daryll Neita clocked 11.12 (0.6m/s) to win the 100m and Britany Anderson posted a slightly wind-aided 12.69 (2.1m/s) to win the 100m hurdles.
The women's 400m hurdles was won by&nbsp;Rhonda Whyte in 55.11,&nbsp;Jesus Tonatiu Lopez took the men's 800m in&nbsp;1:46.59 and&nbsp;Payton Otterdahl won the men's shot put with a 21.53m throw.
<h3>Seccafien and Talbi on top in 10,000m</h3>
Six athletes, led by Andrea Seccafien and&nbsp;Zouhair Talbi, achieved Olympic standards when Track Meet action got under way with three 10,000m races on Friday (14).
The first was won by Talbi of Morroco, as he ran 27:20.61 to improve on his previous PB of 28:02.89 from 2019 and dip inside the qualifying mark of 27:28.00.
The USA&rsquo;s Emmanuel Bor and Joe Klecker followed him under the standard, running 27:22.80 and 27:23.44 respectively, as the top 10 all went sub-28 minutes.
Connor Mantz was fourth in 27:41.16 and Sam Chelanga fifth in 27:42.02.
The other men&rsquo;s 10,000m was won by Matt McClintock in a PB of 28:13.69, seven seconds ahead of Ben Eidenschink.
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/39c855e9-ecb9-4d19-a15d-8ff7a2e0362f.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="685" /> Andrea Seccafien on her way to 10,000m victory (&copy; Justin Britton)
 Seccafien broke the Canadian record to win the women&rsquo;s event, clocking 31:13.94 to also lead the next two under the qualifying standard.
The USA&rsquo;s Ednah Kurgat and Sara Hall, the 2020 London Marathon runner-up, achieved the 31:25.00 mark with respective times of 31:21.65 and 31:21.90.
Just missing the time were the USA&rsquo;s Makena Morely (31:25.19) and Britons Amy-Eloise Markovc (31:25.91) and Jess Judd (31:25.98).
Seccafien adds this national 10,000m record to the Canadian half marathon record of 1:09:38 she set last year.
Pay-per-view coverage meant that fans were able to tune in to watch the action, with the majority of that money going to the athletes and the rest covering production costs.
The meeting continues on Saturday night, with double world champion Sifan Hassan among the entries as she races the 5000m.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Six athletes, led by Andrea Seccafien and Zounair Talbi, achieved Olympic standards as Track Meet action got under way with three 10,000m races in Irvine, California, on Friday (14).

