Andre De Grasse succeeded Usain Bolt as the men's 200 metres Olympic champion on a day Sydney McLaughlin broke new ground at Tokyo 2020.
Five years on from being tipped as the Jamaican legend's heir apparent after claiming silver over the same distance at Rio 2016, De Grasse went one better to clinch a first Olympic gold of his career.
Elsewhere there was a Kenya one-two in the men's 800m final, while Wojciech Nowicki celebrated success in the hammer.
Here's a round-up of the action from the athletics on Wednesday.
DE GRASSE MAKES GOOD ON RIO PROMISE
After pushing Bolt all the way in the 200m at Rio 2016, big things were expected of De Grasse but several injury woes in the intervening years stifled his progress a little.
But he has peaked at just the right time and has ultimately lived up to the billing. World champion Noah Lyles was electric out of the blocks, yet it was De Grasse who was lightning quick driving out of the bend.
With a time of 19.62 seconds, De Grasse ultimately held off the charge of Kenny Bednarek, who took silver for the United States ahead of countryman Lyles.
At the finish line there was a nice message from De Grasse, who told Lyles: "You push me man, you motivate me."
MCLAUGHLIN FOLLOWS WARHOLM LED
Just a day on from Karsten Warholm sensationally smashing the men's 400m hurdles world record, McLaughlin followed suit in the women's race.
Defending champion Dalilah Muhammad, who also ran under the previous WR time, was leading but was overtaken by McLaughlin on the finish straight – the American clocking a hugely impressive 51.46s.
"I saw Dalilah ahead of me with one to go. I just thought 'run your race'. The race doesn't really start until hurdle seven," she said.
In the women's 3000m steeplechase, Uganda's Peruth Chemutai claimed gold in a time of 9:01.45.
Courtney Frerichs had opened up a sizeable lead but Chemutai was closing by the final lap and passed her American rival on the back straight, safely negotiated the final obstacle and coasted over the line unchallenged with Frerichs taking second.
KORIR TAKES 800M GLORY, NOWICKI'S LIFETIME BEST DELIVERS GOLD
It was a Kenya one-two in the men's 800m, with Emmanuel Korir coming home in a time of 1:45.06 ahead of countryman Ferguson Rotich.
Peter Bol had taken on the pace but Korir made his move around the final bend. Bol ended up outside of the medal places with Poland's Patryk Dobek third.
In the men's hammer, Nowicki threw a whopping 82.52m to win the men's hammer. He followed up with three more throws over 81m.
The Pole had won bronze at the past four global championships and was third place at Rio 2016.
His compatriot Pawel Fajdek – a four-time world champion – finished third in his first Olympic final with an 81.53, with Norwegian Eivind Henriksen throwing a national record 81.58m to earn silver.
ELSEWHERE…
Grant Holloway, the overwhelming favourite in the men's 110m hurdles, qualified fastest for the final in 13.13, while Sifan Hassan – aiming to complete a 1500, 5000 and 10,000m treble at Tokyo 2020 – qualified for the final of the former event, having already won 5000m gold.
Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter leads the women's heptathlon through four events, although world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson had to withdraw after injuring her calf when running the 200m, and in the men's decathlon Canada's Damian Warner is in the gold-medal position after five.
Edwin Allen, Holmwood and Alphansus Davis through to High School Girls 4x800m final at Penn Relays
As the battles of high schools at the 128th staging of the Penn Relays got underway at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, Edwin Allen High, Alphansus Davis High and Holmwood Technical have advanced to the finals of the 4x800m relays.
The team of Rickeisha Simms, Monqie Stewart, Horecia Love and Tonian Allen clocked a time of 9:04.67 to win their heat and advance as one of the 12 fastest teams heading into the final. Purdue Academy were the runners up in the heat with a time of 9:09.66.
Third in the heat were IMG Academy that were timed in 9:12.13.
Meanwhile, Alphansus Davis High (Tabbrel Williams, Alikay Reynolds, Allecia Johnson, Carlene Temple) finished third in their heat in 9:06.25, a time that also saw them advance to the finals.
Their heat was won by Union Athletic who clocked 9:02.27, the fastest time heading into the finals. Second was Rumson Fair-Haven in 9:04.48.
Holmwood Technical (Terrica Clarke, Cindy Rose, Jovi Rose, Florence Nafamba) just managed to make it with their time of 9:18.65, which saw them finish second in their heat behind winners Guilderland (9:18.25).
Chris Gayle challenges Usain Bolt to race: “All Usain will be seeing is a lot of dust”
West Indian batting legend Chris Gayle has spoken about the time Jamaican spring king Usain Bolt got his wicket in a friendly game which led the hard-hitting batsman to challenge the sprinter to a race.
