Browsing: Duplantis

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The two-time Olympic champion sealed gold with a first-time clearance at 6.15m to end Emmanouil Karalis’ admirable challenge – and then raised the bar to one centimetre higher than he had ever gone before.

Such is the respect from his competitors, the Greek runner-up – who has risen to fourth on the discipline’s all-time list amid his pursuit of Duplantis – held a fan for his rival between his agonisingly close first and second attempts.

With all eyes fixed upon him, a hush of expectation was replaced by rhythmic applause upon Duplantis’ request as he prepared for his final attempt.

Japan’s National Stadium then erupted as he leapt up from the mat after his successful effort and began his celebrations.

“It’s better than I could have imagined. To give you guys this world record is amazing. I’m just so happy,” Duplantis told the crowd, who had stayed beyond 23:00 local time to watch him seek the record.

A fourth world record of 2025 by Duplantis is the most number of times he has improved the mark during a single year in his career, which seemingly continues with no limit in sight.

Australia’s bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall: “It was an amazing night, the fans were fantastic.

“Mondo is from another planet – he is doing incredible things, things many people thought were impossible.

“I can’t wait to see what he’s got in the future.”

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles: Warholm also confirms that he was just trying to get through the heat “as easily as possibleâ€.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles: Final heat sees Nathaniel from Nigeria take top spot. Alastair Chalmers gets into the top four which means he joins Donovan in the next round as the two racers from GB. Clarke from the previous heat gets through on qualifiers by the skin of his teeth.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles: Olympic champion Benjamin finishes first in his heat. Clarke from Jamaica was looking to finish in fourth, but Costa Ricaâ€s Drummond snuck ahead of him. Clarke will now have to keep an eye on the next heat to see if he can qualify.

GBâ€s Derbyshire struggled with a shake of a head at the end of the race, finishing in seventh.

It is not my best. It is not the time to mess up. I would be lying to say if I was happy with my performance.

I didnâ€t think I would be in the sport 12 months ago so this will be a good platform.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles:Warholm started strong but failed to hit his stride, finishing third. The commentators are theorising he was told to take it easy just get through due to the conditions. It was Brazilâ€s Lima who impressed to get top spot ahead of Qatarâ€s Abakar. Turkeyâ€s Akcam nabs the fourth spot with a season best.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles:The second heat saw hurdles great and the 2022 champion Dos Santos come in second behind Qatarâ€s Bassem Hemeida.

Dos Santos told BBC after that the track “felt amazing,†and that he is “here to fight for the goldâ€.

The third heat is just about to start which contains one of the favourites for the title, Norwayâ€s Karsten Warholm.

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Updated at 06.58 EDT

Menâ€s pole vault final:Our first final of the day and it is a star-studded field, led by Armand ‘Mundo†Duplantis. The Swede is the current world record-holder at 6.29m and is a two-time Olympic (2020 and 2024) champion, a two-time world outdoor (2022 and 2023) champion and a three-time world indoor (2022, 2024 and 2025) champion.

Letâ€s see what he can conjure up today.

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Updated at 06.59 EDT

Menâ€s 400m hurdles: Tyri Donovan speaks after his second-place finish in the first heat.

The GB support has been incredible. I tried to be patient and I am glad I finished strong.

To come out here and set a PB and get to the semi-finals is amazing. I put in the work though. If I get here anyone can get here.

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Menâ€s long jump: Greeceâ€s Miltiadis Tentoglou comes into the qualifiers as the 2023 champion and the back-to-back Olympic champion. The automatic qualifying mark is 8.15 or at least the best 12 qualify to the final.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles:Qatarâ€s Samba is well in first but it is tight on the line for who is second … And it is who Donovan gets a PB in second with a time of a 48.26! The GB man lunges and stuck his right arm out in an effort to get over the line before he collapsed after the finish. Robinson from the US finishes in third with a time of 48.27.

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Menâ€s 400m hurdles:First heat includes GBâ€s Donovan and home favourite Inoue – who gets the loudest cheers. Here we go …

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Updated at 06.37 EDT

Menâ€s 400m hurdles: We are gearing up for our first event of the evening session. Five heats with nine athletes each. The first four of each heat will go to qualifiers and the four fastest times will qualify straight to the semi-finals.

The USAâ€s Rai Benjamin, who won gold in this event in Paris, is in the fourth heat. GBâ€s Alastair Chalmers, Seamus Derbyshire and Tyri Donovan are also taking part.