Bromell, Hassan and Centrowitz dominant in California

Trayvon Bromell continued his return to top form, dashing to a world-leading 9.88 (1.5m/s) at the North Florida Invitational on Friday (30).
The 2016 world indoor 60m champion, who won at last weekend&rsquo;s World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Eugene, produced the fastest time of his career since the 2016 US Olympic Trials to win comfortably from Canada&rsquo;s world and Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse and Nigeria&rsquo;s Divine Oduduru, both timed at 10.05.
Bromell&rsquo;s winning clocking is just 0.04 shy of his lifetime best and follows on from his impressive indoor form, having clocked 6.48 for 60m in his first competition of 2021.
On Thursday (29), the first day of action at the North Florida Invitational, Oduduru won the men&rsquo;s 200m in 19.88 (1.6m/s), coming within 0.15 of the national record he set two years ago. Cravont Charleston was second in 20.16, while JoVaughn Martin, a surprise recent addition to the 100m sub-10-second club, won the second 200m heat in 20.22 (0.1m/s).
The wind was slightly over the allowable limit for the women&rsquo;s 200m, but Blessing Okagbare&rsquo;s 22.03 victory was no less impressive. The world and Olympic medallist dominated the race, winning by 0.8 from Alfreda Steele.
The wind blew the other way for world indoor record-holder Grant Holloway, but the world champion won the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles regardless, stopping the clock at 13.22 (-2.0m/s). Trey Cunningham was a couple of strides behind in second place (13.48). World U20 record-holder Brittany Anderson won the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles in 12.91 (-0.8m/s).
Trevor Stewart held off a strong challenge from Randolph Ross to win the men&rsquo;s 400m, 44.52 to 44.69. In other sprint action, Hannah Cunliffe took the women&rsquo;s 100m in 11.07 (1.9m/s) and Wadeline Jonathas won the women&rsquo;s 400m in 51.21.
Daniel Haugh produced the best field event performance of the meeting, throwing a lifetime best of 78.05m to win the men&rsquo;s hammer. Elsewhere, Isaac Grimes won the long jump with 8.07m (1.1m/s) and Lina Nielsen won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 55.27.
<h2>Davis maintains momentum</h2>
World leader Tara Davis continued her recent run of good form to win the long jump at the Texas Invitational in Austin on Friday (30).
The 2015 world U18 champion, who set a PB of 7.14m in March, came close to the seven-metre barrier in Austin, sailing out to 6.97m (0.5m/s) and backing it up with jumps of 6.92m and 6.85m.
In other action in Austin, Jenna Prandini won a high-quality 200m in a marginally wind-assisted 22.22 (2.1m/s) from Kynnedy Flannel (22.52). Britain&rsquo;s Jodie Williams won another heat in 22.68 (2.7m/s).
On Saturday (1), world record-holder Keni Harrison improved her season's best to 12.48 (-0.3m/s) to go quickest in the 100m hurdles ahead of Davis (12.75) and move to second on this summer's rankings behind Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who clocked 12.32 in Florida in April.
Shane Brathwaite took the 110m hurdles in a wind-assisted 13.61 (2.4m/s), while top in the 400m hurdles races were Ashley Spencer with 56.54 and Amere Lattin with 49.72.
Prandini achieved a sprint double, winning her 100m heat in 11.16 (-0.3m/s) ahead of Teahna Daniels' 11.29, while top in the men's races was Micaiah Harris who clocked a wind-assisted 10.20 (2.6m/s).
Williams was back in action in the 400m and won in 51.32, with the men's results led by&nbsp;Will London with 45.23.
<h2>Wlodarczyk returns with&nbsp;73.87m</h2>
In her first competition for almost two years, Poland's hammer great&nbsp;Anita&nbsp;Wlodarczyk returned with a throw of 73.87m in&nbsp;Antalya, Turkey, where she has been training.
The world record-holder with 82.98m, who has won two Olympic and four world titles, underwent knee surgery in 2019 and has focused on her rehab and training since, as she targets the Olympics in Tokyo. She will next compete at the European Throwing Cup in Split, Croatia on 8-9 May.
<h2>Grovdal runs 14:39 5km</h2>
Less than a month after Britain's Beth Potter ran 14:41, Norway's Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal joined her in posting a fast 5km time which is quicker than the official world record, but like Potter's mark it may not be eligible to be ratified as a world record.
Running in a mixed race in Disena in Norway on Saturday (1), Grovdal clocked 14:39 which, if ratified, would improve Beatrice Chepkoech's world record by four seconds. There were reports, however, that the course may not have been officially certified for record purposes.
Two-time Olympian Grovdal, whose previous 5km road best was 15:04 from last year, has two European medals to her name, having claimed 3000m steeplechase bronze in 2018 and 10,000m bronze in 2016.
<hr />
<h3> Results</h3>
<a href="http://live.halfmiletiming.com/meets/309/events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Florida Invitational</a>
<a href="https://relays.texassports.com/2021-Texas-Invitational/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Texas Invitational</a>
&nbsp;

Trayvon Bromell continued his return to top form, dashing to a world-leading 9.88 (1.5m/s) at the North Florida Invitational on Friday (30).

Bromell blasts to 9.88 in Jacksonville

Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that world medallists Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Trayvon Bromell will return to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on 13 February.
Returning to indoor racing for the first time in three years, Lyles will be making his third appearance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Lyles is the world 200m champion and the fourth-fastest man in history over the distance. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he will be competing in his first professional 200m indoors.
Set to compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for a third time, world 400m hurdles silver medallist McLaughlin will contest the 60m hurdles and 500m at this year&rsquo;s event. The 21-year-old is the second-fastest woman in history in the 400m hurdles and won the 2019 Diamond League final.
USA&rsquo;s 2016 world indoor champion Trayvon Bromell leads the men&rsquo;s 60m field. The 2015 world 100m bronze medallist is enjoying a return to form, having dealt with multiple injuries that cost him the better part of three seasons. Last year, Bromell broke the 10-second barrier for the first time since 2016 and went undefeated in his four races over 100m. Last weekend, he opened his 2021 indoor campaign with an impressive 6.48 over 60m, just 0.01 shy of the personal best he set on his way to world indoor gold in 2016.
Keeping up the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix&rsquo;s long tradition of exciting middle-distance races, the men&rsquo;s 1500m features three of the best milers in the world today, led by Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz. He will find stiff competition from Great Britain&rsquo;s Jake Wightman. Last year, Wightman ran a lifetime best of 3:29.47, making him the second-fastest Briton of all time. US 1500m champion and indoor mile champion Craig Engels will also line up for the 1500m.
In an effort to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Reggie Lewis Center, home to the first 25 editions of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, is serving as a mass vaccination site beginning on 1 February. This year&rsquo;s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be held at NYC Parks' Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
A number of measures are in place to preserve the health and safety of all athletes, officials and staff at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, including requiring all persons entering the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex to have tested negative for Covid-19 within the previous 72 hours, mandating the use of face masks to all persons except athletes when competing, and limiting attendance to the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix to only accredited athletes, officials and staff.
Organisers for World Athletics

Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that world medallists Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Trayvon Bromell will return to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on 13 February.

