When he crossed the line 30.81 seconds after the gun sounded the start of last night&rsquo;s 300m contest in Ostrava's Golden Spike, Wayde van Neikerk once again stepped knee deep into uncharted waters.
With his performance, he took down two of the biggest names in the history of sprinting: Michael Johnson, whose 17-year-old 30.85 world best he had just broken, and Usain Bolt, the meeting record-holder in the event and until last night the second best ever over the rarely run distance.
It was a powerful confident display. Running in lane five, Van Niekerk had already made up the stagger before reaching the middle of the bend. From there he forged on, surging off the turn and running through the line in a fashion more closely resembling a 200m sprinter than a 400m world record-holder.
It was also the sort of performance that invites not only comparison with the likes of Johnson and Bolt, but also the inevitable and ongoing conjecture that surrounds the sport now as it searches for a 'successor' to the Jamaican who has been the face of athletics for the past decade. For what it&rsquo;s worth, Van Niekerk apparently already has Bolt&rsquo;s vote.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s shown he&rsquo;s ready for the challenge,&rdquo; Bolt said after his race in Ostrava. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely on the right track.&rdquo;
But the affable 24-year-old South African, who already has Olympic and world 400m titles to his name, insists it&rsquo;s too early for that kind of talk. He is, after all, just getting started.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all baby steps to the future so we&rsquo;re just taking it all step by step,&rdquo; Van Niekerk said, clearly pleased about adding another global standard to his growing collection.
&ldquo;(The 300m world best) is another stepping stone in my career. It&rsquo;s another moment for me to go out there and prove myself. I&rsquo;m really pleased that things went my way. You were <a href="https://twitter.com/iaaforg/status/879815629313900545">tweeting out my 'ridiculous' quote</a> and I&rsquo;m glad I went out there and put on my &lsquo;ridiculous&rsquo; show.
&ldquo;Now I can say that I officially have the 400 and 300 record. It&rsquo;s out there, it&rsquo;s mine. It&rsquo;s something I can claim and be proud about. But being 24 years old means that I have so much more to do in my career. I&rsquo;ve got so much more to achieve.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/WaydeDreamer">@WaydeDreamer</a> is now the first man in history to go: sub-10 for 100m sub-20 for 200m sub-31 for 300m sub-44 for 400m
&mdash; IAAF (@iaaforg) <a href="https://twitter.com/iaaforg/status/880127054028693507">June 28, 2017</a></blockquote>

<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

With 9.94 and 19.84 PBs already on his scorecard this season prior to his arrival in Ostrava, a successful assault on Johnson&rsquo;s world best drifted on an air of inevitability.
&ldquo;It was mentioned quite a lot so it was on my mind,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t put a blind eye to it. But it did bring a bit of nerves.&rdquo; Now, he said, with a wide smile, &ldquo;knowing that the 400 and 300 records are mine, people won&rsquo;t be nagging me all the time.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Before the race I was quite nervous,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;My nerves got to me a bit. But afterwards I just allowed myself to relax and let the adrenaline smooth down a little bit. It wasn&rsquo;t as bad as I thought it would be but it just shows that my strength as a 300 and 400-metre athlete is also improving. But at the same time I&rsquo;m really excited to see what I can do in the 400.&rdquo;
For that, he and the world will have to wait until the Athletissima in Lausanne, the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 6 July. In the meantime, more hard work awaits behind the scenes.
<h3>London double looms &ndash; &lsquo;six days of pure competition&rsquo;</h3>
While he clearly enjoyed the moment in Ostrava, Van Niekerk&rsquo;s attention turned quickly to the larger immediate task at hand, his planned 200/400m double at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 where he hopes to emulate Michael Johnson&rsquo;s historic achievements from the 1995 World Championships and 1996 Olympic Games.
&ldquo;This year's been a quite a difficult year for me,&rdquo; he said on Tuesday, prior to yesterday&rsquo;s race. &ldquo;I've sought quite a bit of motivation and had quite a lot of niggles. So I'm not too confident when it comes to the rounds but I'm sure if I leave it all in coach (Anna Botha)'s hands, I trust that coach will make me ready for it.
&ldquo;We've still got another month to train and put in that hard work,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Other than that, I think that the double itself is going to be double the work if not triple. Six days of pure competition.&rdquo;
After his Ostrava dash into the record books, he sounded, acted and appeared much more relaxed than the reserved Van Niekerk that spoke with media the previous day but readily admitted that there was lots of work to be done.
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re going to introduce some tough workouts now, being that it&rsquo;s the last month before the World Championships,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;I have been struggling with quite a lot of back and hamstring problems so that did delay a lot of work. It&rsquo;s been there and irritating me for the past three or four years now and I&rsquo;ve (still) been running world records and personal bests. So it&rsquo;s really just about working through it and just accepting that the irritation will be there and the pain will be there, but that there&rsquo;s no risk of an injury.
"It&rsquo;s time for me to just suck up the pain and do my best.&rdquo;
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

When he crossed the line 30.81 seconds after the gun sounded the start of last night’s 300m contest in Ostrava's Golden Spike, Wayde van Neikerk once again stepped knee deep into uncharted waters.

After 300m world best, Van Niekerk now focused on London’s ‘six days of pure competition’

Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk broke the 300m world best to highlight the Golden Spike, an IAAF World Challenge Meeting, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Wednesday (28).
On an evening largely focused on a farewell celebration for Usain Bolt, it was Van Niekerk who stole the show and electrified the atmosphere after storming to a 30.81 performance over the rarely-run 300m distance, a powerful display that took down not only Michael Johnson&rsquo;s world best of 30.85 which had stood since 2000, but Bolt&rsquo;s 30.97 meeting record as well.&nbsp;
The symbolism of the South African eclipsing one of Bolt&rsquo;s standards wasn&rsquo;t lost on many who see Van Niekerk as the heir to the Jamaican&rsquo;s throne as the sport&rsquo;s biggest star. But that&rsquo;s not a discussion Van Niekerk wants to have just yet.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just pleased and grateful for this big achievement,&rdquo; said Van Niekerk, whose run came eight days after a 9.94 personal best in the 100m.
He&rsquo;s now the only sprinter to have produced sub-10, sub-20, sub-31 and sub-44 performances at 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m respectively. Getting there tonight did take at least a small toll, especially given the rising expectations that Johnson&rsquo;s mark was within reach.
&ldquo;I was a little nervous before the race so had to try to calm the adrenaline. But then I recovered really well.&rdquo;
Isaac Makwala of Botswana was a distant second in 31.44 with Clarence Munyai of South Africa third in 31.61, the fastest time in history by an U20 athlete.
<h3>Bolt bids Ostrava farewell</h3>
Van Niekerk&rsquo;s electricity made way for evening-capping emotion for both the capacity crowd of more than 15,000 that filled Ostrava&rsquo;s Mestsky Stadium and for Bolt, who was competing on its track for the ninth and final time.
After a slightly sluggish first half, Bolt found some of his rhythm in the waning stages to win in 10.06, edging Cuban Yunier Perez who clocked a personal best of 10.09. The effort was hardly vintage Bolt, but it was a second 100m win in as many outings this season. Bolt&rsquo;s assessment was blunt.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a good race and I&rsquo;m not happy with the time,&rdquo; he said, citing ongoing health issues &ndash; his back primary among them&nbsp;&ndash; for his early season lack of fitness. &ldquo;I'm just getting into my running. I have some training to do to get some good execution.&rdquo;
Even with the IAAF World Championships London 2017 just over five weeks away, Bolt said that while disappointed, he&rsquo;s not concerned.
&ldquo;The time doesn&rsquo;t really represent where I&rsquo;m at. I&rsquo;ll be fine.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Bolt said that by far the best part of the meet was the atmosphere, a show that included a rendition of the Jamaican national anthem, celebratory music and fireworks, making his final appearance in the meeting he&rsquo;s competed in most often among his most memorable.
<h3>Clear wins for Taylor, Farah and Rohler</h3>
Another Olympic gold medallist on show was Christian Taylor, who dominated the triple jump competition, topped with a 17.57m leap in the third round which added five centimetres to his own meeting record.
"I wanted a little more than the meeting record but this is great, too," said Taylor, whose late-round efforts were overshadowed by the men's 100m. That didn't bother the two-time Olympic champion.
"Usain deserves all the attention," Taylor said, "because he's a legend and for his huge contribution to our sport."
Like the triple jump, the men&rsquo;s 10,000m largely turned into an exhibition for two-time double Olympic champion Mo Farah, who came up just short of his assault on the world lead.
&ldquo;I hoped we could run a little faster but the wind slowed me down even though we ran a fast pace from the start,&rdquo; said Farah, who clocked 27:12.09, some four seconds shy of the world lead. &ldquo;But I enjoyed it.&rdquo;
The race was Farah&rsquo;s last over the distance on the track in a one-day meeting.
Kenyan teenager Matthew Kimeli, competing in his third 10,000m race within 18 days, was second with a PB of 27:14.43. None of the other dozen finishers broke 28 minutes.
Underscoring his 2017 form, Thomas Rohler dominated the javelin competition, throwing beyond 90 metres twice. He sealed the win with a 91.53m throw in the second round and followed up with 91.02m in the third.
Teammate Johannes Vetter was second with 87.88m and Czech Jakub Vadlejch third with 86.43m.
The opening festivities included a medal presentation for Vitezslav Vesely in which he was given his 2012 Olympic bronze medal.
<h3>Kipkoech and Holusa defeat Rudisha in 1000m</h3>
The pre-meet playbook didn&rsquo;t however quite go to plan for David Rudisha, another Olympic champion on the programme.
Indeed the modest early going &ndash; just 55.49 at 400m and 1:52.54 at 800m, more than five seconds shy of what Rudisha indicated yesterday would suit him in his first appearance over the rarely-run 1000m&nbsp;&ndash; played nicely into the hands of Czech middle distance star Jakub Holusa who nearly pulled off an upset.
Rudisha took the lead at the bell, but he didn&rsquo;t look comfortable at the helm. Clearly struggling entering the final straight, he was overtaken by compatriot Nicholas Kipkoech and Holusa, who powered by on the outside. The margin of victory was already in place at the top of the straight with the pair scrambling through to the finish. Kipkoech clocked 2:18.51, 0.09 ahead of the Czech. Rudisha faded to fourth nearly a second back.
<h3>4:00.96 1500m meeting record for Tsegay&nbsp;</h3>
The evening&rsquo;s action began with a bang on the track as Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay steadily powered away from the field over the final lap en route to a 4:00.96 victory in the 1500m, a season&rsquo;s best for the 20-year-old world indoor bronze medallist that took down a meeting record which had stood since 2004.
Tsegay was the picture of confidence down the homestretch, finishing well clear of distant runner-up Rabab Arrafi of Morocco who clocked 4:03.34. Further back, Australian Zoe Buckman was third in 4:06.30, a season&rsquo;s best.
Benjamin Kigen won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:11.54, a personal best, well clear of Ethiopian Getnet Wale and Hailemariyam Amare, who clocked 8:13.16 and 8:13.39 respectively.
Marie Josee Ta Lou dominated the 200m in 22.44, more than half a second clear of South African Alyssa Conley, who clocked 23.03.
<h3>Garfield and Dutkiewicz impress in sprint hurdles</h3>
In the 110m hurdles, Darien Garfield powered his way into the World Championships medal picture with a solid 13.09 victory to move to second on the 2017 world list. With a visible lead at the midway point, the 29-year-old forged on to knock 0.06 from his previous best set five years ago.
The Frenchman&rsquo;s effort overshadowed a fine run by Balasz Baji who clipped 0.01 from the Hungarian record, clocking 13.23.
Meanwhile, Pamela Dutkiewicz collected her eighth outdoor victory in as many finals this season in convincing fashion, clocking 12.72. Behind her, Rekenette Steenkamp of South Africa dipped under 13 seconds for the first time, stopping the clock in 12.99 for second.
Michal Haratyk of Poland controlled the shot put for much of the competition courtesy of a 21.34m personal best in the second round. But after warming up with a long foul that dropped well clear of the 22-metre line in round three, Czech record-holder Tomas Stanek took command with a fifth-round 21.63m to secure the victory.&nbsp;
Elsewhere on the infield, neutral athlete Anzhelika Sidorova won the pole vault at 4.70m, with Canada's Alysha Newman second at 4.65m.
Poland's Sylwester Bednarek won the high jump with 2.32m, equalling his season's best, over Tihomir Ivanov of Bulgaria who topped 2.30m, equalling his.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk broke the 300m world best to highlight the Golden Spike, an IAAF World Challenge Meeting, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Wednesday (28).

Van Niekerk breaks 300m world best in Ostrava

Organisers of the Golden Spike have announced that world and Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk will contest the 300m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 28 June.
The 24-year-old South African, a finalist for World Athlete of the Year honours in 2016, is already the third fastest ever over the rarely-run distance. At a Racers Grand Prix meeting in Kingston last June, van Niekerk sped to a 31.03 performance, trailing just Michael Johnson's 30.85 world best set in Pretoria in 2000, and Usain Bolt's 30.97 run from 2010 in Ostrava on the world all-time list.
"I've always enjoyed racing in Ostrava and I look forward to competing here again," said van Niekerk, who was second at the meeting over 400m in 2013.
"The 300m event is a great way to gauge my fitness in the early stages of a long season, as it will give me a good indication of my potential in the 200m and 400m sprints this year. I hope for a good run and, as always, a great time as well."
During his 43.03 400m world record run at last year's Olympic Games, van Niekerk's unofficial split at 300m was 31.0.
Czech star Pavel Maslak, the two-time world indoor and three-time European indoor 400m champion, will also be in the field gunning for a sub-32-second performance.
The men's 300m will honour Istvan Gyulai, the late General Secretary of the IAAF.
Van Niekerk is the latest Olympic champion announced for the meeting's 56th edition. Previously announced were double world and Olympic champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, who'll compete in the 10,000m, Thomas Rohler of Germany, who'll contest the javelin, and Christian Taylor of the US in the triple jump.
Bob Ramsak and organisers for the IAAF

Organisers of the Golden Spike have announced that world and Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk will contest the 300m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 28 June.

