by Larry Eder
NANJING DAY 3
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Tom Walsh: “It’s been a while since I’ve been on top. It’s special, after the six or eight months off after Paris. Coming back from an injury and having a wee girl, many things have changed in my life. It’s awesome to be back on top, and good to know that the hard work is working. I must add at least a meter to 21.65 for Tokyo to be competitive. Because with the injury and all that, I’m probably three to four weeks behind where I normally am at this point of the season, and that’s ok. 22.50+ will be needed to beat the other guys in Tokyo. The challenge will be tough, but that’s why we do it. This generation of throwers, the same guys, have been throwing for 10 years. We’ve spent much time on the road and done many things, and we all appreciate how hard everyone works.”
RESULT OF THE DAY
Gudaf Tsegay ran a stunning solo race in the 1500m, running alone and very fast from the start. She clocked 2:03.44 in the 800m split and crossed the finish line in a championship record of 3:54.86, the fourth fastest short-track time ever (she also has three faster times), edging out her opponents by 4.5 seconds.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
23-year-old American Claire Bryant won the long jump World Indoor title in her first global competition, with a new personal best of 696. The previous best for the NCAA runner-up was 688 from 2023, and she also finished second at the US Indoor Championships earlier this year.
MEDALS (32 countries)
USA 6-4-6; NOR 3-0-1; ETH 2-3-0; GBR 2-1-1; ITA 2-1-0; AUS 1-2-4; SUI 1-2-1
POINTS (52 countries)
USA 175; AUS 55; ETH, CHN 44; ITA 42; JAM 41; GBR 38; SUI 33; NOR 32; POL 27
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes (5): Mitton, Duplantis, Holloway, Olyslagers, Charlton
No (6): Zango, H.Kerr, Caudery, Lafond, Duguma, Tentoglou
NC (15): Vidts, Coleman, St. Pierre, J.Kerr, Bol, Doom, Alfred, Davis-Woodhall, Ehammer (Hep), Beamish, F.Hailu (1500), Crouser, Hoppel, BEL (men), NED (women)
TOP MARKS
CR (1): 3:54.86 Tsegay
WL (3): 17.80 A.Díaz; 14.93 Pérez Hernández; 1:58.40 Sekgodiso
AR (2): 1 – Oceania, South America
AGENTS (individual titles)
3 – Daniel Wessfeldt; 1 – Jorge Luis Aguilera, Ayodeji Akande, René Auguin, Mario Bassani, Younghoon Chung, Florian Clivaz, Marc Corstjens, Caroline Feith, Ståle Jan Frøynes, Stina Funke, Merhawi Keflezighi, Eric Lilot, Olivier Mc Daniel, Yonas Mekonnon, Juan Pedro Pindeda de la Losa, John Regis, Henry Rolle, Hans Üürike, Mark Wetmore.
Not a known agent for Bryant; Vanninen does not have an agent.
STATS
W 4×400: fifth title for USA (5-5-5), second behind RUS; 5.91sec. Is the most significant difference between 3-4.
W800: 0.01sec. is the second smallest difference between 3-4 at WI; first medals for RSA (title) and POR.
W 1500: Tsegay’s 3:54.86 is a championship record (improving her previous best of 3:57.19 from 2022), Welteji’s 3:59.30 is the third fastest; best marks for places 1-4 and 6, second-best mark for places 5 and 7; second title for Tsegay, becoming the best at WI history (2-0-1); ETH is first in the country ranking (8-4-3).
W HJ: 197 is the second lowest winning height at WI; second title for Olysalgers, moving to tied second behind Kostadinova; third medal for Mahuchikh (1-1-1), second for Patterson (0-2-0).
W 60H: 0.02sec. is the second smallest difference between 1-3 at WI; best marks for places 2-6; second title for Charlton, moving to 1st (2-1-0) ahead of Ali and Jones; second title for BAH (2-1-0), moving to tied 2nd behind USA; Stark’s 7.72 is the equaled fastest semi-final time (equalling Charlton from 2024), and her 7.73 is the fastest 1st round time (previous was Harrison’s 7.77 from 2018).
W LJ: Second medal for Diame (0-0-2); sixth title for USA, moving to 1st (6-5-0) ahead of RUS; first medal for SUI.
M 4×400: Eleventh title for USA (11-2-0); JAM is second in the country ranking (2-3-2), the first medal for HUN.
M 800: Best marks for places 2-3, second best mark for place 4; 0.26sec. is the second smallest difference between 1-3; second medal for Crestan (0-1-1); fourth title for USA, moving to 1st (4-1-3) ahead of KEN.
M LJ: 1cm is the second smallest victory margin at WI, 2cm is the second most minor difference between 1-3; the second medals are for Furlani (1-1-0), and the first title is for ITA.
M SP: 3cm is the second smallest victory margin at WI; third title for Walsh. Moving to first all-time (3-1-2) ahead of Cantwell, USA is first in the country ranking (9-10-3), and NZL moved to second (3-1-2).
M 1500: Second medal for Ingebrigtsen (1-1-0); first title for NOR.
M Hep: Best mark for place 2 at WI; second medals for Skotheim (1-1-0) and Erm (0-1-1).
NANJING NEWS
NANJING (CHN): Fastest splits in the 4x400m relays. The top 3 among women are from the US team – Holmes (51.47), Effiong (51.65), and Lear (52.05). Among men, they are – Molnár/HUN (44.72), Bailey/USA (44.84), and Farquharson/JAM (45.41).
NANJING (CHN): The women’s 60m hurdles final produced a thrilling race of record depth. The top six were separated by just 0.04sec., and a time of sixth (7.76) would have been enough to win 15 of the past 20 editions of the World Indoors.
NANJING (CHN): Sunday’s national records: AUS (1500m short-track, Griffith 4:00.80), CHN (4x400m short-track, 3:06.90), HUN (4x400m short-track, 3:06.03), POL (60m hurdles, Skrzyszowska 7.74), POR (800m short-track, Silva 1:59.80), RSA (800m short-track, Sekgodiso 1:58.40), SUI (800m short-track, Werro 1:59.81).
