Al Oerter was already halfway towards becoming an Olympic track and field legend when he stepped into the discus circle for his fourth-round throw at the Coliseum Relays in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the evening of 18 May 1962 &ndash; 60 years ago.
At 25, the native New Yorker had won the first two of his unprecedented four successive Olympic titles, both against the odds and the challenges of the current world record-holder. He had also survived a car crash that almost ended his life.
The colossus of the discus throw had yet, however, to etch his name into the world record books.
&nbsp;
<h2>A landmark</h2>
The global mark belonged to one of his rivals in the Coliseum Relays field. Jay Silvester had thrown 60.72m at the International Military Championships at the Heysel Stadion in Brussels the previous August.
In round two at the LA Coliseum, where John Anderson won home gold for the US at the 1932 Olympic Games, Oerter had come close with a throw of 60.54m. Then came a foul.
With his fourth effort, though, the sandy-haired 1.93m (6ft 4in) 134kg (295lb) bear of a man hurled his discus out to 61.10m.
&ldquo;I was at the LA Coliseum that night,&rdquo; veteran coach Jack Hayes posted on aloerterbacktoolympus.com in 2020. &ldquo;Some 58 years later, I still recall the excitement watching that throw land past the chalk line at 200ft.&rdquo;
In a country where the customary system of measurement historically favours feet and inches, Oerter&rsquo;s throw of 200ft 5.5 inches was hailed as a landmark track and field accomplishment.
&nbsp;
<h2>A world record ditched</h2>
The quest to breach the 200-foot discus barrier had been regarded in the United States as a field event version of the four-minute mile run.
It had been surpassed in competition twice before, but on both occasions in circumstances that rendered the marks invalid.
The first to do so was Richard &lsquo;Rink&rsquo; Babka, the US thrower who ended up second to Oerter at the 1962 Coliseum Relays with 59.05m. Competing in the Apple Valley Relays at Victorville, California in March 1958, Babka had a throw measured at 201ft 0in but his discus landed in a drainage ditch 5.9 inches below level of the throwing area, 5.5 inches beyond the legal sloping limit.
The official distance was adjusted by head judge Jim Reinhard to 198ft 10in. At 60.60m, that would have eclipsed US thrower Fortune Gordien&rsquo;s five-year-old world record mark of 59.28m but the fact that the circle was painted on to the concrete surface, though acceptable under NCAA rules at the time, was not permitted by the AAU or IAAF. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6284ca48290f720f3d4cdaae.jpg" alt="US discus thrower Al Oerter" />
US discus thrower Al Oerter (&copy; Getty Images)
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 Oerter himself threw 202ft 6in, 61.72m, at the Arkansas Relays in Fayetteville in April 1958, but the field sloped 2.5%, too steep for ratification.
Oerter&rsquo;s officially recognised record did not last long. On 4 June 1962, just 17 days after the Coliseum Relays, Vladimir Trusenyev of the Soviet Union eclipsed that 61.10m with 61.64m in Leningrad.
Less than a month later, on 1 July, Oerter reclaimed it with 62.45m at the USA v Poland meet at Stagg Field, Chicago. He then improved the world record to 62.62m at the Mt SAC Relaysin Walnut, California, in April 1964 but lost it in August that year, when his Czech rival Ludvik Danek threw 64.55m in Turnov.
Oerter never regained the global mark. Instead, he established himself as one of the all-time greats in the competitive arena, becoming the first track and field athlete to win four successive Olympic gold medals in a single event. Over time, the feat has only been matched over time by Carl Lewis in the long jump.
When Oerter died in 2007, aged 71, Hal Connolly, who won hammer gold as a US teammate at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, described him as: &ldquo;the greatest field event athlete of the 20th century. He was not just a great Olympian but Zeus himself.&rdquo;
In each of his Olympic triumphs, Oerter surpassed the Olympic record, beat the current world record holder, overcame injury and eclipsed the favourite for gold. He could have extended his run much farther had it not been for premature and temporary retirement, a US boycott and injury.
Still, he might never have stepped into a throwing circle at all.
&nbsp;
<h2>Swapping track for field</h2>
Born in the Astoria district of Queens in New York City, Alfred Adolph Oerter Jr grew up in New Hyde Park, Long Island. He started his athletics life as a sprinter but at 15 graduated to middle-distance running, when a stray discus landed in front of him on the track at Sewanhaka High School.
He casually threw it back farther than the school teammate who had thrown it and the school coach immediately insisted that he swapped the track for the field. He set a national schoolboy record, earned a scholarship to the University of Kansas, where he was a classmate of the basketball star Wilt Chamberlain. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/af72501f-8258-47cd-b796-9da6b6303a87.jpg" alt="Al Oerter (USA)" />
US discus thrower Al Oerter (&copy; Getty images)
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 Just five years after first picking up a discus, Oerter found himself making the long-haul trip to Melbourne for the 1956 Olympic Games.