“Till this day, he’s still afraid of me. Doesn’t want to see me on a 100m track,” Gayle tells ICC in a new video released by cricket’s world governing body before breaking into a laugh.
“Of course, I’m a sprinter. All Usain Bolt will be seeing is a lot of dust and the Universe Boss just going down the stretch,” Gayle added.
In response, Bolt said “we all know Chris can’t run. We have seen him. We know Chris doesn’t do quick singles or anything. We’re not worried about Chris.”
Responding to this, Gayle said, “that’s a big lie. I run a lot of ones, twos, threes, you name it… sometimes even fours. So, Bolt, get your running spikes ready. And if you want to bring any other athlete along, you know, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, anybody. Somebody gonna come fourth. And it’s not me!”
Talking about Bolt taking his wicket, Gayle said that the incident had happened at a charity match where Bolt had bowled a “damn good bouncer” at him, following which he told himself to not hold back at the “fun game.”
“After the bouncer I said to myself, it’s a fun game. What am I doing? So, I start smashing him. Hit him for one or two sixes and probably for a few fours. Then, eventually, I get an inside edge onto the stumps,” said Gayle.
Gayle and Bolt are both ambassadors for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA from June 1-29.
Hughes targets Olympic glory; expects Racers Grand Prix to offer taste of potential Paris test
Winning a first global individual medal at last year’s World Championships whetted Zharnel Hughes’s appetite for more success, and so it comes as no surprise that the Anguillan-born Great Britain sprint sensation is strongly optimistic about clinching a medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
In fact, if Hughes’s confidence to top his performances from last year is anything to go by, then he could very well accomplish the feat, provided he maintains a clean bill of health throughout the season.
During last year’s electrifying campaign, which ended with his World Championships bronze in the men’s 100m final, Hughes broke Olympic champion Linford Christie’s 100m British national record when he clocked a personal best 9.83 seconds at the New York Grand Prix, in June.
A month later, at the UK Athletics Championship, Hughes ran a brisk 19.77s, which is faster than John Regis’s national 200m record, but the time was wind-aided and, as such, was recognised as a record. However, Hughes, with his superb form, inevitably established a new record when he clocked a wind-legal 19.73s at the London Diamond League.
With that in mind, coupled with his relentless work ethic and resolute pursuit of excellence, Hughes is poised to make another significant impact on the world stage this year. Whether or not it will be an Olympic gold medal triumph is left to be seen.
“It's the Olympic year, so obviously you want to better what you did last year. I'm happy with how last year turned out for me, and this year is very much more exciting. I'm preparing myself nicely. I'm feeling fit and ready to go. Obviously as an athlete, you want to lower your personal best every year, but unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't work out like that. But I'm definitely aiming to lower my personal best both in the 100m and 200m,” Hughes declared.
“I'm in good shape and I’m excited. I've definitely counted myself as one of them (athletes) to be reckoned with (for an Olympic gold medal). I'm never going to count myself out now because you've seen what happened last year, and I'm excited to top my performance from last year,” he added.
Though he 48.25s in a 400m run in February, followed by a 20.40s-clocking in March, the 28-year-old pointed out that he is yet to really hit top gear in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, but is aiming to do so at the sixth edition of the Racers Grand Prix, on June 1, at Jamaica's National Stadium.
At the Racers Grand Prix, Hughes will line up alongside Racers Track Club teammate Oblique Seville and American World champion Noah Lyles in the 100m, which he considers a good prelude for what could come at the Paris Games.
“I'm looking forward to it, I was listening for who was going to be there; Oblique and I have been training pretty good and I know both of us representing coach Glen Mills, will be bringing it on the day. So, I look forward to who's in the field, especially with Lyles being there,” Hughes said.
“This race is to get you prepared for what's to come later in the summer. So, to have great competition like that at the Racers Grand Prix is just a great indicator to see where we're at, and what we can tweak going into our national trials, because my trials will be the latter part of June. So, for me, I'm looking forward to this race and the following week I'll have the European Championships as well. So, it'll be a great indicator for me,” he shared.
Working tirelessly under the watchful eyes of decorated coach Mills, Hughes, a four-time European Champion, has upped the ante in the gym to improve his strength, as he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for Olympic glory.
“My training has been going tremendously well. I'm excited to open up properly (at Racers Grand Prix) because my first race wasn't so good because I had a little niggle, but I've overcome that now and I'm very excited to see what's there. I've worked on my strength a lot, physically, I'm a lot stronger and I just want to keep on top of my mental health as well,” Hughes revealed.
“Those things are very crucial going into an Olympic year, so you have to be very focused. You have to ensure that your body is properly fit as well in order to go there to give the best that you're looking for. So, I'm pretty sharp on keeping my mental focus up and ensuring that I'm properly recovered,” he ended.
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