Sergey Shubenkov en route to the Continental Cup title in Ostrava (© Getty Images)
Team Europe got action on the track off to a sizzling start courtesy of Sergey Shubenkov and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde’s 1-3 finish to take double points after playing one of their two jokers in the event. But they had to work hard for it to beat Jamaica’s Commonwealth champion Ronald Levy who produced his best race of the season.
Levy, lined up just to outside of Shubenkov in lane three, was out quickest, forcing the 2018 world leader to play catch up from the gun. Levy led through the first four hurdles but from then on, Shubenkov aggressively narrowed the gap before he carried a narrow, but clear lead over hurdle eight before storming across the line in 13.03. That was the fifth fastest performance this season for the authorized neutral athlete, but faster than anyone else has run in 2018.
“This is an important victory not only for me but for Team Europe,” said Shubenkov, who last weekend successfully defended his IAAF Diamond League title in the event. “It was also very important for me to overcome Pascal after I lost to him in Europeans. Here I managed to improve a lot technically and certainly, 13.03 is a great result for the end of the season.”
Levy, who raced to victories in the Paris and London legs of the Diamond league, was second in 13.12, clipping 0.01 from his season’s best set in the British capital. It was also the third fastest time of the 25-year-old’s career.
Further back, Martinot-Lagarde, who beat Shubenkov to the European title in Berlin last month, finished third in 13.31, edging Antonio Alkana who clocked 13.36 for Team Africa.
US champion Devon Allen was fifth for Team Americas, clocking 13.57.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