Inspired by watching the first-round throws of the two favourites, current record holder Gordien and 1948 champion Adolfo Consolini of Italy, and by the buzz generated by the 100,000 crowd in the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the 20-year-old rookie international unleashed an opening effort of 59.18m. He broke the Games record of 55.03m, set by compatriot Simeon Iness in Helsinki four years previously, and shattered the spirit of his rivals.
No one was more stunned than Oerter himself. &ldquo;I had a hard time even raising my arm after that,&rdquo; he said. He finished a clear winner and was so overwhelmed by his unexpected success that he almost fainted on the medal podium.
Gordien took the silver medal with 54.81m. At 34, he moved on to other challenges, becoming an escape artist and illusionist.
&nbsp;
<h2>Babka&rsquo;s friendship helps land Rome gold</h2>
In 1957 Oerter was lucky to escape death in a car crash. He recovered from his near-fatal injuries to make the US team for the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
Rink Babka, the joint world record-holder, started favourite in the Stadio Olimpico and led with an opening effort of 58.02m. The struggling Oerter couldn&rsquo;t get close but as he prepared for his fifth-round throw Babka advised him that he had been carrying his left arm too low as he spun.
Oerter duly adjusted and unleashed a 59.18m Olympic record and PB. The gracious Babka was unable to improve on his opening throw and had to settle for silver. &ldquo;He had the gold medal in his pocket but he was a friend and a great team mate,&rdquo; a grateful Oerter reflected.
The odds were stacked heavily against the pride of Long Island completing an Olympic hat-trick in Tokyo in 1964. He was already suffering from a chronic cervical disc injury which necessitated the use of a neck brace when he slipped on some wet concrete in throwing circle six days before the competition and tore cartilage on the right side of his ribcage. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e99498336fbd2101309baa.jpg" alt="USA's 1960 Olympic discus medallists Rink Babka, Al Oerter and Dick Cochran" />
USA's 1960 Olympic discus medallists Rink Babka, Al Oerter and Dick Cochran (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
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 There was internal bleeding and Oerter was in severe pain, which was exacerbated to the point of excruciating by the stretching motion involved in attempting to throw. The US team doctors told him to forget about the Olympics and rest for six weeks.
Oerter demurred. &ldquo;This is the Olympics: you die before you quit,&rdquo; he told them.
Ludvik Danek was the clear favourite. He had taken the world record out to 64.54m and was unbeaten in 45 competitions.
Oerter paced the discus area like a wounded animal, finally ripping the tape off his side to nail an Olympic record of 61.00m in round five. It moved him from third to first and earned him the gold ahead of Danek, who threw 60.52m.
In Mexico in 1968, Oerter&rsquo;s US teammate Jay Silvester, holder of the 68.40m world record, was favourite. He broke Oerter&rsquo;s Olympic record in qualifying but only finished fifth in the final. Oerter took his fourth Olympic gold with his fourth Olympic record, a lifetime best of 64.78m.
&nbsp;
<h2>69.40m PB at 43</h2>
After a handful of competitions in 1969, the quadruple Olympic champion slipped into retirement, resisting the temptation to go for gold number five in 1972.
Then, in the autumn of 1976, as his wife Cathy, a former international long jumper, related: &ldquo;Al was driving through New England and found an all-comers&rsquo; meet at a local high school. He hadn&rsquo;t thrown or lifted in almost eight years. He borrowed a discus and a pair of throwing shoes and walked on to the field unannounced.
&ldquo;For an entry fee of 50 cents, he won a 4 inch trophy that was as important to him as an Olympic gold medal. He said, &lsquo;To be out in the fresh air competing with people who chose to do exactly the same thing was thrilling!&rsquo;&rdquo;
Oerter&rsquo;s goal was to qualify for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. That was scuppered by the US boycott but trials were still held at Hayward Field and, aged 43, he finished fourth, despite injury. The Eugene track and field aficionados rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation that lasted for 10 minutes.
In May that year Oerter threw a PB of 69.40m and finished 1980 ranked second on the world list. Injury thwarted his attempt to gain selection for the home Olympics in 1984, yet still the old general of the discus soldiered on, throwing 62.40m at the age of 50 and claiming a world masters&rsquo; title in Eugene.
&nbsp;
<h2>&lsquo;An interesting life&rsquo;</h2>
Throughout his athletics career, Oerter fitted in his training around his work as a computer executive for the Grumman aircraft company on Long Island. In later life, he became a motivational speaker and an abstract painter, founding the Art of the Olympians, a programme showcasing the artistic talents of Olympic and Paralympic competitors and the spirit of the Games.
Oerter suffered from high blood pressure all of his life and was told at the age of 61 that he needed a heart transplant. He declined, saying: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had an interesting life and I&rsquo;m going out with what I have.&rdquo;
He died ten years later, in 2007 at Fort Myers, Florida.
&ldquo;All I ever wanted,&rdquo; he once reflected, &ldquo;was the feeling of the sun on my shoulders, a discus in my hand, a solid ring under me, turning with greater force than anyone has ever achieved, leaning into one more throw.&rdquo;
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage

Al Oerter was already halfway towards becoming an Olympic legend when he set a world record of 61.10m on 18 May 1962

Celebrating Olympic legend Oerter’s first discus world record, 60 years on

After his 19.49 200m in Baton Rouge in April, Erriyon Knighton will look to make a similar statement in the 100m when he goes head-to-head with Noah Lyles at the New York Grand Prix on 12 June.
The event, which takes place as part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series for the first time, will see a number of global medallists in action at the Icahn Stadium.
As well as world 200m champion Lyles, the list includes Tokyo Olympic medallists Grant Holloway, Gabby Thomas, Kenny Bednarek and Raven Saunders, plus the previously announced Dalilah Muhammad and Rai Benjamin.
USA&rsquo;s 18-year-old Knighton finished fourth in the 200m at the Tokyo Games and since then has continued to impress. His 19.49 in Baton Rouge improved his own world U20 record and moved him to fourth on the world all-time list, 0.01 ahead of his compatriot Lyles&rsquo; best time from 2019.
They also have a competitive 100m head-to-head record. The pair have met over the distance twice this year, with Knighton narrowly edging Lyles on both occasions. Both clocked 10.39 into a -5.6m/s headwind in Bermuda, with Knighton getting the nod for the runner-up spot, and then the teenager won in Gainesville, a 10.04 PB to 10.05.
Bednarek, meanwhile, claimed Olympic 200m silver ahead of Lyles and Knighton in Tokyo, running a PB of 19.68, and capped his 2021 season with victory at the Diamond League final in Zurich. He leads the line-up for the half-lap event in New York.
Holloway headlines the 110m hurdles as he continues to work towards a defence of his world title on home soil at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July. The Olympic silver medallist, who sits second on the world all-time list with his 12.81 PB from the US Olympic Trials in Eugene last year, equalled his own world 60m hurdles record in Belgrade in March and went on to win the world title.
Another US Trials champion confirmed to compete in New York is Thomas. She won her national title over 200m last year in 21.61, making her the third-fastest woman in history over the distance. The 25-year-old went on to win Olympic bronze in the 200m and silver as anchor of the USA&rsquo;s 4x100m team.
Leading the women&rsquo;s shot put field is Saunders, who secured silver at the Tokyo Olympics and threw her 19.96m PB last year in Eugene.

After his 19.49 200m in Baton Rouge in April, Erriyon Knighton will look to make a similar statement in the 100m when he races Noah Lyles at the New York Grand Prix.

Knighton and Lyles in New York 100m head-to-head

Fresh from his 93.07m throw in Doha, Anderson Peters will renew his javelin rivalry with Johannes Vetter, Jakub Vadlejch, Vitezslav Vesely and Keshorn Walcott when the Golden Spike Ostrava returns on 31 May.
The women&rsquo;s javelin field for the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting also features star quality, with world record-holder Barbora Spotakova going up against Poland's Olympic silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk and Czech Republic's European silver medallist Nikola Ogrodnikova.
Back in the city where he won his world title in 2019, Peters launched himself to fifth on the world all-time list on Friday, breaking the North &amp; Central American and Caribbean record to win a thrilling battle.
He will be hoping to put on a similar show in Ostrava, where he again takes on Czech Republic&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Vadlejch - the runner-up in Doha with a 90.88m PB. They will be joined by the previously announced 2017 world champion Vetter of Germany and Czech Republic&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Vesely, plus Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic champion Walcott.
Vetter won in Ostrava last year with 94.20m, missing the meeting record set by world record-holder Jan Zelezny in 1996 by just 44 centimetres.
Home star Spotakova, who threw her world record of 72.28m in 2008, set the women&rsquo;s meeting record of 67.78m in 2012 and is relishing her Ostrava return.
"There will be very strong domestic and foreign competitors. I do not want to be left behind,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I'm looking forward to receiving great support from the audience.&rdquo;
Global medallists will also star in the sprints and steeplechase, with Jamaica&rsquo;s Yohan Blake going up against his Canadian namesake Jerome Blake in the 100m. Yohan won the 2011 world 100m title, while Jerome formed part of Canada&rsquo;s silver medal-winning 4x100m team at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Lamecha Girma also secured silver in Tokyo, finishing second behind Soufiane El Bakkali in the 3000m steeplechase. He was also second in Doha during his season opener on Friday and will look to go one better in Ostrava. 
<h2>Nowicki and Fajdek to go head-to-head in Chorzow</h2>
Poland&rsquo;s Tokyo Olympic hammer medallists Wojciech Nowicki and Pawel Fajdek will resume battle in front of home fans when the ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial takes place as a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting for the first time on 5 June.
&ldquo;I feel a sense of pride when I am able to compete in the national athletics stadium in Chorzow,&rdquo; said Olympic champion Nowicki, who started his season with a 81.43m win in Nairobi.
&ldquo;Recently I have been able to throw really far there and I intend to continue the trend. I had a very strong season opener and we are working hard together with Joanna Fiodorow to improve further.&rdquo;
Fajdek is also looking forward to another top head-to-head.
&ldquo;I cannot wait to compete in the Silesian Stadium,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The atmosphere in the &lsquo;Witches' Cauldron&rsquo; is always terrific and our duels with Wojciech Nowicki electrify the great Silesian audience. It will be no different this time.&rdquo;
Another event pitting Olympic medallists against each other is the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles, with Tokyo winner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico taking on bronze medallist Megan Tapper of Jamaica.
Joining Nowicki and Fajdek in hoping to delight the home crowd will be hammer star Anita Wlodarczyk and Olympic mixed 4x400m champions Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Natalia Kaczmarek.

Fresh from his 93.07m throw in Doha, Anderson Peters will renew his javelin rivalry with Johannes Vetter, Jakub Vadlejch, Vitezslav Vesely and Keshorn Walcott.

