Under-20 marks fall in the United States and Namibia while Gainesville also witnesses impressive early-season results

Eliud Kipchoge was back in the news at the weekend with his NN Mission Marathon win but there was plenty of other top-class action on tracks around the world. To read about Kipchoge’s win, CLICK HERE

Namibian Championships, Windhoek, Namibia, April 17-18
Christine Mboma proved her 49.24 of the previous week was no fluke when she improved her 400m world lead and yet to be ratified world under-20 record with 49.22 at 1650m altitude. Fellow junior Beatrice Masilingi was second in 50.05 and then returned to win the 200m in a wind-assisted 22.38/2.7.

? 49.22 by 17yo Christine Mboma ?? + post race interview
Credit MYzone https://t.co/PvOzdCCFNa pic.twitter.com/LDLfVXaOXd

— PJ Vazel (@pjvazel) April 17, 2021

Waco, USA, April 16-17
Athing Mu front-ran to a highly impressive and controlled 1:57.73 two laps, leaving NCAA Indoor 800m champion Aaliyah Miller three seconds in arrears. Her world-leading time, which came with a 58-second last lap, gave her a North American and USA under-20 record which was also a US Collegiate record.

European indoor 400m bronze medallist Jodie Williams was second in the 200m in 23.23/1.9.

Still only 18, Athing Mu runs an 800m world lead and NCAA record of 1:57.73 in Waco. pic.twitter.com/4wcsGkcmY1

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 18, 2021

Kingston, Jamaica, April 17
European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes clocked a European lead in the 200m of 20.14/1.1. Rasheed Broadbell, only 20 years old, set a temporary world lead 13.15/-0.6 in the 110m hurdles. World 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the 200m in 22.66/-0.2 while Olympic double sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 100m in 11.21/0.0.

Tom Jones Memorial, Gainesville, Florida April 16-17
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn went equal seventh all-time at 100m hurdles with a Puerto Rican record 12.32. British athletes Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember followed her home three metres later with 12.62 Olympic qualifiers.

World champion Steven Gardiner easily took the 400m with 44.71, well clear of European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith’s 45.53.

Justin Gatlin won a top-class 100m in 9.98/1.4 just ahead of Andre De Grasse’s 9.99, Kenny Bednarek on 10.03 and world 200m champion Noah Lyles’ 10.08.

Even faster in the college 100m though was JoVaughn Martin, who improved his best from 10.40 to equal the world lead of 9.94.

Fred Kerley won the 200m in a 20.24/0.9 PB with under-18 Erriyon Knighton winning his race in 20.39/0.5.

Sha’Carri Richardson followed up her fast 100m of the previous week with a 200m win in 22.11/1.0.

World champion Grant Holloway clocked a world lead 13.07/1.3 in the 110m hurdles.

Olympic champion Christian Taylor won the triple jump with a modest 16.19m.

Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers beat Olympic champion Tianna Bartoletta (6.57m to 6.46m) in the long jump.

Bryan Clay Invitational Azusa, USA, April 16-17
Sydney McLaughlin produced a 12.92/0.2 100m hurdles and a 51.16 400m double within the space of an hour.

The sub-13 hurdles means she is the first athlete to break 13 seconds at 100m hurdles, 53 at 400m hurdles and 23 for 200m.

Her 400m PB is 50.07 so she could be on the edge of another barrier soon.

NCAA division two indoor mile champion James Young enjoyed a huge breakthrough in the 1500m with a seven-second PB and 3:37.72 win.

Sydney McLaughlin has become the first woman in history to break 13.00 for the 100m hurdles, 23.00 for 200m and 53.00 for the 400m hurdles. pic.twitter.com/TJj9P75kbM

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 17, 2021

Worthing Open Meeting, April 18
Multiple world and European masters hurdles champion Joe Appiah had a successful race debut in the M50 age group as his 13.98 victory broke the European record of 14.09 and the British mark of 14.34.

BMC 3km Road Races, Tameside Cycle Circuit, April 17
The BMC 3km road event saw wins for Kate Avery and Charlie Roberts.

Avery, the Commonwealth Games 10,000m fourth-placer, won the women’s race by 200 metres in a time of 9:31 as, 40 seconds later, under-20 Alyssa Davey won the battle for second in 10:11 and world masters track champion Zoe Doyle was fourth in 10:17.

Under-20 Roberts used his 1:52.65 800m speed to win in 8:26 narrowly ahead of Max Wharton’s 8:27.

South African Championships, Pretoria, South Africa, April 17
Olympic 400m champion Wayde Van Niekerk won the 200m in 20.38/0.1 after a 20.38/-1.4 semi final.