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Updated at 07.04 EDT

Menâ€s 200m: Gout Gout is the name on everyoneâ€s mind in Tokyo and the Australian said his legs are “ready to rumble†ahead of his debut at these championships on Wednesday.

“[My legs will] be ready to go, like in F1 when the cars are warming up the tyres,†he said, making a swerving gesture with his hands. “Theyâ€ll be just … ready to rumble, thatâ€s what theyâ€d say.â€

Gout Gout is ‘ready to rumbleâ€. Photograph: SuppliedShare

Brit watch: Some unfortunate news from Toyko overnight as medal hopes Molly Caudery and Emile Cairess were forced out of their respective events.

Caudery sustained an ankle injury in the warmup before pole vault qualifying, while Cairess – who finished fourth in the Paris Olympic marathon – battled through heat and humidity before bowing out in the 38th kilometre as a result of the muggy conditions.

Last week, World Athletics announced that road event start times on the first three days of competition would be moved forward by half an hour, to 7.30am local time, as a response to concerns over athlete welfare after forecasts of high temperatures and humidity.

Cairess said: “I tried my best. I feel I just got too hot, simple as that really, conditions were so tough, itâ€s just really hot. When I stopped, I just took ages to just feel all right again. Iâ€ve cooled down now, but it took a while.

“I used all the stations to be diligent with the ice and the sponges and while it helped, it just still got too hot. I felt pretty good the first 25km and then 30km I was still feeling good and then about 32km I just really suddenly didnâ€t feel very good any more.

“I did a decent amount of prep for the conditions, as much as I could balancing it with training. Iâ€ve not known conditions like it, but this is only my fourth marathon. Paris was a hot one but it was more warm and this was very, very humid. I did the best I could.â€

The temperature was already 26C with 68% humidity at the marathonâ€s start, rising to 28C with 54% humidity by the time the event concluded at 10.04am.

Caudery, the 2024 world indoor champion and ranked fourth heading to Japan, was seeking redemption after a disastrous Olympic debut in Paris, when she crashed out of the qualification session with a no mark.

A British Athletics statement read: “Unfortunately, Molly Caudery has been forced to withdraw from pole vault qualifying following an ankle injury sustained in warm-up.â€

It will come as particularly devastating news for the 25-year-old, who vowed to learn from her Olympic mistakes. In Paris, Caudery was the only entrant who elected to skip the 4.40 metres height attempt, electing to enter at 4.55.

It was a decision that proved costly when she failed to clear the bar with her three tries, particularly after it turned out 4.40 was all it took for nine other women to advance. She cleared 4.85 metres at the British championships last month. PA Media

Molly Caudery sustained an injury during practice before the womenâ€s pole vault qualification. Photograph: Edgar Su/ReutersShare

Menâ€s marathon: As we await todayâ€s action, letâ€s run through what took place in the morning session/overnight. Alphonce Felix Simbu snatched gold in the first photo-finish at a major championship marathon edging out Germanyâ€s Amanal Petros in a dramatic race to the line to give Tanzania its maiden world title.

The photo-finish showed the race was decided by three hundredths of a second as Simbu surged past the diving Petros at the line, closer than the 0.05-second gap between the gold and silver medallists in the menâ€s 100m final the day before.

Simbu and Petros were given the same time of two hours, nine minutes and 48 seconds, the German taking the silver despite heading the field as the leaders entered Tokyoâ€s National Stadium. Italyâ€s Iliass Aouani took the bronze in 2:09.53.

“When we entered the stadium, I was not sure if I would win,†the 33-year-old Simbu said. “I did not know if I had won. But when I saw the video screens and me on the top of the results, I felt relieved. I made history today – the first Tanzanian gold medal at a world championships.â€

The finish was closer than at the 2001 championships in Edmonton, when Ethiopiaâ€s Gezahegne Abera beat Kenyaâ€s Simon Biwott by a single second. South Africaâ€s Josia Thugwane won the closest Olympic menâ€s marathon by three seconds against South Koreaâ€s Lee Bong-ju at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

It was a first global title for Simbu, who won bronze in the marathon at the London world championships in 2017 and finished second in the Boston marathon in April.