Javelin stars assemble in Ostrava

It was at an early age that a young sprinter from the parish of Saint&nbsp;Catherine in Jamaica garnered attention from around the world thanks to her eye-catching performances.
Meet Brianna Lyston, who has had her fair share of setbacks since her breakthrough season but is hoping to stamp her mark at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 in August.
Her confidence is the result of some remarkable success this season, winning all but one of her races. Two of those performances earned her&nbsp;PBs of 11.14 (0.7m/s) in the 100m and 22.53 (-2.2m/s) in the 200m.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure of how fast I can go,&rdquo; says Lyston, who prefers the 200m. &ldquo;But, I think for the World U20 Championships, I&rsquo;d like to go sub-23 seconds again.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6283dc6627554b556b05f2d3.jpg" alt="Brianna Lyston celebrates breaking the Champs 200m record" />
Brianna Lyston celebrates breaking the Champs 200m record (&copy; Athelstan Bellamy)
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Lyston&rsquo;s rise to prominence started in 2017, two months out from her 13th&nbsp;birthday, at the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships (Champs). There the fiercely competitive sprinter established a world U13 best and was a member of the championship record-breaking 4x100m team. Five years later, those records remain untouched.
When Lyston ran a wind-assisted 23.46 (+2.2m/s) in the semifinals to signal her arrival, many spectators shifted in their seats, while others stood up. Two days later, she stormed to a 23.72 (-0.6m/s) championship record in the final to complete a magnificent Champs sprint double. She had no idea how the achievement would suddenly affect her life. After all, it was the fastest any 12-year-old had darted around the half-lap event in athletics history. It created an unexpected euphoria.
In an instant, she became an overnight sensation. Not even the legendary Usain Bolt, with&nbsp;whom comparisons surfaced, drew&nbsp;so much attention at that age. Ultimately, it was too much for Lyston, who was not accustomed to celebrity status.
An emotionally drained Lyston went into a shell.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was very young and it had me shaken up,&rdquo; she says with a tinge of sadness.
The following year at Champs, Lyston lost to rising stars Tia Clayton and Serena Cole in the class three 100m final and was fourth in the 200m final.
In 2019, the talented Clayton twins (Tina and Tia), who were once in Lyston&rsquo;s shadow, were now occupying the front row and they finished 1-2 in both the 100m and 200m, with Lyston third on both occasions. While acknowledging the quality of the twins, Lyston reveals that she was unhealthy during those two seasons.
&ldquo;After my first year in high school, I picked up a few injuries,&nbsp;such as&nbsp;hamstrings&nbsp;and quad,&rdquo; Lyston explains. &ldquo;I overcame the quad injuries, but the hamstring injuries persisted into class two. I always competed but not at my best. It was devastating because I was not getting better or performing how I wanted to.&rdquo;
The cancellation of Champs, and by extension the track and field season in 2020, provided many athletes with more free time than usual. It was during this period of inactivity when nothing interesting was on Netflix that Lyston reflected on her past as well as planned her future. She and&nbsp;her two confidantes decided it was time for a new&nbsp;environment.
&ldquo;During the pandemic, I was sitting down and thinking about how I&rsquo;m going to advance myself and decided I should switch schools and see if things would work out better for me,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I spoke to my mom and my best friend and we agreed on Hydel High as the best option. It is a school that I admired over the years.&rdquo;
However, the decision came with consequences. She had to sit out a year based on the Jamaican high school transfer eligibility rule, which states that athletes below 12th grade who have switched schools during the year must miss the next edition of Champs. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6283dc0f27554b556b05f2d0.jpg" alt="Brianna Lyston in the heats at the CARIFTA Games" />
Brianna Lyston in the heats at the CARIFTA Games (&copy; Athelstan Bellamy)
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She spent&nbsp;the time away preparing&nbsp;for the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
&ldquo;I was still battling injuries, but I was far better than I was before,&rdquo; declares Lyston, who was relishing the opportunity to compete in Africa, a continent she had read and heard so many stories about.
While she embraced the Kenyan culture, the weather conditions were a different matter. &ldquo;The people made you feel at home, the food was good, but I never expected Kenya to be that cold. So, it was hard to adapt to the weather, we had to do extra stuff to get our bodies warm for the competition.&rdquo;
Lyston loves competing against the best and the Nairobi championships offered her that opportunity. &ldquo;It was my first U20&nbsp;championships&nbsp;and it was amazing,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The competition was good as you met some talented athletes like Christine Mboma, Beatrice Masilingi and Favour Ofili, and it was a really good experience competing with them.&rdquo;
Lyston ran a PB of 23.18 in her 200m heat, which she equalled in the semifinals when finishing second behind Olympic silver medallist Mboma, who set a championship record.&nbsp;
In a fast final, she crossed the finish line fourth behind Mboma, Masilingi and Ofili, but a lane violation resulted in her disqualification. It was a learning moment and in the ensuing months, Lyston went about correcting that error and reinventing herself.
&ldquo;Seeing the mishap that happened at World U20s, I went back to training and worked on fixing how I ran the curve,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;&ldquo;Also, I have been thoroughly going through my warm-ups and eating&nbsp;better, especially&nbsp;a lot of protein and drinking milk after workouts,&nbsp;and I have improved&nbsp;massively in the gym.&rdquo;
There is proof&nbsp;of those adjustments this season with a few fast times in her pet event. First, she clocked 22.66 at the CARIFTA Trials in March, followed by her stunning lifetime best of 22.53 into a 2.2m/s headwind at Champs, competing for her new school. The time erased Simone Facey&rsquo;s 18-year-old championship record of 22.71.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was my most memorable performance to date,&rdquo; says Lyston, who was returning after a two-year hiatus.
&ldquo;I went into Champs injury free and went for the record,&rdquo; adds the 17-year-old, who now owns the girls&rsquo; 200m records for classes one and four.
Her association with record-breaking performances reached its peak at the 49th&nbsp;CARIFTA Games on 18 April. The dream quartet of Cole, Tina Clayton, Lyston and Tia Clayton &ndash; in that running order &ndash; triggered unrestrained celebrations inside Jamaica&rsquo;s national stadium when they broke the women&rsquo;s world U20 4x100m record with a 42.58 run. It improved on the previous record of 42.94 also set by a Jamaican quartet last year at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
&ldquo;It was an overwhelming feeling that we could do it for our country,&rdquo; says Lyston. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625ec31934477281fb4db2bb.jpeg" alt="Tina Clayton, Serena Cole, Brianna Lyston and Tia Clayton celebrate their world U20 4x100m record at the Carifta Games" />
Tina Clayton, Serena Cole, Brianna Lyston and Tia Clayton celebrate their world U20 4x100m record at the Carifta Games
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Nowadays, Lyston is more mature and prepared for interviews and press conferences. However, her biggest challenge is resisting the urge to read what detractors are saying on social media. She draws inspiration from her role model in managing high pressure situations while&nbsp;remaining&nbsp;true to herself and her supporters.
&ldquo;From a tender age, I&rsquo;ve always looked up to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,&rdquo; says Lyston. &ldquo;I love her personality and how she conducts herself. She knows how to mix it up, she&rsquo;s outgoing and has a lot of vibes off the track but once she&rsquo;s in the zone, she&rsquo;s switched on.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;
In anticipation of&nbsp;the World&nbsp;U20 Championships in Colombia, Lyston expresses optimism.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned a lot from the Nairobi championships,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been working on a few things and been progressing really well.
&ldquo;I am banking on my speed endurance, which is my strongest asset, and hoping to put everything together and deliver in Cali.&rdquo;
Noel Francis for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

It was at an early age that a young sprinter from the parish of Saint Catherine in Jamaica garnered attention from around the world thanks to her eye-catching performances.

Jamaican sprinter Lyston ready to cap her comeback in Cali

Czech Republic&rsquo;s Zuzana Hejnova, the two-time world 400m hurdles champion and Olympic bronze medallist, has confirmed her retirement from competitive athletics.
The 35-year-old, who has announced that she is expecting a baby, is to bid an official farewell to her successful career at the Ostrava Golden Spike &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; on 31 May.
&ldquo;I wanted to say goodbye in front of Czech spectators,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I have had a great career and from the bottom of my heart&nbsp;I thank&nbsp;everyone who supported me. I'm looking forward to a new role now.&rdquo;
World U18 gold in 2003 was the first of the global titles claimed by Hejnova, the then 16-year-old clocking 57.54 to win the 400m hurdles in Sherbrooke, Canada. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/628381235b57bac3508cdee6.jpg" alt="Zuzana Hejnova celebrates her win at the 2003 World U18 Championships" />
Zuzana Hejnova celebrates her win at the 2003 World U18 Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
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She broke the Czech U20 record for the first time at the World U20 Championships in Grosseto the following year, her 57.44 securing silver, and lowered it again in 2005, eventually taking it to 55.89 when winning the 2005 European U20 title in Kaunas.
Hejnova then broke the Czech senior record the following year and improved it every season from 2006 to 2011. During that period she claimed 400m hurdles bronze at the 2007 European U23 Championships, made her Olympic debut with a seventh-place finish in Beijing in 2008 and secured silver as part of the Czech 4x400m team at the 2010 World Indoor Championships.
Hejnova became an Olympic medallist two years later, winning bronze at the 2012 Games in London, and that was to prove just the start.
During an unbeaten 2013 season in her specialist event, Hejnova won the first of her two world 400m hurdles titles and she did it with the performance of her life &ndash; clocking a still-standing Czech record of 52.83 to get gold in Moscow. She won the overall Diamond League title &ndash; a feat she repeated in 2015 &ndash; and was named athlete of the year by European Athletics and the Czech Athletics Federation. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/864004a9-f240-48cd-a84a-068bf5fc8031.jpg" alt="Zuzana Hejnova in the women's 400m hurdles at the World Championships Moscow 2013" />
Zuzana Hejnova in the women's 400m hurdles at the World Championships Moscow 2013 (&copy; Getty Images)
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She retained her world title in Beijing in 2015 &ndash; becoming the only athlete to win back-to-back world gold medals in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles &ndash; and also achieved top-five finishes in London in 2017 and Doha in 2019. Hejnova then became a three-time Olympian in 2016, finishing fourth in the 400m hurdles in Rio, and claimed European indoor 400m silver in Belgrade the following year.
Despite injury struggles, she returned to reach the final of the World Championships in 2019 and then ran her last race at the Ostrava Golden Spike in September 2020. There she contested the 300m hurdles, an event in which she set the world best of 38.16 in 2013.
World Athletics

The Olympic medallist is to bid an official farewell to her successful career at the Ostrava Golden Spike.

Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Hejnova retires

Karlstrom clocks 38:42, Qieyang cruises to 43:07 victory

Karlstrom and Qieyang shine in Madrid

Some of the world's best sprinters will be expected in the city of Chorzow when the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Poland's Silesia region takes place for the first time on 6 August this year.
The new addition to the Diamond League calendar in 2022 will feature the men's 100m and women's 200m as diamond disciplines, as well as a double bill in the 400m.
The Kamila Skolimowska Memorial meeting will therefore be a chance for the finest sprinters in world athletics to pick up more valuable points in their bid for a place in the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich on 7-8 September.
There will also be a men's and women's double bill in the javelin, as well as in the hammer, which will be staged as an additional discipline in the pre-programme.
Diamond disciplines in Silesia Women: 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, high jump, shot put, javelin Men: 100m, 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump, triple jump, javelin
Additional disciplines: Women: 100m*, 100m hurdles, hammer* Men: 800m, pole vault, hammer*, shot put
*with Wanda Diamond League prize money
The meeting in Silesia was added to the Diamond League calendar for 2022 following the decision not to hold two scheduled meetings in China due to ongoing travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.
The meeting will be held according to all Wanda Diamond League standards, and athletes competing in diamond disciplines will be able to earn qualification points for the road to the final.
The event will take place at Chorzow's Silesia Stadium on 6 August.
Several disciplines which were scheduled to take place in China will also be reallocated to other Wanda Diamond League meetings. The 110m hurdles will now be held in Birmingham, the men's triple jump in Lausanne, the women's shot put in Stockholm and there will now be women's javelin in Monaco.
Wanda Diamond League for World Athletics

New addition to Diamond League calendar will feature men's 100m & 400m and women's 200m & 400m as diamond disciplines

Wanda Diamond League in Silesia to feature 100m and 400m double bill

World indoor silver medallist Adrianna Sulek led the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial heptathlon from start to finish while Czech decathlon champion Ondrej Kopecky broke the 8000-point barrier for the first time at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz on Sunday (15).
Sulek&rsquo;s winning score of 6290 was just 25 points shy of her lifetime best. Kopecky, meanwhile, gave himself an early birthday present &ndash; he turned 24 the day after the competition &ndash; and added more than 400 points to his PB with his 8041 tally.
Sulek was the only heptathlete to dip inside 14 seconds in the 100m hurdles, opening her account with 13.70. An outdoor PB of 1.87m in the high jump increased her lead over Dorota Skrivanova of the Czech Republic.
The Pole came within one centimetre of her PB in the shot put (13.20m) and rounded out her first day with a 24.34 clocking in the 200m, giving her a leading score of 3777, more than 250 points ahead of Skrivanova, who was just ahead of Sulek in the 200m (24.32).
Skrivanova &ndash; who finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade &ndash; topped the long jump with a leap of 6.24m, while Sulek managed 6.14m. But Sulek increased her lead in the javelin, throwing 40.37m to Skrivanova&rsquo;s 32.91m.
Poland&rsquo;s Edyta Bielska dominated the 800m and ran 2:07.48, with Skrivanova (2:10.29) and Sulek (2:11.25) relatively close behind. Sulek&rsquo;s clocking brought her winning tally to 6290, while Skrivanova was rewarded with a PB of 5926.
&ldquo;Were it not for the fact that this was the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial, I would have run the 800m in about 2:15, just enough to hold on to victory, but since this competition is in memorial of my former coach, there was no room for poor results,&rdquo; said Sulek, who was coached by Czapiewski up until his death in 2019. &ldquo;I decided to run my lungs out and fight in the 800m. My score may have been just short of my PB, but I know that I gave 100% today. And in the near future I&rsquo;ll be faster and stronger.&rdquo;
Kopecky got off to a strong start in the decathlon, winning the 100m in 11.06 and the long jump with a PB of 7.47m. Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wiesiolek (14.85m) and Lithuania&rsquo;s Edgaras Benkunskas (14.64m) applied pressure in the shot put, but Kopecky&rsquo;s 13.46m heave was enough for the Czech all-rounder to maintain his lead.
Wiesiolek took no further part in the competition, but Benkunskas took the lead after clearing 2.04m in the high jump. Kopecky managed 1.89m but rebounded in the 400m with a big PB of 48.54, giving him a first-day score of 4057, 66 points ahead of Benkunskas.
The lead duo were close in the first event of the second day, Benkunskas winning the 110m hurdles from Kopecky, 14.32 to 14.35. But Kopecky pulled ahead in the discus (44.06m) and pole vault (5.10m).
Benkunskas gained a bit of ground in the javelin, throwing 61.11m to Kopecky&rsquo;s 57.86m, but the Czech leader had a comfortable lead going into the 1500m and duly won that event in 4:43.42, gaining the overall victory with 8041. Benkunskas finished second with 7689.