Van Niekerk to race over 300m in Ostrava

Two world indoor bests highlighted the first full day of competition at the US Indoor Championships, staged in the 1561m altitude of Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday (4).
World U20 100m champion Noah Lyles won a thrillingly-close 300m contest in 31.87 to snip 0.01 off the indoor fastest-ever, while Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry whirled the 20lb (6kg) weight out to a prodigious 25.60m &ndash; 84 feet even&nbsp;&ndash; to better the former world best of 25.56m only six days short of its 10th anniversary.&nbsp;
Just 19, Lyles is in his first season as a professional. A 33.18 sprinter over the lap-and-a-half last winter, Lyles improved his best to 32.67 in late January and then set a meeting record of 32.16 in winning his heat on the Albuquerque Convention Center oval.
For the two-section final (the fastest four qualifiers ran in the second race), Lyles drew lane five, a bit better suited to his long-legged frame. Unheralded Paul Dedewo, on the outside in lane six, led Lyles until the pair came off the final turn. Lyles got a margin of perhaps one step, which he held to the line as he dipped across to lower the 31.88 indoor best set back in 2007 by Wallace Spearmon. Dedewo, a 45.41 400m sprinter outdoors, clocked 31.92 to move to third on the world indoor all-time list.
&ldquo;I definitely felt like I was coming in here ready to run,&rdquo; Lyles said, flashing his trademark broad smile. &ldquo;My coach [Lance Brauman] and I have been doing a lot of both endurance and speed work, but truthfully I just felt ready in all my practices, so I was really confident in what I could do.
&ldquo;Coach always says to just keep your composure and I know if I [do that], the competition might die out. I have really good confidence in my endurance, so I knew if I just pumped hard and kept my stride, I&rsquo;d be good.
&ldquo;The other competitors, especially Paul [Dedewo], helped set this record. I&rsquo;m so excited! I can&rsquo;t wait for the rest of the season.&rdquo;
<h3>Berry beats back injury and decade-old mark</h3>
The 27-year-old Berry, who owns a 73.81m hammer throw PB from 2013, had previously thrown the weight a farthest of 24.70m in this arena to win the 2013 US indoor title. She improved that to 24.77m in her lone meet of 2017 at the start of February. In this competition, she opened with a 25.22m PB, then backed that up with a 25.21m on her second effort.
But she saved the best for last as she spun the ball-and-handle out to the record 25.60m on her sixth throw to bring down the 25.56m former best set in 2007 by Brittany Riley. Seeing the measurement, Berry leaped into the air, pumped her arms then ran and jumped into the arms of coach John Smith.
&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know what I had in me," said Berry, who won the title by more than a metre ahead of the 24.30m by Olympic hammer teammate Deanna Price. "I really injured my back four weeks ago. Two weeks ago, I wasn&rsquo;t even going to come to [this meet]. But I fought it out and my coach told me I was in good shape despite my injury. I just came out and fought. I can&rsquo;t describe it.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I knew I could go over 80 feet [24.38m], but the record&hellip; you know, I&rsquo;ve dreamed about it this whole year. But after my injury I really didn&rsquo;t think I had it in me.&rdquo;
<h3>Kendricks tops 5.85m, two titles for Bougard</h3>
Even if no national team spots were to be earned, there were US titles to claim. A dozen were up for grabs at this first session of the indoor nationals.
Olympic bronze medallist Sam Kendricks cleared seven of his eight heights on his first attempt in the pole vault, eventually getting cleanly over 5.85m by a wide margin for the victory in his first competition of the season. &ldquo;My goal today was 5.85m and that&rsquo;s why I had the bar specifically put there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what won the European Championships and I wanted to be on a par with those guys.&rdquo;
Erica Bougard, another first-year pro, long jumped 6.44m on the competition&rsquo;s concluding leap to edge out the 6.42m produced by Jessie Gaines on the jump just before. Bougard thus won her second title in as many nights after taking the pentathlon on Friday with 4558. She led the five-eventer all the way, logging the top efforts in the 60m hurdles (8.21), high jump (1.87m) and long jump (6.18m).
Unheralded shot putter Darien Moore came into the meeting with a 19.37m indoor best (20.33m outdoor PB last year). He opened at 20.10m and then, after two fouls, he powered the ball out to 20.78m on his fourth effort to outdistance the 20.53m opener hit by Jon Jones. Veteran Ryan Whiting reached just 19.30m to place eighth in the nine-thrower field.
Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo ran away from the two-mile field after just a few laps and eventually won by nearly 50 metres in 8:28.53. He was more than 10 seconds ahead of Woody Kincaid (8:38.66), who outsprinted world indoor 3000m silver medallist Ryan Hill (8:38.81) for second.
Olympic 4x400m gold medallist Phyllis Francis took the 300m title in the second-fastest US time ever of 36.15, just 0.03 ahead of Joanna Atkins whose 36.18 moved her to third on the US indoor all-time list. World U20 100m champion Candace Hill clocked a world indoor U20 best of 36.56 in the other 300m section.
Other winners included Erik Kynard in the high jump at 2.30m and La&rsquo;Derrick Ward in the long jump with 7.93m. Japheth Cato won the heptathlon with 5738, John Nunn the two-mile race walk in 12:38.37 while Shelby Houlihan won the women&rsquo;s mile in 4:45.18.&nbsp;
<h3>Strong middle distances on tap</h3>
In qualifying heats for Sunday&rsquo;s finals, world indoor 800m silver medallist Ajee' Wilson paced the 600m at 1:26.57, just 0.01 off her own meeting record. In the 1000m, Sharlene Lipsey clocked 2:41.86 in the first heat, while the second prelim went to world U20 800m champion Sammy Watson, who timed 2:43.18 to set a US high school record.
In the men&rsquo;s 600m, world indoor 800m bronze medalist Erik Sowinski led the way with a PB of 1:15.51. Donavan Brazier, national U20 800m record-setter outdoors last year with his 1:43.55, was second-fastest at 1:16.02, with world best setter Casimir Loxsom the fifth-fastest qualifier at 1:16.14, setting the stage for an ultra-competitive final.
Olympian Andrew Wheating was fastest in the 1000m heats at 2:21.56, just 0.01 ahead of Olympic 800m bronze medallist Clayton Murphy with 1500m Olympian Robby Andrews next at 2:21.80.
Jon Hendershott for the IAAF

Two world indoor bests highlighted the first full day of competition at the US Indoor Championships, staged in the 1561m altitude of Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday (4).

