Exciting showdowns tempered as a result of rainy, windy conditions throughout meet; Asher-Smith and Bednarek win sprint showcases, Ingebrigtsen and Muir triumph in 1,500 races, with Kendricks taking pole vault, Dongmo shot put

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

When the men’s pole vault world record holder clears only 18 feet, 2.50 inches (5.55m) and the most dominant women’s high jumper of the past seven years only manages a 6-2 (1.88m) clearance, it only begins to illustrate how demanding the weather conditions were Sunday for the opening Wanda Diamond League event with the Muller Grand Prix in Gateshead, England.

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Sweden managed to clear only two heights in the pole vault, before being outlasted during a rainy, windy competition by American Sam Kendricks, who cleared 18-10 (5.74m) on his second attempt.

Mariya Lasitskene, an authorized neutral athlete from Russia competing in her second outdoor meet in three days, placed fourth in the high jump, tied with two other athletes at 6-2.

Poland’s Kamila Licwinko cleared 6-3.25 (1.91m) on her first attempt, edging Great Britain’s Emily Borthwick, who placed second after making the height on her third opportunity.

The highly anticipated sprint matchups were overshadowed by strong headwinds, as British athlete Dina Asher-Smith prevailed in the women’s 100-meter dash in 11.35, followed by American Sha’Carri Richardson (11.44), Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee’ Ta Lou (11.48) and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (11.51).

American Kenny Bednarek earned a victory in the men’s 200 in 20.33, with Canadian athletes Aaron Brown (20.79) and Andre De Grasse (20.85), along with Vernon Norwood of the U.S. (20.95) the only other competitors to run under 21 seconds.

Both races had headwinds of at least -3.0 m/s.

The men’s 1,500 showcased an exciting final lap, with Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen winning in 3:36.27, holding off Australian athletes Oliver Hoare (3:36.58) and Stewart McSweyn (3:37.32).

Scottish standout Laura Muir pulled away from the field in the second half of the women’s 1,500, clocking 4:03.73, ahead of Morocco’s Rababe Arafi (4:07.73) and British competitor Katie Snowden (4:08.92).

Spain’s Mohamed Katir produced a personal-best 13:08.52 to win the men’s 5,000 and elevate to No. 9 in the world this year. Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli clocked 13:10.11 to ascend to No. 10 among global competitors this season.

American Hillary Bor triumphed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:30.20, ahead of Kenya’s Leonard Kipkemoi Bett (8:31.52). Bor has already run 8:22.55 on April 23 at the USATF Grand Prix at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field in Eugene.

British competitor Cindy Sember clocked 13.28 into a -3.9 m/s headwind to win the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Hungary’s Luca Kozak placed second in 13.37.

American Kendall Ellis held off Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson in the women’s 400 by a 51.86 to 51.96 margin.

Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen earned a victory in the women’s 400 hurdles in 56.32, with British athlete Jessica Turner taking second in 56.56.

Despite the inclement weather, there were some promising performances in other field events, with Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo ascending to No. 8 in the world this year with a fourth-round mark of 62-7.25 (19.08m) in the shot put.

Although American Maggie Ewen produced a better performance in the first three rounds than Danniel Thomas-Dodd by a 60-10 (18.54m) to 60-6.75 (18.46m) margin, the Jamaica athlete placed second overall based on a stronger effort in the final three rounds.

Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts achieved a wind-legal 47-3 (14.40m) mark in the third round of the triple jump, then added a wind-aided effort of 46-10.75 (14.29m) with her final attempt to prevail against Portugal’s Patricia Mamona, who jumped a wind-aided 47-1.75 (14.37m) in the first round.

American record holder Keturah Orji was fifth overall with a wind-aided performance of 45-9.75 (13.96m) on her opening attempt.

Orji is No. 3 in the world this year at 48-11.50 (14.92m) and Ricketts is fourth at 48 feet (14.63m), both chasing Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas, who produced the second-best mark in triple jump history Saturday with a 50-7.50 (15.43m) in Andujar, Spain.

After Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle took a 26-3 (8.00m) long jump into the final round, Italy’s Filippo Randazzo and Spain’s Eusebio Caceres both moved ahead in the standings with their sixth attempts.

Randazzo had a wind-aided effort of 26-7.25 (8.11m) to triumph against Caceres and his wind-legal mark of 26-4.50 (8.04m).

Poland’s Marcin Krukowski won the javelin with a fourth-round throw of 271 feet (82.61m) to elevate to the No. 12 competitor in the world this year.