First Day In China Begins With Five Finals; Chase Jackson Third In Shot Put; Taliyah Books Wins First Global Medal In Pentathlon

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos by Guillaume Laurent

Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu won the 60 meters to lead a multicontinental podium Friday on Day 1 of the World Athletics Indoor Championships at Nanjing, China.

Elsewhere, two women, shot putter Chase Jackson and pentathlete Taliyah Brooks, won the United States’ first two medals.

Azu finished first in 6.49 seconds. Australian’s Lachlan Kennedy took silver in 6.50 and South  Africa’s Akani Simbine bronze in 6.54.

Ronnie Baker, 31, trying to make a global podium for the first time since 2018, grabbed his hamstring a couple of steps from the finish as he was straining to make top three. The U.S. champion finished sixth in 6.59. He had run the fastest of three semifinals, 6.51.

Puerto Rico’s Eloy Benitez, a semifinal winner in 6.52, started poorly, stumbled and fell midway through the race.

It was a long-awaited first individual medal for Simbine, 31, who had finished in the top five of the 100 meters at six global championships.

Allowance of outdoor times to qualify led to a more diverse podium. Kennedy and Simbine, both in the southern hemisphere, customarily would not have raced at indoor worlds.

“Just because we're so far away from everyone doesn't mean we ain't got what it takes to compete with the world's best,” Kennedy said.

Azu, 23, was born in the Netherlands, and raised in Wales. He is of Ghanaian descent.

He is coming off a European 60-meter title but said he wasn’t sure he would race indoors this season because of injuries and a coaching change. He also became a father recently.

“That scream was just that, a relief, a scream of joy, a scream of happiness and emotion,” Azu said.

Two other Americans, Ray Wells and Coby Hilton, were eliminated in heats and semifinals, respectively.

In another final, Canada’s Sarah Mitton repeated as champion in a women’s shot put competition in which all three medalists exceeded 20 meters. That had not happened since 1991.

Mitton had the three longest throws, topped by a distance of 67 feet, 2.25 inches (20.48m) in the last round.

“Showing little girls out there what we can do is a big part of me stepping into my role model era,” Mitton said. “Five years ago, I never thought I'd be here. I don't have the ideal body image of what a shot put winner used to look like, and I think that's changing.”

Jessica Schilders of the Netherlands won silver at 65-10.25 (20.07m), one centimeter ahead of Jackson, 65-9.75 (20.06m). It was the third straight indoor podium for Jackson, who raised the American record to 66-5 (20.24m) last month.

In the pentathlon, Finland’s Saga Vanninen took gold with 4.821 points after finishing second last year at Glasgow, Scotland. Ireland’s Kate O’Connor was silver medalist with 4,472. They were first and third, respectively, at the European Championships.

O’Connor is the first Irish athlete to win a global medal in combined events.

Brooks, competing in her first pentathlon since 2018, took bronze with 4,669 points. At age 30, this was her first global medal.

She won the 60 hurdles in 8.09, placed second in the long jump at 20-10 (6.35m) and was fifth in the shot put with a personal best of 47-2.5 (14.39m).

“I was really happy with my shot put, my jumps were not as good as I would have wanted them to be, but it was a long travel with time change,” Brooks said. “So during the long jump I started to get sleepy, and at 9.15 p.m., running 800 meters was hard for me. I am glad it's over, that I finished the five events.”

An American barely out of the medals was high jumper Eli Kosiba, fourth at 7-5.75 (2.28m). Kosiba won the NCAA Division 2 title for Grand Valley State a week ago at Indianapolis. Kosiba, of Rensselaer, Ind., has improved a foot since high school.

South Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok, the 2022 champion, took gold with a jump of 7-7  (2.31m). Olympic gold medalist Hamish Kerr of New Zealand and Raymond Richards of Jamaica took silver and bronze, respectively, also at 7-5.75.

Andy Diaz Hernandez, the Olympic bronze medalist, was the first gold medalist of the championships. The Cuban-born triple jumper from Italy won with an opening distance of 58-4.75 (17.80m). Americans Russell Robinson and Will Claye were eighth and 10th, respectively.

Heats roundup: USA men 1-2-3 in 400

 Men

>> 400 meters: World leader Chris Bailey won his heat (45.70) and semifinal (45.91). Canada’s Christopher Morales-Williams, whose apparent world indoor record last year was invalidated on a technicality, was third in Bailey’s semifinal in 46.62 . Americans took three of the six final slots, with Brian Faust (45.89) and Jacory Patterson (also 45.89)  running 1-2 in the other semifinal. Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel, the NCAA runner-up for Baylor, was on the entry list but did not start.

>> 800 meters: World leader Josh Hoey, an American making his debut at a senior global championship, won a heat in 1:48.14. Top two times were in the same heat, 1:46.07 by Yanis Meziane of France and Brandon Miller in 1:46.47.

>> 1,500 meters: Jakob Ingebrigssten took the first step toward a 1,500/3,000 double. The 24-year-old Norwegian hung at the back until blasting his closing 200 in 25.64, winning a heat in 3:39.80. Nearly as impressive was Luke Hauser, whose last 200 of 26.68 made him a heat winner in 3:41.16. “I race to win every race, so I’ll be going for gold,” Hauser said. The other American, Sam Prakel, made the final out of a fast first heat. Britain’s Neil Gourley was first in 3:36.60 and Prakel second in 3:36.93.

Women

>> 400 meters: Great Britain’s Amber Anning, an NCAA champion at Arkansas, had the fastest semifinal (50.79). Both Americans, 2024 bronze medalist Alexis Holmes (51.67) and Rosey Effiong (52.13), made the final.

>> 800 meters:  Both Americans, Nia Akins and Valery Tobias, advanced to semifinals. Akins had the top time, 2:03.29. Denmark’s Wilma Neilsen, coming off an NCAA mile title for Oregon, was sixth in a heat in 2:04.97 and was eliminated.

>> 1,500 meters: Global medalists Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia (4:11.87), Georgia Hunter Bell of Great Britain (4:09.21) and Direbe Welteji of Ethiopia (4:12.25) were winners in the heats, in which top three advanced and no time qualifiers. Tsegay is the  world indoor record-holder. Also advancing were both Americans,  Sinclaire Johnson and Heather MacLean, along with former Oregon collegian Susan Ejore of Kenya. Among those eliminated were former NCAA champion Maia Ramsden of New Zealand and Washington collegian Sophie O’Sullivan of Ireland.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.