Ethiopiaâ€s Tadese Takele and Deresa Geleta, who took gold and silver at the Tokyo city marathon in March, dropped off with less than 10km to go. The race was wide open for much of the distance, with a couple of dozen runners in the leading cluster 90 minutes in. The pack then gradually thinned out as some faded in the morning heat, leaving Simbu, Petros and Aouani clear of the field coming into the stadium. Petros was in the lead to take take the title until Simbu found a late kick and ran him down at the line.

“Itâ€s like the 100 metres,†said Petros. “Coming into the finish I was thinking about winning so a bit of me is feeling very sad. But I have to accept it. As an athlete you have to learn for tomorrow, train hard, keep going and be thankful for the silver.â€

The closest of finishes between Alphonce Felix Simbu (second from left) and Amanal Petros (second from right). Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockGold medallist Alphonce Felix Simbu (right), silver medallist Amanal Petros (centre) and bronze medallist Iliass Aouani after the race. Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockShare

Preamble

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the world championships in Tokyo where a gripping day three awaits us.

Four more gold medals are to be handed out in todayâ€s evening session: menâ€s pole vault, womenâ€s hammer throw, menâ€s 3000m steeplechase and womenâ€s 100m hurdles.

And as always, if you have any predictions, queries or thoughts on any of the events, send me an email.

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Today’s schedule

It is 6.30pm JST 10.30 am in Tokyo at the moment and here is what is scheduled for the evening session:

• 11.35am BST / 7.35pm JST – menâ€s 400m hurdles – heats

• 11.40am BST / 7.40pm JST – menâ€s long jump – qualification

• 11:49am BST / 7.49pm JST – menâ€s pole vault – final

• 12.23pm BST / 8.23pm JST – menâ€s 110m hurdles – heats

• 1pm BST / 9pm JST – womenâ€s hammer throw – final

• 1.06pm BST/ 9.06pm JST – womenâ€s 100m hurdles – semi-final

• 1.30pm BST / 9.30pm JST – menâ€s 1500m – semi-final

• 1.55pm BST / 9.55pm JST – menâ€s 3000m steeplechase – final

• 2.20pm BST / 10.20pm JST – womenâ€s 100m hurdles – final

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Sweden’s world record holder Armand Duplantis says he is in the form to attempt an historic 6.30m jump in the…

When does it start?The action kicks off at 11.30pm BST Friday night (7.30am local time) with the men’s and women’s…

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Men’s pole vaultArmand Duplantis is in a class of his own with a 17-foot pole in his hands. The Swede…

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The 40th edition of the FBK Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Hengelo looks set to be celebrated with fireworks on the track and field on Sunday (6), with talk of world and meeting records at the pre-event press conferences.

The Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion is where Sifan Hassan set her European 10,000m record of 29:36.67 last October and the double world champion is looking to go even faster. That time moved the 28-year-old to fourth on the world all-time list and when asked if she might also be aiming for the world record on Sunday, Hassan replied: “Maybe, who knows! It could be.”

On whether she will set off on a pace targeting Almaz Ayana’s 29:17.45 from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Hassan added: “I have to talk to my coach and manager. Sometimes I will change my mind the day before, if I feel good.”

The Dutch athlete has been training in Kenya and then Utah, USA, over the past few months, and believes she is in her best ever shape.

“When I look at my training, I have never been so good,” said Hassan, who confirmed she will be looking to double up – probably in the 5000m and 10,000m – at the Olympics in Tokyo. “I have never seen myself so good, but I don’t know how that will show in competition. My speed is still not as great as before but endurance – I have never seen myself as I am now. I want to run a PB but it is sometimes hard for athletes to say ‘I will run this’ because competition and training are not the same.”

Another athlete looking for a strong performance on home soil is Dafne Schippers, as the two-time world 200m gold medallist also builds towards Tokyo.

“I am feeling okay, this weekend is a very nice competition for me,” said the 28-year-old, who opened her 100m season with 11.38 at the adidas Boost Boston Games street meeting. “I always need a couple of competitions to go faster and faster, so I hope to go faster than my last competitions.”

She forms part of a strong 100m field alongside Britain’s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Nigeria’s world and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare.

“I always like to compete with the best in the world and it’s very special to have names like Dina and Blessing in a race like this,” added Schippers. “It’s great to have in the Netherlands. I like to compete with them.”

Asher-Smith excited for Hengelo return

Six years on from her first senior national 100m record in Hengelo, Asher-Smith returns to the Dutch city as a multiple global medallist looking to build on her opener at a wet and windy Gateshead.

