Kingston (Jamaica) (AFP) – Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory as the opening leg of the new Grand Slam Track athletics circuit got under way in Jamaica on Friday. American track star McLaughlin-Levrone — racing in her signature event for the first time since winning gold at the Paris Olympics last year — romped home in 52.76sec at Kingston’s National Stadium. The 25-year-old, who will also race in Sunday’s 400m, was always in control and had opened a significant lead as she came off the final bend before pulling away to finish several meters clear of 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who was second in 54.59sec.
“You know, just shaking the cobwebs off,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after her first race of the year. “The first one always hurts, but happy to be here.” McLaughlin-Levrone is now in pole position to claim the $100,000 being offered to the athlete with the best combined result from the 400m hurdles and 400m. The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by US Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalising interest in track racing. The opening action of a series that has been billed as the dawn of a new era for the sport was played out in front of a mostly empty stadium.
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In other action on Friday, Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas was a similarly emphatic winner in her specialist race. The 28-year-old surged home in 22.62sec to finish well clear of Marileidy Paulino, the Dominican Republic’s Paris Olympics 400m gold medallist, who clocked 22.96sec. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was third in 22.96sec.
“It’s really exciting to be here,” Thomas said after her win.
– Competitive edge –
Thomas said the prize money offered by the circuit had created an unusually intense degree of competition for an early season event. “Normally, these early season meets we’re just practicing and feeling it out,” Thomas said. “Here…the stakes are high, the prize pot is huge and the level of competition is also really high. That’s not something that we’re really used to in our sport and I think it’s really good.”
In the men’s 100m, where Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles was a notable absentee, two-time Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek took victory in a thrilling duel with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville. US sprinter Bednarek took the tape in 10.07sec, with Seville second in 10.08sec. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was third in 10.13 while the USA’s Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion, was seventh in 10.30sec.
In other action on Friday, newly crowned world indoor 400m champion Chris Bailey continued his impressive start to the season with victory in the 400m in a time of 44.34sec, pipping Olympic silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, who was second in 44.65sec, with veteran US one-lap specialist Vernon Norwood third. The men’s 400m hurdles saw a win for Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos in a world-leading time of 47.61sec, with Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke second in 48.20 and Caleb Dean of the United States third in 48.58.
In the women’s 3,000m, Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye produced a devastating late kick to win in 8min 28.42sec ahead of Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich, with another Ethiopian Tsige Gebreselama third in 8:38.15. The women’s 800m saw a world-leading time from the USA’s Nikki Hiltz, the American record-holder in the mile who is better known as a 1,500m runner. Hiltz won in 1min 58.23sec, with Diribe Welteji second in 1:58.29 and Australia’s Jessica Hull third in 1:58.58. Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the reigning world champion, finished last in 2:00.97. American runners meanwhile claimed a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 5,000m, with Grant Fisher winning in 14min 39.14sec.
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