Sulek scores 6290, Kopecky sets big PB of 8041

Sulek and Kopecky dominate in Bydgoszcz

Cheptai runs 30:35, Kimeli clocks 27:38

Cheptai and Kimeli break course records in Bengaluru

Favour Ofili, Britton Wilson and Julien Alfred were among the stand-out performers on a busy weekend of collegiate conference championship action.
Ofili, competing at the SEC Championships in Oxford, Missouri, came close to her lifetime bests when winning the sprint double. The Nigerian teenager, who represents Louisiana State University, took the 100m title in 10.93 (-0.7m/s) ahead of collegiate rival Abby Steiner (11.02). The 200m was even closer between the pair, but Ofili once again came out on top, running 22.04 to Steiner&rsquo;s 22.07.
Ofili added a third title to her collection when LSU won the 4x100m in 42.59. Steiner, representing Kentucky University, once again finished runner-up in 42.63, but she gained redemption at the end of the championships after running a storming 48.78 split on her way to winning the 4x400m in a collegiate record of 3:21.93.
In a thrilling finish with sensational anchor legs from Charokee Young (48.90) and Britton Wilson (48.60) respectively, Texas A&amp;M finished a close second in 3:22.01 with Arkansas third in 3:22.55.
Wilson had already established herself as one of the stars of the event after winning the one-lap double. She took the 400m flat title in a PB of 50.05 and followed it with another lifetime best to win the 400m hurdles in a world-leading 53.75.
US heptathlon champion Anna Hall was second in the 400m hurdles in 55.36 after clocking a PB of 54.91 in the heats.
Elsewhere in Oxford, Champion Allison won the men&rsquo;s 400m in 44.74 from Elija Godwin (44.81).
Women&rsquo;s sprints also produced the headlines at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas.
St Lucia&rsquo;s Julian Alfred, a student at the University of Texas, made another big improvement on what is turning out to be a superb breakthrough year for the 20-year-old. She won her 100m heat in a national record of 10.81 (1.7m/s) to smash the meeting record that had stood for 14 years.
The other heats were similarly fast with Kevona Davis setting a PB of 10.95 to win her heat and Rosemary Chukwuma take one of the other races in a wind-assisted 10.94. Most of the track finals in Lubbock will take place on Sunday (15).
Alfred later won her 200m heat in 22.46 (1.2m/s), once again setting a national record. Davis (22.49) and Kynnedy Flannel (22.54) were among the other heat winners.
In other action in Lubbock, Monae Nichols won the long jump with a PB of 6.97m (1.0m/s), backing it up with a 6.80m leap in the fifth round. Ruth Usoro was second with 6.78m. Stacey Ann Williams won her 400m heat in 50.29.

10.93 / 22.04 sprint double from Favour Ofili, 10.81 national 100m record from Julien Alfred

Ofili, Wilson and Alfred shine at collegiate conference championships

The oldest national cross country championships in the world, whose 146-year history was recognised with the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in March 2019, was presented with its honour during the Night of the 10,000m PBs in Highgate, London, on Saturday (14).
The <a href="https://worldathletics.org/heritage/plaque" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Heritage Plaque</a> is a location-based recognition, awarded for 'an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out-of-stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking'.
The official presentation of the plaque to the English National Cross Country Championships, which had been on hold due to the pandemic, took place at Parliament Hill Fields Athletics Track on the edge of Hampstead Heath, where the plaque will be permanently displayed. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6280a5f52e77fa7e1caa4578.jpg" alt="Aerial view of the Night of the 10,000m PBs at Parliament Hill Athletics Track" />
Aerial view of the Night of the 10,000m PBs at Parliament Hill Athletics Track (&copy; Getty Images)
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Ian Beattie, the chair of UK Athletics, which is the national member federation of World Athletics, presented the plaque to John Temperton and Ian Byett, respectively the chair and secretary of the English Cross Country Association, the custodians of a cross country tradition which dates back to 1876. 
<h2>'Null and void'</h2>
The history of the championships did not begin auspiciously. The first English Cross Country Championships was staged in 1876 in Buckhurst Hill, Epping Forest. However, the result was declared null and void. Over the decades a variety of reasons have been blamed, including a bad storm delaying the runners or more fundamentally the trail not being set properly, as reported at the time by the <a href="http://www.national.crosscountrychampionship.uk/html/reportCC18763S.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">London and Sporting Chronicle</a>.
As such, the 1877 edition is most commonly acknowledged as that start of the championships, staged in Roehampton near Wimbledon Common, England.
That race was won by P H Stenning of Thames Hare &amp; Hounds, London, which in 1868 was established as the world&rsquo;s first adult harrier club. The championships became formalised following the foundation of the English National Cross Country Union in 1883. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/58eac972-f12e-405b-973f-d317140241aa.jpg" alt="March 1913: Competitors in the English National Cross Country Championships climbing over a gate on the route" />
March 1913: Competitors in the English National Cross Country Championships climbing over a gate on the route (&copy; Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
</div>
<h2>A French victory</h2>
The English Cross Country Association (ECCA), which today organises the championships, was established in 1992 following the amalgamation of the former men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s bodies: the English Cross Country Union and the Women&rsquo;s Cross Country and Road Running Association.
Parliament Hill Fields as a venue for the championships is a relative newcomer. It first hosted 'The National', as the event is affectionally known, in 1957. This corner of Hampstead Heath has since been the venue for the championships on another dozen occasions. It is regarded by many as the modern spiritual home of the event.
The individual winners of the championships &ndash; whose names include Jack Holden, Sydney Wooderson, Gordon Pirie, Diane Leather, Basil Heatley, Dave Bedford, Brendan Foster, Joyce Smith, Mike McLeod, Tim Hutchings, Paula Fudge and Paula Radcliffe, to name but a very few &ndash; read like a who&rsquo;s who of English distance running.
If you add France&rsquo;s Joseph Guillemot, the 1920 Olympic 5000m champion who won that same year,&nbsp;to that pantheon of local greats then 'The National' is unquestionably a living distance running legend.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage
<a href="http://www.national.crosscountrychampionship.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here</a> for history and results since 1876

The oldest national cross country championships in the world was presented with its honour during the Night of the 10,000m PBs.