Lyles, McLaughlin and Bromell set to return to New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

Life has never come easily to Trayvon Bromell.
He grew up on the south side of the city of St Petersburg, Florida, where poverty and gang violence were common. His best friend ended up in jail and Bromell admits he still to this day carries the scars of PTSD from some of the things he has seen in his life.
He found salvation in athletics. As a first-year university student, he won the NCAA 100m title. At the age of 20 he snared a world 100m bronze medal in Beijing. The following year, he struck 60m gold at the World Indoor Championships.
But since picking up a heel injury in 2016, he has undergone two surgeries and a painstaking rehabilitation which virtually wiped out three full seasons out of his career.
Yet this year Bromell is back. Despite a Covid-19 disrupted period of preparation, the 25-year-old US sprinter blitzed to a 9.90 100m clocking in July &ndash; a performance which currently sits second on the world lists and his fastest time for four years.
Now coached by Rana Reider alongside training partners Omar McLeod, Nia Ali and Andre de Grasse, Bromell is like a man re-born.
His underprivileged background has instilled the 1.75m tall sprinter with the motivation and will to succeed, and the mental resilience he has needed over the past three years.
&ldquo;I grew up around a lot of gang violence and gang influence,&rdquo; explains Bromell. &ldquo;It was a humbling place, a hard place &ndash; where we come from we call it the trenches. But living in these places can make you a man and make you withstand any storm that comes your way.&rdquo;
It is fair to say Bromell has overcome his fair share of storms.
His mother worked 7pm-7am every day and directed him down the right path, &ldquo;making sure I wasn&rsquo;t in those bad situations,&rdquo; explains Bromell. He took up sprinting at the age of four and joined the Lightning Bolt Track Club, where, for the next 14 years, his track career was guided by the inspirational Garlynn Boyd. Bromell describes Boyd as his &ldquo;second mom&rdquo; and she instilled in him a desire to improve. 
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<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEc2nwnAbti/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Trayvon Bromell (@iamtrayvonbromell)</a> on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2020-08-28T23:07:49+00:00">Aug 28, 2020 at 4:07pm PDT</time>
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Bromell&rsquo;s sporting journey, however, did not come without its challenges. Between his eighth and tenth grade, he broke his left knee doing a backflip, broke his right knee and forearm playing basketball, and fractured a hip during a race.
&ldquo;It (the injuries and my background) put me in a mind-set where I knew I had to work twice as hard to achieve what I have,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;None of the success you see has come without hard work. I&rsquo;ve had broken bones and health issues, I&rsquo;ve never had time to slack off.&rdquo;
And perhaps as a direct result of not being defeated by these set-backs, Bromell says he now fears no one on the track.
Bromell worked with Boyd to shrug off the injuries, and in his final year at high school he secured the national U20 100m title and earned 100m bronze at the 2013 Pan American Junior Championships in Colombia.
But after graduating from high school, he faced a crossroads in his life.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What took me out of my environment was my decision to go to Baylor (University in Texas),&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;That gave me a better life. I even asked coach (Mike) Ford to try to get me to the school because &lsquo;if I don&rsquo;t leave St Pete, I don&rsquo;t know how my life is going to end&rsquo;.&rdquo;
In the summer of 2013 he was recruited by Baylor, which quickly took his life on a positive trajectory. As a freshman he powered to a world U20 record of 9.97 on his way to the NCAA 100m title. In 2015 he shared world 100m bronze &ndash; coincidentally with his current training partner Andre de Grasse.
He turned pro, banked the 2016 world indoor 60m title and was preparing well for the Rio Olympics, only to pick up a heel injury&ndash; later diagnosed as a bone spur&nbsp;&ndash; the day before the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham in early June. He nonetheless battled on to the US Olympic Trials, where, despite a badly compromised build up, he equalled his PB to claim second in 9.84 and book his spot on the US team for Rio. 
<div id="56de349e3f01e20e405ffe55" class="dropMedia">
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Trayvon Bromell at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015</div>
&nbsp;
Unfortunately, the injury meant he was unable to produce his best in Brazil. Showing huge mental resilience and fortitude, he scrapped his way to the final but wound up eighth in 10.06.
Ever upbeat, Bromell tried to suck the positives out of his maiden Olympic experience. &ldquo;Of course, it was not on the circumstances I would have wanted, but I can&rsquo;t be mad,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The opportunity to race in an Olympic final is one many people would wish to have.&rdquo;
On his return home, he underwent surgery in Dallas to remove the bone spur. However, the doctor mistakenly advised Bromell to carry out no strengthening exercises on the heel. This was to prove costly.