Lyles clocks world indoor 300m best at US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque 

Usain Bolt gave an emphatic demonstration of his readiness for an Olympic three-peat by running&nbsp;9.88 (1.0m/s) to win the 100m at the JN Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday night (11).&nbsp;
The contest itself was worthy of&nbsp;an Olympic final with Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell &ndash; three Jamaicans ranked in the top four on the world all-time list &ndash; coming together in a rare face-off. This was their fourth meeting, and once again it was the world record-holder who reigned supreme.&nbsp;
Bolt, who was drawn in lane four between Blake on his right and Powell to his left, got off to a disastrous start, rekindling visions of what happened in the semi-final at the IAAF&nbsp;World Championships Beijing 2015.
However, the six-time Olympic champion&nbsp;recovered quickly midway through the race and responded with his familiar unrelenting top-end speed from the 60-metre mark to power away to a scintillating victory. Bolt even had the audacity to ease down considerably in the final 10 metres.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy I got a season best," said Bolt afterwards. "It wasn&rsquo;t a perfect race but the key thing is that I actually won and that&rsquo;s a good thing and I came out injury-free.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s all about execution sometimes and even if you don&rsquo;t get it you have to be strong, composed and just run through the line.&rdquo;
Nickel Ashmeade was a surprise runner-up, edging 2011 world champion Blake at the finish line with both registering identical season&rsquo;s best times of 9.94. Powell rounded out the top four with his first legal sub-10 this season, running 9.98, thereby making it the first time this season that four men have gone below 10 seconds in the same race.
<h3>Van Niekerk moves to third on world all-time 300m list</h3>
Track and field fans got a sneak preview of what will be one of the biggest clashes at the Olympics when South Africa&rsquo;s Wayde Van Niekerk defeated LaShawn Merritt of the USA and Botswana&rsquo;s Isaac Makwala in the rarely contested men&rsquo;s 300m, clocking the third-fastest time in history, 31.03.&nbsp;
Prior to this meeting, it was Merritt who held the third (31.30) and fourth (31.31) best times in this event, behind all-time greats Michael Johnson (30.85) and Usain Bolt (30.97).
Van Niekerk, the world champion over 400m, was drawn in lane three inside Merritt and Makwala, but it was Makwala who went out fastest, like a man desperately trying to outrun his shadow. He led the field into&nbsp;the bend, but as the runners approached the 150-metre mark, Merritt started to quicken his pace which triggered a simultaneous reaction from Van Niekerk, who began to shift through the gears.
By the time they entered the home straight it was still a close affair with Merritt and Van Niekerk entertaining hopes of victory, but the final 50 metres saw&nbsp;the South African sprint sensation power his way to victory in 31.03, breaking his own African record by 0.6. &ldquo;I competed against a quality field and I&rsquo;m just glad I could come away with the win," said Van Niekerk. "I&rsquo;m always happy to improve my times."
Back in second,&nbsp;Merritt improved his PB to 31.23.
<h3>National record for Miller</h3>
In the women's 200m, Shaunae Miller of The Bahamas showed impressive speed when breaking her own national record with 22.05 (0.8m/s), the third fastest time in the world this year. The 400m world silver medallist's previous best was 22.14, run in Kingston last year.&nbsp;
Jenna Prandini of the US was next home in 22.39, with Jamaica's Audra Segree third in 22.89.&nbsp;
However, for sentimental reasons the women&rsquo;s 100m caused the most excitement in the female sprints&nbsp;for&nbsp;the 20,000 Jamaican fans present as world and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has been beset by a toe injury, competed on home soil over&nbsp;100m&nbsp;for the first time this season.
Fraser-Pryce lined up against long-time antagonist Carmelita Jeter of the US, the second fastest female sprinter of all time,&nbsp;and 2011 world bronze medallist Kelly-Ann Baptiste.
As is her style, Fraser-Pryce left the blocks in a hurry and she&nbsp;was clearly in front at the halfway stage.
She soon faced a strong challenge from world indoor 60m champion&nbsp;Barbara Pierre, but she&nbsp;maintained her composure to clinch victory in a season's best &nbsp;of 11.09 (0.6m/s). Pierre clocked 11.11 and Baptiste 11.15 to claim the other podium spots.
Fraser-Pryce admitted afterwards that she still has some challenges. &ldquo;It has been a long season and an uphill battle and the pain is there, but the mind is strong," she said. "I came out here and just wanted to have a good run and I was really excited about that.&rdquo;
<h3>Dutch improves&nbsp;world lead to 48.10&nbsp;</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles saw USA's Johnny Dutch establish a new world lead when he outclassed the field to win in 48.10, which easily surpassed his previous best&nbsp;performance in 2016 of 48.36.&nbsp;
Dutch came home well in front of his rivals, with Jamaica's Roxroy Cato second in 48.98.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s 200m produced a big upset as Miguel Francis &ndash; an upcoming sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who trains in Jamaica &ndash; defeated a quality field by a healthy margin to win in 19.88, moving him to the third on the 2016 top lists. Julian Forte was second in 20.18 and Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir was third in 20.32.
Another highpoint of the meeting came in&nbsp;the men&rsquo;s 400m, which saw four men running below 45 seconds. Trinidad &amp; Tobago&rsquo;s world junior champion Machel Cedenio ran aggressively throughout, outclassing the field to win in 44.37, just 0.01 off his PB, which moves him to fifh in the world in 2016.
Grenada&rsquo;s Bralon Taplin was second in 44.76 and Jamaica&rsquo;s Javon Francis finished third in 44.81, with&nbsp;Cedenio&rsquo;s teammate Lalonde Gordon fourth in 44.84.
In the women&rsquo;s equivalent world bronze medallist Shericka Jackson won in a season&rsquo;s best time of 50.72 over compatriot Christine Day (51.22).
In the men's 110m hurdles, 2013 world champion David Oliver recorded his fastest time this season, running 13.09 (0.2m/s) to take victory and move&nbsp;him to second on this year&rsquo;s&nbsp;top&nbsp;list behind world leader Omar McLeod of Jamaica.&nbsp;
In the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles world champion Danielle Williams was upstaged for the second time this season on home turf. USA's Sharika Nelvis relegated the Jamaican to second, winning in 12.61 (0.3m/s) to Williams&rsquo; 12.77.
Noel Francis for the IAAF

Usain Bolt gave an emphatic demonstration of his readiness for an Olympic three-peat by running 9.88 (+1.0 m/s) to win the 100m at the JN Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday night (11). 