'The National' receives Heritage Plaque at its modern spiritual home

Some of the world&rsquo;s best race walkers will compete in Madrid on Monday (16) when the first Gran Premio Internacional Madrid Marcha LaLiga takes place in the Spanish capital.
One of the most iconic streets of Madrid, Gran V&iacute;a, will be the venue for the World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold event, where Massimo Stano, Perseus Karlstrom and Qieyang Shijie are among the entries.
There will be a mixed 10km race featuring 45 men and 37 women on a kilometre circuit. Before the start, Spain&rsquo;s eight-time Olympian and 1993 world 50km champion Jesus Angel Garcia will receive a warm tribute.
The driving force behind Monday's competition is Spain's European 20km silver medallist Diego Garcia.
"I come from Madrid. There wasn't a first-class competition here and I was eager to perform in my home town, so I decided to take a step forward,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old, who finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics. &ldquo;After talking to so many people over the past few years, the event will finally become a reality on Monday.&rdquo;
Garcia himself has acted as the elite athlete coordinator and the line-up assembled is of a high calibre. 
<h2>Tough challenge for Stano</h2>
Italy's Olympic 20km champion Stano should be one of the athletes to beat. After his Olympic success, the 30-year-old competed twice in the short space of eight days and remains unbeaten following a fine 2:29:09 35km win in Dudince and another 1:21:21 victory at the Italian 20km Championships a fortnight ago. Stano looks set to contest the 35km event at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, before returning to his 20km speciality for the European Championships in Munich.
Yet Stano will face stiff opposition from a number of world-class walkers, led by world bronze medallist Karlstrom. The 28-year-old Swede proved to be in top form at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat in March, when he took a 40-second win in the 35km event with a 2:36:14 clocking. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/624c24b7275bdccf724cdb9d.jpg" alt="Perseus Karlstrom celebrates his win at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat 22" />
Perseus Karlstrom celebrates his win at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat 22 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
He had to settle for the runner-up spot the following month in Podebrady, where he was beaten by Brazil's Caio Bonfim &ndash; 1:18:54 to 1:19:42. The 31-year-old 2017 world bronze medallist, one of the most consistent walkers over the past decade, will also be in contention on Monday and is fresh from a second-place finish last Saturday in Rio Maior, where he was outclassed by Pan-American champion Brian Pintado, who achieved his first victory in a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold race.
The Ecuadorian continues his busy campaign, as he will be contesting his seventh competition in 2022 in Madrid, topped by his success last weekend and respective fourth places in Muscat and Podebrady, where he managed a 20km PB of 1:19:47.
There will also be several dangerous outsiders. Britain's Tom Bosworth holds the world indoor 3000m race walk best and is an accomplished specialist over shorter distances. He will line up alongside Canada's Olympic 50km bronze medallist Evan Dunfee and the Indian pair of Sandeep Kumar and Amit Khatri, the world U20 10,000m race walk silver medallist. Wang Kaihua, holder of the third-quickest ever 20km performance at 1:16:54, leads the Chinese challenge.
Local hopes rest on Garcia, fifth-place finisher in Muscat just behind Pintado. The Spaniard's final week has been frantic, having to combine his roles as organiser and athlete, but he's confident of performing well in front of his home crowd.
Garcia will be joined by his compatriots Marc Tur, who just missed an Olympic 50km medal in the closing stages, plus Podebrady fifth-place finisher Luis Alberto Amezcua and Paul McGrath, the world U20 bronze and European gold 10,000m race walk medallist. 
<h2>Qieyang aims to prevail</h2>
On the women's side, the leading athlete is China&rsquo;s Qieyang, who claimed 2012 Olympic 20km silver but is expected to be awarded gold following the disqualification of the winning Russian athlete. Qieyang is also the world 20km silver medallist and showed great shape in Dudince, where she captured a convincing victory over 35km in 2:43:06. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/626454c5a02a6969615cd34f.jpg" alt="Qieyang Shijie celebrates her 35km race walk win at the Dudinska 50" />
Qieyang Shijie celebrates her 35km race walk win at the Dudinska 50 (&copy; Milan Duroch)
</div>
She will be accompanied by her compatriot Li Maocuo, the world 50km silver medallist.
Trying to avoid a 1-2 for the Asian squad will be Peru's Kimberly Garcia, the recent victor in Rio Maior ahead of Portugal's Ana Cabecinha, who also competes on Monday. Garcia seems to be in the form of her life having achieved podium spots in Muscat, where she finished third, and Dudince, the venue of her 35km debut at which she clocked 2:43:19 and finished second.
Watch out too for the emerging Czech athlete Eliska Martinkova, silver medallist at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi last year over this distance. The 20-year-old finished a fine fifth in Podebrady in a PB of 1:30.53.
The line-up also includes France's Clemence Beretta, Britain's Heather Lewis and some top Spaniards such as national 10,000m record-holder with 42:24.12 Raquel Gonzalez and Laura Garcia Caro, a 1:28:07 20km race walker who placed fourth in Muscat over 35km.
Weather forecasters predict a pleasant sunny day, with the thermometer reaching 22&deg;C by the time of the event.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics

The first Gran Premio Internacional Madrid Marcha LaLiga takes place in the Spanish capital on Monday.

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