OSTRAVA: Norway’s Karsten Warholm came up just short again in his latest bid to claim Kevin Young’s 28-year old world record in the 400-metre hurdles as a light breeze and late stutter blew him off course at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on Tuesday.

The double world champion missed his chance for Olympic glory this year with the postponement of the Tokyo Games so instead has focused on the long-standing world record — getting within a tenth of a second of it in Stockholm two weeks ago.

He had announced his intention to have another go on Tuesday and though he won easily, his 47.62 seconds time was almost a second off American Young’s mark of 46.78 set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

The meet organisers brought Warholm’s event forward by 90 minutes due to concerns over increasing wind but it was still a touch breezy, a condition that affected his performance.

One woman who never has to worry about a lack of concentration is Britain’s Laura Muir, who led the women’s 800m from 300m out to finish well clear in 1:58.84.

Jake Wightman, who two weeks ago became the second-fastest Briton behind Mo Farah in the 1,500m, delivered a perfectly judged late surge to win the men’s 800 in a personal best time of 1:44.18 to complete a British double.

There was also the unusual sight of some of the world’s top sprinters going over 150 metres. Ivorian Arthur Cisse won the men’s event in 15.15 seconds, while Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers won the women’s race in 16.56.

Her compatriot Sifan Hassan showed no signs of fatigue from the hour world record she set last week as she produced a roaring last lap to win the 5,000 in 14:37.85. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo used the same tactics to win the men’s race in 12:48.63.

Elsewhere, two-time Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor cleared a world-leading 17.46 metres in his final jump, beating Fabrice Zango Hugues by four centimetres.

In men’s pole vault, Ernest John Obiena from the Philippines stole the show from the likes of Renaud Lavillenie, Sam Kendricks and Thiago Braz, taking the honours for 5.74 metres.

Kenyan reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon ran 1,500 metres in three minutes 59.05 seconds, becoming the second woman this year to go under four minutes.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2020