World 200m champion comes close to the UK 60m record, while Renaud Lavillenie and Elliot Giles also secure success

Dina Asher-Smith got her first indoor season in three years off to a strong start as she equalled her PB with a world-leading time of 7.08 to win the 60m at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on Friday (January 29).

After winning her heat in a very comfortable looking 7.11, the world 200m champion went even closer to Asha Philip’s British record of 7.06 one hour later, finishing clear ahead of the rest of the field at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold-level meeting.

France’s Orlann Ombissa-Dzangue came close to her PB with 7.16 in second, while Switzerland’s Ajla del Ponte matched her own PB of 7.17 in third. Germany’s Lisa Mayer was fourth in 7.21 and Philip fifth in 7.22.

Asher-Smith’s performance certainly bodes well as she later explained how she feels she still has some race sharpening to do, having previously not competed in an international event since the 2019 world championships in Doha.

“I was really, really happy with today,” said Asher-Smith, who next races in Düsseldorf on Sunday. “Obviously it has been a very strange year for us all and it has been quite a long time since I competed on the international stage, so I wasn’t quite knowing what to expect today.

“But to open with I think my fastest openers ever and equalling my PB is really good.

“I have been working really hard at training and I was happy to see some of those elements come through.

“I am really happy and I am really excited for whatever the next races bring.”

On any race rustiness after her 15 months away from high-level competition, she added: “I do actually think I probably have got a little bit more sharpening up to do. I wasn’t really scared (about returning to competition), I was more excited because it has been so long and I love racing, I love track and field, I love sprinting, it’s what I’m good at and it’s what I have enjoyed since I was a little girl. I was just really excited to get started.”

The 25-year-old looks set to target the European Indoor Championships as part of a full indoor season and when asked how important the indoor season is ahead of the outdoors, she replied: “It is really important this year, more than ever, because personally we have missed a whole year of high-level competition so me and my coach and my team, we all made sure that we wanted to focus on the 2021 indoor season. Mainly to make sure that we were race sharp going into Olympic outdoor season because whilst the world has been really weird we still can’t forget that we have got the biggest prize in track and field up for grabs this year so you have to get ready properly.”

READ MORE: Dina Asher-Smith eyes European Indoors

A number of other athletes also impressed on their season’s debuts in Karlsruhe, with Asher-Smith’s fellow Briton Elliot Giles running a world-leading 1:45.5, just off his indoor PB, to win the 800m after a strong last lap. It was a clear victory ahead of France’s Benjamin Robert with 1:46.3 and 2017 world champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, who ran 1:46.4. The results appear to have been hand-timed due to a technical issue, with Giles’ run momentarily flashing up as a world record.

Kenya’s world 3000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech also set a world lead to win the 3000m in 8:41.98 ahead of Ethiopia’s Fantu Worku with 8:42.22 and Britain’s European indoor bronze medallist Melissa Courtney-Bryant with 8:42.41.

Kenya’s world indoor bronze medallist Bethwell Birgen ran an indoor PB of 7:34.12, for another world lead, ahead of Spain’s Mohamed Katir with 7:35.29 and France’s Jimmy Gressier with 7:39.70.

In fourth, Andrew Butchart improved his Scottish record with 7:40.85 which strengthens his place at No.2 on the UK indoor all-time list behind Mo Farah.

The meeting had got off to an exciting start with the top three in the women’s shot put all setting indoor PBs. In the second round Auriol Dongmo threw a Portuguese and meeting record of 19.65m for an outright personal best and that secured her victory ahead of Sweden’s Fanny Roos with 18.64m.

Britain’s world finalist Sophie McKinna was a fine third, with her best mark of 18.46m just one of her five throws over 18 metres during the competition. Her previous indoor PB had been 17.97m and the performance strengthens her hold on third place all-time in the UK, with a distance which would have placed her seventh at the Rio Olympics.

Germany’s 2015 world champion Christina Schwanitz was fifth with 18.27m.

France’s former world pole vault record-holder Renaud Lavillenie picked up from where he left off at the StarPerche event in Bordeaux, where he matched his best ever season’s opener with 5.92m. This time he cleared a world-leading meeting record of 5.95m and called it a day after two attempts at 6 metres.

In the men’s long jump, world indoor long jump champion Juan Miguel Echevarria’s opening leap proved to be his best and he claimed victory with his world-leading 8.18m. His fellow Cuban Maykel Masso was second with an indoor PB of 8.08m.

There was further jumps success for Cuba in the women’s triple jump as Liadagmis Povea soared to a world-leading indoor PB of 14.54m, adding two centimetres to her previous indoor best.

Finland’s Nooralotta Neziri finished strongly in lane eight to win the women’s 60m hurdles final in a national record of 7.92, with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan second in 7.94. The men’s final was won by France’s 2015 European indoor bronze medallist Wilhem Belocian as he clocked 7.49 ahead of the USA’s Aaron Mallett with 7.59.

The women’s 1500m saw Germany’s Katharina Trost triumph as she ran an indoor world-leading 4:12.02 ahead of Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo with 4:12.36.

Germany’s Marvin Schlegel set an indoor PB of 46.61 to win the first men’s 400m final, while three-time world indoor champion Pavel Maslák again timed his finish to perfection in the second final, winning in 46.99.

Full results can be found here.

Photos by Andreas Arndt for Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe