Melissa Jefferson Wooden produced a historic 21.47 in the women’s 200m and Kenny Bednarek ran 19.52 to complete a pair of sprint doubles as the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship concluded in Budapest last night. Mark English recorded a personal best in the men’s 800m final, while Rhasidat Adeleke missed the women’s 200m final by just 0.09 seconds.
The first World Athletics Ultimate Championship came to a close at the National Athletics Centre last night with 11 titles decided before another crowd of more than 20,000 spectators.
Jefferson Wooden and Bednarek became the only athletes to win two individual titles across the three evenings, collecting $300,000 each after adding the 200m crowns to their victories over 100m on Saturday. Alison dos Santos, Josh Kerr, Djamel Sedjati and Gianmarco Tamberi were among the other major winners on a final night packed with big performances.
English Runs 1:42.78 as Adeleke Falls Just Short
Mark English provided the Irish highlight yesterday evening by producing the fastest 800 metres of his career in his first senior global final. The Donegal athlete remained in contact during a flat out race before crossing sixth in 1:42.78, the same time recorded by seventh placed Yanis Meziane.
Sedjati caught Marco Arop in the closing metres to win in 1:41.91. Arop took second in 1:42.28 and Emmanuel Wanyonyi finished third in 1:42.44, with seven athletes breaking 1:43. English improved his previous best by 0.19 seconds and moved to within 0.63 seconds of Cian McPhillips’ Irish record of 1:42.15.
Earlier last night, Rhasidat Adeleke finished fifth in the opening women’s 200m semi final in 22.81, leaving her one place and 0.09 seconds outside the final. Adeleke was seventh as the field entered the home straight but recovered strongly, with Switzerland’s Fabienne Hoenke holding fourth in 22.72.
Adeleke finished 10th across the two semi finals. Her time was four hundredths quicker than her recent run in Brescia, although some distance outside the Irish record of 22.28 which earned her European silver last month. Run Republic has the full report on both Irish performances.
Jefferson Wooden Produces Historic 21.47
Melissa Jefferson Wooden saved her quickest performance of the championship for the final race of the women’s programme last night.
The world champion powered clear of Olympic champion Gabby Thomas to win the women’s 200m in a world leading 21.47 against a headwind of 0.6 metres per second. It was the fourth fastest performance in history and just 0.13 seconds outside Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record.
Thomas finished second in 21.77, with Kayla White completing an American clean sweep of the top three in 21.93. Jefferson Wooden had already won the 100m in a world leading 10.62 on Saturday evening.
Kenny Bednarek matched that double in the men’s events. He led throughout the 200m final and crossed in a world leading personal best of 19.52, moving to seventh on the world all time list. Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo took second in a season best of 19.76, while Courtney Lindsey finished third in 19.79.
Bednarek’s victories in the 100m and 200m were the first individual global titles of his career. Together with Jefferson Wooden, he left Budapest with two trophies and the maximum individual prize money of $300,000.
Alison dos Santos defeated Rai Benjamin and Karsten Warholm in a superb men’s 400m hurdles final, recording 45.98 for the third fastest performance in history.
The Brazilian world record holder established a clear advantage before the home straight and did not allow either of his great rivals back into the contest. Benjamin finished second in 46.40, earning his second silver of the weekend after also placing second in the flat 400m. Warholm took third in 46.78.
Dos Santos had broken Warholm’s world record with 45.80 in Zurich only two weeks earlier. His performance last night made him the first man to break 46 seconds twice.
Jasmine Jones won the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.45, ahead of European champion Emma Zapletalová in 52.68 and Anna Cockrell in 53.09. Former Olympic and world champion Dalilah Muhammad finished fourth in 53.11 in the final race of her career.
Kerr Controls the 1500m Final
Josh Kerr completed an unbeaten season by winning the men’s 1500m in 3:29.35 after taking control during the final lap.
The Scot moved past Yared Nuguse with around 250 metres remaining and opened a decisive advantage. Australia’s Cameron Myers closed quickly but could not reach Kerr, finishing second in 3:29.68. Hobbs Kessler took third in 3:30.73, one hundredth ahead of Olympic champion Cole Hocker.
Kerr covered the final 800 metres in 1:47.79 to secure another major title in a year which also brought him world indoor 3000m gold, Commonwealth Games mile gold and a mile world record. L
The anticipated meeting with Jakob Ingebrigtsen did not take place after the Norwegian withdrew from the 1500m following his victory over 5000m on Friday evening.
Amebaw Breaks Clear in Women’s 5000m
Likina Amebaw refused to leave the women’s 5000m to a last lap scramble, moving away from the field during the closing stages to win her first global title in 14:30.36.
The Ethiopian’s time was a Hungarian all comers record. Jessica Hull produced a personal best of 14:32.39 for second, with Fantaye Belayneh third in 14:32.62. Ethiopian athletes filled four of the first five positions.
The United States won the mixed 4x400m relay in 3:08.32. Great Britain and Northern Ireland took second in a season best of 3:09.40, while the Netherlands finished third in 3:09.57.
Pathirage, Tamberi and Sarr Take Field Titles
Rumesh Pathirage continued his superb season with a dominant victory in the men’s javelin. The Sri Lankan sent the javelin out to 91.09m, finishing almost five metres ahead of Anderson Peters on 86.18m. Julian Weber placed third with 85.89m.
Pathirage had already thrown a world leading 92.62m in Rome earlier this year and confirmed his position at the head of the event with another throw beyond 90 metres last night.
Gianmarco Tamberi fed off the Budapest crowd during the men’s high jump and cleared a world leading 2.37m to take the title. JuVaughn Harrison finished second with 2.30m, while Erick Portillo secured third on countback after clearing 2.26m.
Only two centimetres separated the leading pair in the women’s triple jump. Senegal’s Saly Sarr won with 15.06m, narrowly defeating Davisleydi Velazco’s 15.04m. Leyanis Pérez Hernández completed the podium with 14.90m.
The inaugural championship ended with more than 60,000 spectators having attended across three sold out evenings. Mondo Duplantis performed the event anthem, Gold, as fireworks brought the Budapest programme to a close.
There will be details for World Athletics to refine before the next edition, but the first Ultimate Championship delivered what it promised: the best available athletes, meaningful prize money and major performances at the end of the outdoor season.