Bolt gets back on track with 9.88 100m win in Kingston

Kurt Roberts put up a world-leading shot put mark of 21.57m, a personal best, with the last attempt of the competition to provide the highlight of the field events at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, the second IAAF World Indoor Tour event of the year, on Sunday (14).
Roberts defeated 2007 world champion Reese Hoffa, who reached a respectable 21.02m, and Poland&rsquo;s two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, who continues to struggle to find anything approaching his best form this winter and could only manage 20.14m for third place.
Roberts led by a full metre over Majewski in the first round, with a 21.15m first attempt, but kept extending his lead, reaching 21.30m in the third round before his sixth-round blast. Hoffa opened at 19.90m and carried on improving with five of his six attempts, reaching his best mark in the final round.
Roberts was elated with the win, calling the facility &ldquo;unbelievable&rdquo;.
&ldquo;It feels good to come out and PR,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It sets me up well for the big picture.&rdquo; Roberts hopes to earn a spot at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 next month, and he now stands even with Canada&rsquo;s Tim Nedow atop the IAAF World Indoor Tour standings.
Shawn Barber didn&rsquo;t win his event but took over the tour lead in the pole vault by finishing second behind USA&rsquo;s Sam Kendricks.
Kendricks cleared 5.77m on his second attempt, but Barber couldn&rsquo;t get over after both vaulters bettered 5.67m on their first tries. Down the list, Ashton Eaton cleared an indoor PB of 5.40m for fifth place.
<h3>Suhr takes a tilt at another record</h3>
Jenn Suhr, who vaulted a world record 5.03m two weeks ago, moved the women&rsquo;s pole vault bar to 5.07m after clearing a winning height of 4.82m. Her first attempt was solid, but she reported afterwards: &ldquo;I then switched to a heavier pole, and after that I felt like I was pushing so hard and getting nothing back from my legs.&rdquo;
Suhr noted that the door was still open for her to participate at the World Indoor Championships; she hopes to persuade USA Track and Field to adjust the timetable of the national championships to give the vaulters more time between qualifying there and the opening of competition in Portland.
After his victory in Karlsruhe eight days ago, Mike Rodgers won his second World Indoor Tour race in the men&rsquo;s 60m, running 6.53 to beat world bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell, who ran 6.57.
Rodgers described the race as, &ldquo;A great start and great execution,&rdquo; but suggested with a two-round structure rather than the straight final run here he might have gone even faster.
Rodgers ambitiously claimed the lofty goal of lowering Maurice Greene&rsquo;s 6.39 world record as his goal for this season, saying 2016 is going to be his last indoor campaign, and he wants it to be memorable.
English Gardner won the women's 60m, not a tour event in 2016, in 7.15 with world long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta second in 7.20.
The women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles went to 2013 world 100m hurdles champion Brianna Rollins in 7.87, to move up to second on the 2016 world list, with world indoor champion Nia Ali just .02 behind in 7.89.
Like Barber, Ali now takes over the World Indoor Tour lead with two second-place finishes.
Janay DeLoach, third in the 60m hurdles, was still recovering from winning the women&rsquo;s long jump. She sealed the victory with her first and only legal jump of the night, reaching 6.63m in the first round and either fouling or passing her next five attempts.
Jasmine Simmons and Brianne Theisen-Eaton both jumped 6.34m, with Simmons having a better second mark.
&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re training, you&rsquo;re slowing everything down,&rdquo; Theisen-Eaton explained. &ldquo;In competition everything speeds up. We call it the blur. I wanted to compete in all the (pentathlon) events before the World Indoor Championships to get used to the speed.&rdquo;
<h3>US 300m record for Hastings</h3>
Like DeLoach, Thiesen-Eaton doubled back in the women&rsquo;s 300m, finishing third in 37.47, but that race was more notable for the 36.25 victory by Natasha Hastings.
Hastings&rsquo; mark broke the US record previously held by Allyson Felix, and took Hastings somewhat by surprise.
&ldquo;I had no expectations, and no time in mind,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been taking a new approach this season, sprinting more and concentrating on my running mechanics. I didn&rsquo;t know what I was going to run today. I&rsquo;m figuring it out as I&rsquo;m going.&rdquo;
Vernon Norwood won the men&rsquo;s 300m in 32.70 and, like Hastings, set a world-leading time in the rarely-run non-championship event.
Omar Craddock won the triple jump with a 16.82m in the last round. Craddock&rsquo;s next two best leaps &ndash; 16.81m and 16.61m &ndash; would also have won.
Parker Morse for the IAAF

Kurt Roberts put up a world-leading shot put mark of 21.57m, a personal best, with the last attempt of the competition to provide the highlight of the field events at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, the second IAAF World Indoor Tour event of the year, on Sunday (14).

Roberts produces 'unbelievable' world-leading shot mark in Boston

Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha, world high jump champion Bogdan Bondarenko and European indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak are among the first athletes signed up to compete at the Golden Spike IAAF World Challenge meeting in Ostrava on 26 May.Held in a newly renovated stadium, the 54th edition of the meeting will feature three non-traditional events.Rudisha will compete in the 600m, an event in which he contested last year in Birmingham, running one of the fastest times in history.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy to be completely healthy and able to train as I would like. I&rsquo;m looking forward to a good 2015 season,&rdquo; said the 800m world record-holder from Kenya, who last competed in Ostrava in 2010.&ldquo;As I build towards the Beijing World Championships, I&rsquo;m excited to be starting my European season running 600m in Ostrava. It is a strong distance for me and I&rsquo;m confident I can run faster than the 1:13.71 I did last year. It will be good to come back to Ostrava, it has been some years but I've always enjoyed myself there. The crowd is very enthusiastic.&rdquo;World indoor champion Maslak is going to run the 300m with the aim of breaking the European record of 31.56 set in 1998 by Britain&rsquo;s Doug Walker. &ldquo;I want to try for a fast time,&rdquo; said the Czech sprinter. &ldquo;At the beginning of the season, this is the best distance to choose.&rdquo;Another recent European indoor champion Jakub Holusa will contest the 1000m. His goal is to break the national record of 2:16.56 set in 1998 by Lukas Vydra. &ldquo;I broke Czech indoor record at 1000m,&rdquo; said Holusa. &ldquo;Now I also want the outdoor one.&rdquo;Czech javelin stars Barbora Spotakova and Vitezslav Vesely are among the other leading athletes set to compete in Ostrava, along with Ukrainian high jumper Bondarenko.Organisers for the IAAF

Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha, world high jump champion Bogdan Bondarenko and European indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak are among the first athletes signed up to compete at the Golden Spike IAAF World Challenge meeting in Ostrava on 26 May.

