Sandi Morris Defends World Indoor Title With Third Attempt Make At 4.80m (15-9), Olympic Champion Katie Nageotte Takes Silver

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Out of 15 medals won so far by the U.S. track and field team at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, only one is gold and it belongs to Sandi Morris. 

The pole vaulter made 15-9 (4.80m) on her third try to separate herself from training partner and American teammate Katie Nageotte and Slovakia's Tina Sutej, who cleared 15-7 (4.75m), but both missed three times at the championship height. 

Morris, who was unable to compete for a medal in Tokyo last summer because she was hurt, repeated as the World Indoor champion four years after winning in Birmingham, England. She also has four silver medals at global indoor and outdoor championships. 

Ryan Crouser, two-time Olympic champion and world record holder in the men's shot put, endured a rare defeat and took the silver behind Brazil's Darlan Romani, who broke the meet record with 73-11 (22.53m) on his third attempt. 

Crouser threw his best mark on his first attempt, 73-7.50 (22.44m) but came up uncharacteristically short after that. 

Romani, who threw his indoor best and won his first global medal after taking fourth on three previous occasions, last beat Crouser at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. in 2019. That time, he threw a personal best 74-2.25 (22.61m). 

New Zealand's Tom Walsh threw a national record 73-2.50 (22.31m) on his sixth attempt to hold onto the bronze. 

In one of the most highly anticipated competitions of the meet, Italy's Olympic 100-meter champion, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, took the measure of Americans Christian Coleman and Marvin Bracy and beat them in the 60-meter dash. 

It was a photo finish for Jacobs and Coleman, who missed last year's Olympics due to a suspension. Both were timed in world-leading marks of 6.41, but Jacobs was declared the winner by three-thousandths of a second. 

Bracy got the bronze with 6.44 -- the fastest third-place time in history. 

In the men's 800 meters, Bryce Hoppel (1:46.51) ran to a bronze medal behind Spain's Mariano Garcia (1:46.20) and Kenya's Noah Kibet (1:46.35). 

Trevor Bassitt of NCAA Division 2 Ashland (Ohio) ran a lifetime-best 45.05 in the men's 400 final but got edged out by Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards, who won the race to the break and then held off Bassitt's attempts to pass and won in 45.00. 

In another big matchup, Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas beat The Netherlands' Femke Bol for the women's 400-meter crown, 50.31 seconds to 50.51.

Gabriele Cunningham took home bronze in the women's 60-meter hurdles final. She finished behind France's Cyrena Samba-Bayela (7.78) and Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas (7.81), who both broke national records. Cunningham ran 7.87. 

Canadian Damian Warner, the Olympic decathlon champion, won the men's heptathlon by 126 points over Simon Ehammer of Switzerland. Warner won three of the seven events and finished with 6,489 points. 

American Steven Bastien was sixth with 6,074 points and earned the most points in the 1,000 meters. 

Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay ran a championship record to win the women's 1,500 meters, clocking 3:57.19 for a big win over teammates Axumawit Embaye (4:02.99) and Hirut Meshesha (4:03.39).

American Josette Norris finished fifth in 4:04.71 in her first global final.