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Armand Duplantis admitted feeling “destroyed” after a 100m exhibition race as Sha’Carri Richardson and Letsile Tebogo claimed sprint victories at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich on Thursday.
Much is now expected of Duplantis on the pole vault track, but it was a relatively disappointing competition for him in cold and wet conditions, even if it was a victory.
The Swede won with a best clearance of 5.82m in the points tally by the American Sam Kendricks.
“Mentally I felt good today, but my body was destroyed after yesterday’s race,” he said, referring to the 100m showdown with 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm.
Duplantis won the sprint with a “very impressive” time of 10.37 seconds to Warholm’s 10.47.
“For both of us, it was a great experience,” Duplantis said. “It was really amazing. I think we created a great event, it was very new and innovative.”
While Duplantis at least picked up another win, Warholm was out after injuring his hamstring following his sprint efforts.
But as the underdog, Warholm was deigned to wear one of the Swede’s national jerseys in action on Thursday.
While not competing, Warholm made an appearance on the track wearing Duplantis’ kit, but said it was “horrible. I need to take a really good shower after this!”
The Norwegian added: “I would have preferred to run rather than do the walk of shame. But I felt something in my hamstring. I tried to warm up but I made the decision not to run.
“I hope my good friend Mondo will let me do this. I hope I never do this again!” he said, passionately kissing a Norwegian flag thrown by the organizers, to enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke won the 400m hurdles in his absence in 47.49 seconds.
– Alfred has passed –
World champion Richardson took revenge for her Olympic defeat against Julien Alfred by turning the tables on the 100m.
Richardson entered the final 20 metres in third place behind St Lucia’s Olympic champion Julien Alfred and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
But the American stayed strong and focused on the line, putting in a wild run for first place in 10.84 seconds, 0.04 seconds ahead of Alfred.
“I train and I execute because I know the race is not going to happen by itself,” Richardson said.
Botswana’s Olympic champion Tebogo was also slow to make an impact in the men’s 200m.
The 21-year-old edged Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek by 0.02 seconds to win in 19.55 seconds.
“I’m still deeply invested in racing and everything else, so for me it means a lot,” Tebogo said.
And in a repeat of the Olympic men’s 1,500m final, it was American Yared Nuguse who won the race, edging Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the line in 3:29.21.
“This race was highly anticipated and I knew it was going to be fast at the end,” Nuguse said.
“Anyone could have won this race. I’m happy I still managed to win.”
Béatrice Chebet, who became a double Olympic champion in Paris (5,000 m and 10,000 m), failed in her attempt at the world record in the shortest event.
Chebet had pacemakers, Wavelight technology and a sell-out crowd of 30,000 cheering her on, but the Kenyan eventually clocked 14:09.52, beating the meet record set in September 2011 by compatriot Vivian Jepkemei Cheruiyot by 21 seconds.
Ukrainian Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh has claimed her fifth consecutive Diamond League victory, clearing a high jump of 1.96m.
There were also two other dominant performances from Americans who won gold in Paris.
First, three-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser wrapped up another shot put competition with a winning throw of 22.66m.
Grant Holloway then clocked a quick 12.99 seconds to take victory in the 110m hurdles.
lp/jc