Rudisha, Bondarenko and Maslak will compete in Ostrava

A championship record of 6273 in the men&rsquo;s heptathlon by Jeremy Taiwo highlighted the action on day two of the USATF Indoor Championships in Boston on Saturday (28).Taiwo had more than 700 points to spare on silver medallist Austin Bahner, who totalled 5526 points. &ldquo;It feels great,&rdquo; said Taiwo, who missed all of 2014 through injury. &ldquo;It was good to finish a heptathlon and still feel healthy.&rdquo;Taiwo&rsquo;s seven-event series included a 7.39m long jump, 14.50m shot put, 2.16m high jump and 7.87 PB in the 60m hurdles. His winning score of 6273 is the best mark in the world this year on a standard track, although Taiwo scored 6344 last month on an oversized track.&ldquo;I was really happy about going under eight seconds in the hurdles,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I came here to do what I was supposed to do and it happened. My legs felt heavy going into the high jump and I tried to stay in the right mental state. I started having fun then, and I felt powerful. It was good.&rdquo;Manteo Mitchell was a convincing winner of the men&rsquo;s 300m, an event that made an experimental debut at these championships in the absence of an IAAF World Indoor Championships this year.&nbsp; Mitchell powered ahead of Clayton Parros in the final run to the line to win in 32.86 to Parros&rsquo;s 33.00.In the women&rsquo;s 300m, Natasha Hastings took the win in 36.52 ahead of Jessica Beard (36.65). &ldquo;I always go out hard,&rdquo; said Hastings. &ldquo;In the home stretch, when Jessica came up beside me, I was just trying to maintain all the way to the line, and I think being out in lane six helped me.&rdquo;Shannon Rowbury was a clear winner of the women&rsquo;s mile in 4:34.40 ahead of Katie Mackey, who finished fast to take second in 4:34.83.Rowbury, who holds the fastest time in the world this year courtesy of her 4:22.66 run last month, swept to the front of the field off a conservative pace with two laps to run and from there, never looked in any real danger of being challenged.&ldquo;I figured it would go slow, which it did,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I stayed patient and just kept building and building. I knew I had it on the last lap. By the time I got to the last 200 I wasn&rsquo;t even worried about who was behind me. I felt like if someone got to me, then I had another gear. I wish I could&rsquo;ve got the American record, but I accomplished all my goals this indoor season and then some.&rdquo;In the men&rsquo;s two miles, Ryan Hill had too much pace for his rivals in a race that turned into a three-lap burn-up, the 25-year old passing teammate Evan Jager on the back straight of the final lap to take the title in 8:26.72. Ben Blankenship finished fast to take second in 8:27.31.&ldquo;It was a very fast sprint finish,&rdquo; said Hill. &ldquo;I was ultra-sensitive to anyone making big moves all the way through the race. I decided I wanted to be right on the leader with a lap to go, and that&rsquo;s how it worked out.&rdquo;In the field events, Erik Kynard took the men&rsquo;s high jump title with a best clearance of 2.34m ahead of Ricky Robertson (2.31m) and Jesse Williams (2.28m). Kynard went on to attempt a US record of 2.41m and failed narrowly on his final attempt.&ldquo;It was alright,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was my first high jump of the year. I was dragging my feet a little out there, but I haven&rsquo;t been jumping a lot in training. This is only the fifth time I&rsquo;ve high jumped this year. I got hurt last year so I&rsquo;ve been taking it slower this year.&rdquo;Sam Kendricks was a clear winner in the men&rsquo;s pole vault, his best clearance of 5.76m giving him a comfortable victory over Chris Pillow (5.60m).Double Olympic medallist Will Claye took the men&rsquo;s long jump title with ease courtesy of a 7.93m winning jump. &ldquo;It was a win, but I wish I would have jumped a bit better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was hoping for better numbers.&rdquo;Christian Cantwell was best in the men&rsquo;s shot put, his 20.41m winning effort leaving him with more than a metre to spare over silver medallist Bobby Grace. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is a big deal for me, winning another national title.&rdquo;In the women&rsquo;s long jump, favourite Funmi Jimoh was well off her best with a longest jump of 6.37m, though that was still enough to secure the title in what proved a below-par competition.On Friday, meanwhile, Sharon Day-Monroe won her fourth consecutive US indoor pentathlon title with a tally of 4654. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have the best meet of my life but it was a solid day,&rdquo; said Day-Monroe. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sharp yet. It&rsquo;s only my third meet of the year. There is certainly a lot to work on heading into outdoors and looking to make the team for Beijing.&rdquo;Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

A championship record of 6273 in the men’s heptathlon by Jeremy Taiwo highlighted the action on day two of the USATF Indoor Championships in Boston on Saturday (28).

Taiwo breaks heptathlon meeting record at US Indoor Championships

Bernard Lagat provided the highlight of the 107th NYRR Millrose Games, the oldest invitational athletics meeting in the USA, when he set a US 2000m indoor record of 4:54.74 at the Armory in New York on Saturday (15).The popular and evergreen Lagat, now 39, has turned setting national indoor records at the Millrose Games into a tradition. In 2012, when the meet was still held at the Madison Square Garden, Lagat set a 5000m record 13:07.15. Last year at The Armory he improved the two miles record to 8:09.49. This year, he chose a new target, the long-standing US 2000m record of 4:58.6, set by Steve Scott back in 1981. In a race named after the legendary Flying Finn Paavo Nurmi, who set a 2000m world best at The Armory on his famous 1925 tour of the USA, Lagat followed pacemaker Pat McGregor right from the start. McGregor left the race at 1200m and Lagat still had the chasers on his shoulder. At the bell, Canada’s Cam Levins tried to make a decisive move, but the former world champion demonstrated his tactical prowess by slightly shifting to his right, and switched gears for a final kick. Lagat finished first, improving the record by almost four seconds after crossing the line in 4:54.74 to move up to fifth on the world indoor all-time list for the event.“I’m thankful to Pat for the even pace. I knew what splits we should have been hitting, and he was right at it. Even pace is the key when it comes to breaking records,” said Lagat. “I’m planning to keep on racing at the best of my abilities, so we just have to pick a distance for another record in 2015,” he joked.The top five all finished inside the previous North American indoor record as second place was taken by Levins in a Canadian record of 4:55.35 while US international David Torrence finished third in 4:56.99. Leer jets home for mile winWill Leer stormed through in the last 100m of the famous Wanamaker Mile to win in 3:52.47, the best time in the world in 2014. Lagat’s training partner, University of Arizona student Lawi Lalang, came through for second place in 3:52.88 to reduce the US collegiate best by 0.1 with New Zealand’s 2008 Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis third in 3:53.02.&nbsp; This year’s Wanamaker Mile was the last track race in the career of Alan Webb, after he announced his retirement last month. The US record-holder in the mile, and eighth-fastest man ever over the classic distance, placed 11th in 4:06.11.Three weeks ago, the prodigious 17-year-old Mary Cain won the mile in Boston in 4:24.11, missing Kalkidan Gezahegne’s world indoor junior record by just 0.01. This time though, on her second shot at the record, she was just a little more adrift of the Ethiopian runner’s time. Cain, a native New Yorker who trains at The Armory, decided not to go with an excessively fast pace from the start but she was in control all the way and came home first, clocking 4:27.73. Trenier Moser joined her during the victory lap, after crossing the finish line second in 4:28.86. Ajee Wilson, the world junior champion and still only 19, won the 800m in an indoor personal best of 2:01.81 while France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse won the 1000m in a world-leading 2:17.63, with the US pair of Erik Sowinski second in 2:18.63 and world silver medallist Nick Symmonds third in 2:18.87.Kim Conley stretched her season’s winning streak to three races when she won the 3000m in a personal best of 8:48.35. “My goal for this winter was to work on my speed, so that it would pay off outdoors," said Conley. "I wanted to win all my races at different distances and set personal bests in each of them."Miller's time no small beerThe women’s 300m race was won by Shaunae Miller from The Bahamas in 36.10, not only a national record but also a world-leading time and a world indoor age-19 best. It also puts her sixth on the world indoor all-time list for the non-championship distance.Trinidad and Tobago’s Olympic medallist Lalonde Gordon, who currently lives and trains in New York, improved his own 300m meeting and national record by 0.01 with a run of 32.47.Janay DeLoach Soukup won a silver medal at the last World Indoor Championships in the long jump but this winter she has widened her gaze and in New York she won the 60m hurdles and equaled the world lead with a personal best of 7.91. Two-time Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell won the men’s 60m hurdles in a season’s best of 7.57.USA’s Marvin Bracy didn’t let two false starts in the 60m intimidate him, and won with a PB of 6.50. The victory in the women’s race went to Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahyee with a personal best of 7.13.French long jumper Eloyse Lesueur leapt 6.86m with her sixth and final attempt to move up to third on the 2014 indoor list. In the men’s high jump, Canada’s Mike Mason cleared the bar at 2.30m for the win, setting an indoor personal best, while the USA’s Mark Hollis was the best in the pole vault with 5.60m.After celebrating six years since their first date on St Valentine’s day, Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton turned their attention to the track and both the top combined-eventers competed in two events. Ashton, who will defend his heptathlon title at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot next month, set an absolute personal best in the pole vault with 5.35m. In the 60m hurdles, he clocked 7.67. His wife and Moscow 2013 silver medallist, Brianne, set indoor personal bests in both 60m hurdles in 8.17 and the long jump with 6.18m.Sweden’s Andreas Gustafson clocked 5:34.45 in the mile race walk, missing Tim Lewis's 26-year-old world best of 5:33.53 by less than a second. Ireland’s world 50km race walk champion Robert Heffernan dropped down distance dramatically and finished second in 5:39.75.Elena Dyachkova for the IAAF