The 25-year-old Briton was a dominant force at the Gateshead International Stadium two weeks ago, battling pouring rain and a -3.1m/s headwind to win the 100m in 11.35. There she finished clearly ahead of world leader Sha’Carri Richardson, multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Okagbare, and she has her sights set on another strong race in more favourable conditions.

“Hopefully it will be a little less windy, cold and wet!” she said. “I’m really excited to be running in Hengelo and over the 100m again. I don’t quite know what to expect in terms of, I don’t think what kind of number I would want from a race, I just try and go in and run the best race that I can, which was a very useful mindset to have in Gateshead because times were not happening that day!

“I have had a good winter and I feel good, so hopefully if the weather is kind to us it could be a really good Sunday.”

On returning to the scene of her 11.02 in 2015 – a British record she has since taken to 10.83 – Asher-Smith added: “I have really fond memories of Hengelo for two reasons. One, it was the first time I broke the British record. The record was 11.05 and I did 11.02 in 2015, so I have really fond memories of being in Hengelo for that reason.

“I also really enjoyed racing Dafne there. I think as a professional athlete it was my first experience of being in a race when a really big star is racing at home. It was just so nice to hear the crowd cheering like that. Even though I was a competitor in the race it’s still nice to see a crowd really cheer and get behind their home athlete.”

Although the crowd will be reduced this year because of Covid-19 restrictions, organisers will still be welcoming 1500 fans to the stadium to cheer on the world-class fields.

Duplantis ready for Hengelo debut

Also among those keen to make the most of the crowd support will be world pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis as he looks to return to winning ways after a rare loss in Gateshead.

Undefeated in 23 competitions, Sweden’s Duplantis was beaten by two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and the weather at the Diamond League meeting last month and although his US rival will not be competing in Hengelo, Duplantis could get one back by breaking the meeting record and Dutch all-comers’ record of 5.91m set by Kendricks in 2019.

“I definitely have a lot of motivation going into this competition because I’m coming off a loss right now and I want to get back to winning,” said the 21-year-old. “I want to show what I can do and try to put up something high. Sam’s not going to be there but I guess a way to get back at him would be to take his meeting record!”

On the significance of this event on his road to Tokyo, Duplantis added: “It’s super important because I have just four competitions left until the Olympics and every one is just as important as the other – figuring out my jump, the technique, my run, trying to get the rhythm and the timing of the jump down because I want everything to be perfect when it comes to the Olympics.”

Having fans in the stadium provides an added boost. “In Gateshead it was super amazing having the spectators right alongside us there,” he explained. “I haven’t had that kind of energy from the crowd in quite a while, since the indoor 2020 season. Of course, it’s going to be limited right now and they are not going to be able to have full capacity meets, but it’s really great to have people there watching you. It just brings an extra piece of motivation for you when you’re out there jumping in front of real people instead of just cameras.”

In Hengelo there will also be home stars for the fans to support and asked about Dutch record-holder Menno Vloon, who cleared 5.96m indoors in February, Duplantis replied: “He’s a real explosive vaulter. On any given day you never know what to expect from him.

“I know a lot of my competitors are capable of really high heights on any given day. Especially going into this meet in the Netherlands, on Menno’s home turf, I don’t see why he can’t go out there and jump something really high.”

Sandra Perkovic is another athlete hoping her event can provide a show in Hengelo. Croatia’s two-time Olympic champion takes on two other global winners in Cuba’s 2019 world gold medallist Yaime Perez and 2015 world champion Denia Caballero, and they will be joined by Portugal’s Liliana Ca and Melina Robert-Michon of France.

“Last year was really tough for all of us because we didn’t have the Olympics and we didn’t have any strong meets, so this year when I started to compete – first in Doha – and saw all the other girls, I was happy to finally be all together in one place chasing for that goal and the goal is to win,” said Perkovic.

“I expect a nice fight (on Sunday), especially with the Cubans and also the girl from Portugal and of course the silver medallist from Rio 2016, so it is going to be a very good competition for me.”

Like Asher-Smith, Perkovic has fond memories after achieving a milestone moment in Hengelo.

“In 2007 it was my first time in Hengelo, at the European Junior Championships, and that is the place I threw my junior national record which at that time was 55.42m,” she said. “I am happy to be back in this stadium and this place – 14 years later I am still here and still competing, so I am excited.”

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

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