Akani Simbine won the 100m title in 9.99/0.2 after a wind-assisted 9.82/2.8 semi final. Tshepo Tshite won the 800m in 1:45.79.

Double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya won the 5000m in a PB of 15:52.28.

Australian Championships, Sydney, April 17-18
Nicola McDermott set an Australian high jump record with 2.00m.

This is how McDermott made history and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Just hear the eruption of noise from the crowd! pic.twitter.com/fBeM19pQNN

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 19, 2021

Jye Edwards set a big PB of 3:33.99 to record an Olympic qualifier in winning the 1500m, breaking the Tokyo mark for the first time and heading Stewart McSweyn’s 3:34.55.

Liz Clay won the 100m hurdles in 12.97 while Catriona Bisset (2:00.45) at 800m and Linden Hall at 1500m (4:07.56) who have done enough for Tokyo selection.

Pick of the sprints was Rohan Browning’s 10.09 100m win.

Former world champion Dani Stevens threw 62.74m to win her 14th Australian discus title while long jumper Brooke Stratton achieved a quality 6.84m victory.

Cambridge Harriers Open Graded 3000m Track Walks, Eltham, April 17
Under-20 George Wilkinson went top of the overall UK 3000m walk rankings with 12:52.32, his first sub-13 performance. Abigail Jennings went top of the women’s rankings with 14:41.41.

Loughborough Springs Throws, April 17
Lawrence Okoye continued his good form with a 64.83m discus win as Nick Percy finished second on 61.44m in a competition where the top five all threw over 58.95m.

Kirsty Law won the women’s discus with 57.30m, while Scott Lincoln was again over 20 metres in the shot with a 20.22m effort.

In the hammer, Chris Bennett narrowly beat Taylor Campbell 73.74m to 73.10m. Jessica Mayho was just half a metre from her PB in winning the women’s event with a 66.49m effort.

Daniel Bainbridge won the men’s javelin with a 72.71m PB while Freya Jones won the women’s event with a 54.58m throw.

Taia Tunstall achieved a Euro under-20 qualifier with a 51.05m discus throw – her first result over 50 metres.

North East Counties AA Open, Morpeth, April 18
The day before his 17th birthday, David Race went top of the UK under-20 outdoor 800m rankings with a 1:52.36 PB and victory.

EKU Rick Erdmann Twilight, Richmond, USA, April 16-17
Craig Nowak won the 3000m steeplechase in 8:21.49 in which Briton Jamaine Coleman was fourth in 8:31.96.

Fellow UK athlete Joe Ellis won the hammer with a 69.07m throw in his first hammer competition since 2019.

Virginia Challenge, Charlottesville, USA, April 16-17
European Indoor 3000m champion Amy-Eloise Markovc showed good speed to narrowly miss her 1500m PB with 4:09.52 in a race won by Josette Norris’s 4:07.35.

Eugene, USA, April 16-17
NCAA Indoor shot champion Turner Washington gained a 20.80m shot and 66.26m discus double.

Husker Big Ten Invitational, Prairie View, USA, April 16-17
European under-20 champion Joshua Zeller ran his fastest ever 110m hurdles time with a fourth-place 13.72 but he was narrowly denied a legal PB by the 2.2m/sec tailwind.

Baton Rouge, USA, April 16-17
The 200m world-leader Terrance Laird won the 100m in a PB 10.06/1.7.

Polish Marathon Championships, Debno, Poland, April 18
Arkadiusz Gardzielewski, with a 2:10:31 clocking, and Aleksandra Lisowska (2:26:08) both qualified for the Olympics with PB times. The latter’s mark equalled the Polish record. It was a high quality domestic event with the first three men and women inside the Olympic qualifying mark.

Almond Blossom Cross Country, Albufeira, PortugaL, April 18
The men’s 8km was won by Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo in 25:21. Ugandan Hosea Kiplagat (25:29) and Ireland’s Sean Tobin an excellent third in 25:38.

The women’s 6km was won by Ethiopian Likina Amebach in 22:42 from Spain´s Azucena Diaz (22:51).

Szombathely, Hungary, April 17
Janos Huszak improved his discus PB to 65.38m.

F3 Dorney Lake Run Series, Windsor, April 17
Oliver Carrington won the men’s 10km in 32:15.

Active Training World Cross-Country Series, Merchant Taylors School, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, April 17
Oliver Paulin ran the fastest time trial with a time of 29:05 while Amy Killick was the quickest woman with a 32:24 time.