Bernard Lagat provided the highlight of the 107th NYRR Millrose Games, the oldest invitational athletics meeting in the USA, when he set a US 2000m indoor record of 4:54.74 at the Armory in New York on Saturday (15).

Lagat’s US 2000m record highlights Millrose Games

Poland’s Anna Rogowska went to the top of the 2014 women’s pole vault list when she cleared a world-leading 4.76m at the Flanders Indoor meeting, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, on Sunday (9). Rogowska required three attempts at her opening height of 4.41m but then had no failures at 4.51m and at 4.61m. She made 4.71m on her third attempt and then delighted the crowd with a second-time clearance at 4.76m. Russia’s Anzhelika Sidorova was second with 4.61m. “I definitely wanted to jump 4.71m today, because that is the qualifying height to compete at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot,” said a delighted Rogowska, the 2009 world champion outdoors who has also got a silver and a bronze medal from previous IAAF World Indoor Championships to her name.“These championships are very important for me because Sopot is my home town and I am very focused to take a medal in front of my home crowd. My preparation was a bit disturbed after I fell with my head on the ground in December and broke a bone just behind my ear.”In the 800m, another Polish runner provided the highlight and continued his preparations for Sopot in fine fettle.Adam Kszczot took control of the race as he placed right behind the Kenyan pacemaker Reuben Bett. Bett’s fellow Kenyan Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich was not able to put any real pressure on Kszczot and the Polish favourite cruised to victory in 1:46.32 with Rotich second, 0.16 in arrears.<div class="quote">“The last 200m is always difficult," said Kszczot. "Today I wanted to win the race, the time was not important. I have been training very hard over the last days and I felt a bit tired. The World Indoor Championships in my home country means a lot to me. I love my country from the bottom of my heart. To win a gold medal in Sopot is my ultimate goal. I will be prepared." </div>Pavel Maslak was outstanding in the 300m. The Czech was dominant from start to finish and reduced the European best in the non-championship event to 32.15, the fourth fastest performance ever. Fance’s Leslie Djhone was the previous owner of the continental mark having 32.47 in 2010..“I love this track in Gent, for the third year in a row I set a national record here. Of course, I am one of the favourites now to win the 400m in Sopot but winning a medal is my first goal,” said the European champion. Luguelin Santos, a medallist over 400m at the past two global championships, struggled to impress and finished in third in 33.26. “This is not really what I hoped for today,” said the Dominican Republic runner, “but I am confident that I can raise my level and run a 45.0 for 400m at the World Indoor Championships.”The men’s 3000m was the most exciting distance event. Kenya’s Vincent Rono paced the field through to 5:05 at 2000m. Isiah Koech then tried to keep the pace high but was surprised by an attack from Paul Kipsiele Koech. Albert Rop from Bahrain responded to the Kenyans' efforts at the front and then overtook them to come home in front in 7:38.77 with the two Kenyans second and third while South Africa’s Elroy Gelant and Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider also crossed the line inside 7:40.<div class="quote">“It was a tough race for me,” said Iguider, the world indoor 1500m champion. “I need a few more competitions to get my rhythm right. After competing in the 1500m in Birmingham (at the British Grand Prix on 15 February) I will decide on which distance I will compete in at Sopot. As a defending champion I want to be at my best in Sopot.” </div>The 1500m went to Iguider’s compatriot Zakaria Mazouzi, who took the honours in a close finish with Kenya’s Bernard Koros. Both were credited with 3:39.21.Mazouzi has only ever run two indoor races, both over 1500m, but the 3:31.94 performer outdoors has yet to be beaten under cover after also winning in Zaragoza earlier this month. In the women’s 3000m, Renata Plis made it a three victories for Poland in the Belgian city. Plis left the Kenyan pre-race favourite Lidya Chepkurui behind on the last lap to win in 8:53.74.Nafissatou Thiam, still 19, won the European junior heptathlon title last year and competed at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow where she surprised with a 1.92m performance in the high jump. Here in Gent, the Belgian teenager showed guts and determination in her favourite event in front of her cheering followers.In spite of twisting her ankle two days ago, Thiam didn’t let her fans down. She fought her way through the competition, clearing 1.91m with her third attempt and then, boosted by the crowd, she set a personal best of 1.94m to win the competition.However, the biggest Belgian hope for a medal in Sopot lies with 60m hurdler Eline Berings. The 2009 European indoor champion has shown consistent form this season. Again, Berings got out of her blocks fast and didn’t leave Kellie Wells or Aisseta Diawara any chance to close on her. Berings won in 8.00, leaving the US and French hurdlers having to settle for second and third place respectively.Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF

Poland’s Anna Rogowska went to the top of the 2014 women’s pole vault list when she cleared 4.76m at the Flanders Indoor meeting, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, on Sunday (9).  