The lack of rehab exercises caused a build-up of scar tissue, so Bromell had to undergo a second surgery to fix the problem. In between he had made it to the start line for the 100m heats of the 2017 US Championships but in his only appearance of the year he finished fifth in 10.22.
In 2018 he focused on strengthening his foot and achilles. Endless calf raises were part of the daily training diet while running sometimes up to 1000m in distance &ldquo;whatever the coach asked of me&rdquo; on the track, grass field on underwater treadmill were carried out.
It was, at times, a gruelling road back to full fitness
&ldquo;The hardest part was not being able to do what I love,&rdquo; says Bromell. &ldquo;Track is such a big part of me and my life. What kept me going were the people around me, my faith and mentality. They had to remind me where I&rsquo;d come from. Only the strong survive, and I had to find that fight again. I had to find that fire.&rdquo; 
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US sprinter Trayvon Bromell in action over 60m</div>
&nbsp;
Twenty-four months on from his last competitive appearance, he returned to competition June 2019, finishing eighth in 10.57 in Kingston, Jamaica. In his next race in Montverde, Florida, he shaved 0.03 from that time but tweaked an adductor.
He knew change was necessary and the following month left his long-term coach, Mike Ford, in Texas to join Reider&rsquo;s world-class training group in Florida. Bromell fully acknowledges the huge role Ford played in his career development; he simply required a different set of resources.
&ldquo;I needed to be in a different environment and to try something new,&rdquo; explains Bromell of the switch. &ldquo;Rana has strong credentials, the drive and a fierce work ethic.&rdquo;
Bromell says training under Reider is &lsquo;a grind&rsquo; and completely different to previous training regimes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not for the weak,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You have to be ready to hurt.&rdquo;
He doesn&rsquo;t go into specifics, but insists he is not being deliberately evasive. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not lying to you, sometimes the workouts are so hard, it is difficult to remember them!&rdquo;
The training may be tough but the bond forged with his fellow athletes in the Tumbleweed Track Club is strong. He values the whole-hearted support of the likes of De Grasse, Ali, McLeod and others.
&ldquo;I say this with the utmost respect and love, that besides God, I would not be back running if it wasn&rsquo;t for this group of great individuals,&rdquo; he adds.
&ldquo;In the training sessions, I hear the guys shout out &lsquo;you can do it&rsquo; and &lsquo;you can make this comeback&rsquo;. We really push each other. If coronavirus had not have happened, the world would have seen some amazing performances from the Tumbleweed Track Club. The numbers we were putting up in practice were crazy.&rdquo;
Unfortunately, Covid-19 did then hit and Bromell was forced to improvise. Without a track or weight-room facility to access, training with resistance bands and carrying out body circuits at home became the norm. The group trained on grass fields and Reider was forced to yell his instructions from afar to ensure adequate physical distancing. 
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US sprinter Trayvon Bromell</div>
&nbsp;
In July, just a week and a half before his outdoor seasonal debut, Bromell learned of the tragic death of his first coach and &lsquo;second mom&rsquo;, Boyd. She was aged just 54 but had struggled with diabetes &ndash; both of her legs were amputated &ndash; and she had contracted coronavirus.
&ldquo;It was hard,&rdquo; says Bromell. &ldquo;She was like family and always there for me, it was like having another parent. She pushed me and gave me that inner drive. She coached every child as if they were her own. To see someone die who had nurtured so many kids was hard.&rdquo;
Inspired by Boyd, he ran 10.04 &ndash; his quickest 100m time for four years &ndash; in Montverde. Three weeks later he scorched to a 9.90 clocking &ndash; the joint-fourth fastest 100m time of his career &ndash; to defeat world 200m champion Noah Lyles in Clermont. Two more sub-10-second times &ndash; a 9.99 and a windy 9.87 &ndash; followed in August in Montverde before Bromell decided to shut down his brief but confidence-boosting 2020 campaign.
&ldquo;For this season, I did what we wanted to which was to come and run fast,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;When I ran 10.04 for my first outing, it was a big shock. Then to come out and run 9.90 against Noah showed great fitness under difficult circumstances (training in a global pandemic).&rdquo;
Bromell is currently taking a period of rest before returning to training in October when he&rsquo;ll turn his attention to preparing for the rescheduled Olympic Games. Given his past injury situation, Bromell admits the switching of the Tokyo Games could be beneficial for him.
Yet beyond medals and PBs, the Floridian, who went back to college to complete a masters&rsquo; degree in business, has some more general goals to achieve in the future.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to say I&rsquo;m going to run nine-point-something, I just want to keep inspiring people,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If I do that, it will be more than I&rsquo;ve ever dreamed of.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for World Athletics

Life has never come easily to Trayvon Bromell.