Rogowska goes into pole position with 4.76m in Gent

For a brief moment at the Perche Elite Tour meeting in the French city of Rouen on Saturday (25), it looked as though Renaud Lavillenie might suffer his first defeat of 2014.The Olympic champion had won his three other indoor competitions this winter, but he was put under pressure in Rouen. After opening with 5.67m, he passed 5.75m as compatriot Kevin Menaldo, Britain's Luke Cutts and 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski all went clear.With the bar at 5.83m, Cutts cleared it on his first try to break the British record and take the lead as Lavillenie needed two tries while Menaldo and Wojciechowski exited the competition.Cutts then set the bar at 5.88m while Lavillenie passed. The Briton failed three times, but Lavillenie still needed to clear a higher height to take victory.He did much more than that, though.He nailed 5.93m on his first try to equal his own world-leading mark. He then upped the bar to 6.04m and once again went clear at the first time of asking to break his own French record.Lavillenie ended his series with three attempts at a would-be world record of 6.16m. His first and third attempts were closest, but he was still some way off the height required.Regardless, it was a superb performance for this stage of the season. Only world record-holder Sergey Bubka and 2008 Olympic champion Steve Hooker have ever vaulted higher indoors. It was also the fifth time Lavillenie has cleared six metres.Rupp breaks US indoor 2 mile record, Cain threatens world junior indoor mile recordOne week after Galen Rupp set a US indoor 5000m record and Mary Cain broke the world junior indoor 1000m record, the training partners returned to Boston for more record attempts at the BU Terrier Invitational on Friday and Saturday (24-25).First up was Cain, whose goal was to break Kalkidan Gezahegne’s world junior indoor mile record of 4:24.10, set in 2010, just two weeks before the Ethiopian won the world indoor 1500m title.After consistent laps between 32 and 33 seconds, it was a nail-biting last circuit for Cain as it became clear that the world junior indoor record was a possibility. She went through 1500m in 4:06.63 but crossed the finish line with the clock at 4:24.11, an agonising one hundredth of a second away from her target.Nevertheless, it is an outright world age-17 best and the fastest achieved by a US woman since 2000. It puts Cain at equal 12th on the world indoor all-time list and third on the US indoor all-time list.Needless to say, her 1500m split, as well as her actual finishing time, are US junior indoor records and world-leading marks. Cain finished more than four second ahead of Abbey D’Agostino, the NCAA indoor 3000m and 5000m champion, who clocked a PB of 4:28.31.Just 24 hours later it was Rupp's turn in the 2 miles. His main target was to break Bernard Lagat's US indoor record of 8:09.49, but Kenenisa Bekele's world indoor record of 8:04.35 was never out of the question.Rupp went out hard and churned out 30-second laps to reach the half-way mark in 4:01.6, well inside world record pace. But over the final few laps of the race he began to pay for his exuberant early pace.The clock ticked through 7:35 at the bell, meaning the Olympic silver medallist would need to cover the final circuit quicker than 30 seconds to have any chance of breaking the world indoor record.Ultimately Rupp's legs couldn't quite carry him around fast enough to break Bekele's mark, but he achieved his primary goal of the US record, stopping the clock at 8:07.41. His 3000m split of 7:34.68 was also a world-leading mark. The performance takes him to sixth on the world indoor all-time list for the event, ranking him behind Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Kipsiele Koech, Hicham El Guerrouj and Eliud Kipchoge.Claye and Barshim open indoor campaignsWorld indoor champion Will Claye, contesting his first triple jump competition of the year, produced a world-leading 17.04m at the New Balance Games in New York.In a quality competition, the top three athletes all surpassed the previous world-leading mark as Troy Doris leapt 16.81m in second and Chris Benard jumped 16.76m for third, both of them setting personal bests.World-leading marks were also set in the men's mile, won by Lee Emanuel in 3:54.30, and in both 300m finals which were won by Manteo Mitchell and Shaunae Miller in 32.71 and 36.40 respectively.Olympic 800m finalist Duane Solomon won the 600m in 1:16.67, while US Olympian Kim Conley dominated the women's mile in 4:24.54.Over in Sweden, Olympic bronze medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim got his season underway with a convincing 2.35m win in Malmo. He cleared 2.26m and 2.31m on his second attempts, but then got over 2.35m on his first jump. He ended his series with three failures at 2.38m, the second one being the closest.National records for Williams and SantosAnother US indoor junior record tumbled at the New Mexico Cherry and Silver Invitational in Albuquerque as 2011 world youth bronze medallist Kendell Williams smashed the mark she set last year by more than 200 points.After coming close to her PBs in the first two events with 8.40 in the 60m hurdles and 1.81m in the high jump, Williams set lifetime bests in the final three events with 11.21m in the shot, 6.25m in the long jump and 2:26.64 in the 800m.It gave her a score of 4302, obliterating the 4068 US junior record she set in 2013.At the same meeting, Jermaine Brown equalled the world-leading mark in the 200m, winning in a PB of 20.68. Other top marks included Nick Ross’s high jump win with 2.31m and DeeDeeTrotter’s sprint double, winning the 200m in 23.38 and the 400m in 51.82.At the McGill Invitational in Montreal, Olympic silver medallist Luguelin Santos set a national indoor 300m record of 33.27.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

One week after setting a world junior indoor 1000m record, USA’s Mary Cain came close to achieving the same feat in the mile at the Boston University Terrier Invitational on Friday (24).

Lavillenie scales 6.04m, more US records for Rupp and Cain – indoor round-up

The traditional Moscow Christmas Cup meeting on Sunday (12) saw two world-leading performances from a pair of Svetlanas: middle distance runner Svetlana Karamasheva and long jumper Svetlana Biryukova.Both women may not be immediately recognisable to athletics fans outside of Russia but that is probably only because they recently got married and have changed their family names. Both also put down early season markers that they could be among the challengers for medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Sopot in just under two months’ time.Biryukova (nee Denyaeva), now 22, improved her best by 22cm, leaping out to 6.98m to win at the Christmas Cup for the second year in a row, once again beating the 2011 and 2013 European indoor champion Darya Klishina.A year ago, the two women’s best marks were 6.75m and 6.66m and although this time Klishina improved by two centimetres and cut the sand at 6.68m, Biryukova improved by much more.Karamasheva (nee Podosyonova) produced a world-leading performance over 1000m in 2:39.16, the second world-lead in five days for the 25-year-old who won over 2000m in Yekaterinburg in 5:55.64 on 7 January.The 2013 IAAF World Championships 1500m semifinalist, who has an outdoor best of 3:59.61, faced no real opposition in her race with Alena Balakshina being distant second in 2:42.06. Another 1500m specialist, Kristina Khaleyeva, preferred to focus on 2000m this time, where she ran just fast enough to win in 6:04.42. In the men’s high jump, in the absence of Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov who the day before in Novocheboksarsk had cleared a world-leading 2.38m, Ivan Ilyichev took the victory with a personal best of 2.30m. For Ilyichev, the 2009 World University Games bronze medallist but a man who has often found his best performances under cover, it was a two-centimetre improvement on his personal best which he had previously achieved on no less than four separate occasions between 2007 and 2010, when he was considered one of Russia’s most promising prospects before his career hit a plateau.Lev Missirov, 23, went over the same height of 2.30m for a four-centimetre improvement to his best but had to settle for second place on count back. &nbsp;Representing the bright new generation of Russian male long jumpers, Aleksandr Petrov took the victory in this event with 7.87m. In the shot put, Alexander Lesnoy won the men’s event with 19.90m and Irina Tarasova took the women’s title with a relatively modest 17.82m.In the women’s 300m, the fastest was the 2013 World Championships 400m finalist Kseniya Ryzhova in 37.23. Worthy of a mention is the comeback after child birth of the 2008 Olympic Games 4x100m champion Alexandra Fedoriva-Shpaer. In her first run since 2012, she clocked 41.61. European 400m hurdles champion Irina Davydova won over 500m in 1:10.12. Natalia Maryanchik for the IAAF

The traditional Moscow Christmas Cup meeting on Sunday (12) saw two world-leading performances from middle distance runner Svetlana Karamasheva and long jumper Svetlana Biryukova.