Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet
Jefferson-Wooden set the world lead with her 10.73-second 100m dash. Photo: AFP
US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clocked a world-leading 10.73sec as she stormed to an emphatic victory in the 100m at the Philadelphia Grand Slam Track meeting.
The 24-year-old from South Carolina, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Paris Olympics last year, scorched home ahead of Tamari Davis, who was second in 11.03sec.
Thelma Davies was third in 11.14sec while Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas – beaten by Jefferson-Wooden in Saturday's 200m – was fourth.
Jefferson-Wooden's time vaults her into elite company as one of the 10 fastest women over 100m in history.
"It means everything, I've been working so hard for this," a delighted Jefferson-Wooden said afterwards.
"I've been learning so many new things about myself the way I go about training, the way I go about being disciplined, even when I'm not feeling my best, " she added. "It's just all coming together."
Jefferson-Wooden's time was only fractionally outside Julien Alfred's winning time in the 100m at the Olympics last year, and suggests the American will be one of the favourites for gold at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, provided she qualifies at next month's US trials in Eugene.
In other races on Sunday, Britain's Josh Kerr avenged his Olympic 1,500m defeat to Cole Hocker in a thrilling battle.
Hocker famously surged past Kerr to claim a shock victory in Paris last August at the Stade de France and take gold.
But on Sunday it was Kerr's turn to produce a decisive finish, storming past Hocker in the final few metres to win in 3min 34.44sec. (AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
2 hours ago
- RTHK
Duplantis sets new pole vault world record of 6.29m
Duplantis sets new pole vault world record of 6.29m Armand Duplantis celebrates after setting a new pole vault world record at 6.29m. Photo: AFP Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis bettered his pole vault world record by a centimetre, clearing 6.29 metres at the athletics meet in Budapest. Sweden's Duplantis broke the world record for the 13th time as he soared over the bar at the second attempt to improve on his 6.28m from Stockholm in June. It was the 25-year-old's third record of 2025 having also cleared 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand in February. Duplantis notched up his 33rd competition victory, clearing 6.11m on his first attempt to finish ahead of Greece's Emmanouil Karalis (6.02m) and Australia's Kurtis Marschall (5.83m). On his second attempt at 6.29m, Duplantis touched the bar with one leg and his stomach, but it held, and the jump was validated. Since Ukrainian Sergey Bubka became the first athlete to clear 6 metres on July 13, 1985 in Paris, the world record has been broken 26 times, including 12 times by Bubka, 13 times by Duplantis and once by Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie. The US-born Duplantis first broke the world record in 2020 with 6.17m. Duplantis is favourite for a third consecutive outdoor world title in a month's time in Tokyo. On the track, Jamaican sprinter Bryan Levell laid down a marker for those championships by posting the third quickest time this year to win the men's 200m. The 21-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at last year's Olympics, headed into the race with a season's best of 20.10. He pulled away from the field in the home straight to win in 19.69 to clock the third best time of the year behind the Americans Noah Lyles (19.63sec) and Kenneth Bednarek (19.67sec). Levell smashed Erriyon Knighton's meeting record by 0.19sec leaving South African veteran Wayde van Niekerk a distant runner-up in 20.07. Olympic bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga held off Jereem Richards and Khaleb McRae to win the men's 400m in a season's best of 44.11 while Laban Kipkorir Chepkwony, who finished fourth at Kenya's World Trials last month, won the men's 800m in a personal best of 1min 42.96sec, breaking David Rudisha's meeting record from 2016. Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce only managed a fourth-placed finish in the women's 100m as Ivorian sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou Smith held off Tina Clayton and world 200m champion Shericka Jackson. (AFP)
RTHK
2 hours ago
- RTHK
White House to host July 4 cage fight: UFC boss
White House to host July 4 cage fight: UFC boss The White House will be the unlikely venue for a mixed martial arts bout on July 4 next year, according to UFC boss Dana White. File photo: AFP The White House is to play host to a mixed martial arts bout on July 4 next year, the day the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, UFC boss Dana White said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has been a regular guest at the often-bloody contests, where fighters punch, kick and grapple with their opponent in a no-holds-barred battle to submission or knockout. Bringing the brutal combat sport to the centre of US political power will mark a historic first. "It is definitely going to happen," White, a high-profile supporter of the US president, told CBS television. "I talked to him last night – 'him' being the president – and I'm flying out there at the end of this month, and I'm going to sit down and walk him through all the plans and the renderings, and we're going to start deciding what he wants and doesn't want." Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest and most successful organisation in the burgeoning world of MMA, a blend of martial arts disciplines like jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, boxing and wrestling. White said the president's daughter would be involved in organising the Independence Day spectacle at the White House. "When (Trump) called me and asked me to do it, he said: 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'" White told CBS, whose parent company Paramount has just signed a US$7.7 billion streaming deal with UFC. White took over the UFC in 2001 when it was a small, loss-making organisation, shepherding it into one of the fastest-growing sports promotion companies in the world. The sport's popularity with young men – a key demographic in the 2024 US election – and Trump's long association with the UFC, have made the president a regular fixture at some of its more high-profile events, where he is greeted like a rock star. (AFP)
HKFP
10 hours ago
- HKFP
Italian athlete dies after collapsing during World Games in China
Italian orienteering athlete Mattia Debertolis died on Tuesday after being found unresponsive during competition at the World Games in China's Chengdu, organisers said. The 29-year-old was discovered unconscious during an orienteering event on August 8 and died four days later, said a joint statement from World Games organisers and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). The World Games are a multisport event held every four years for disciplines not included in the Olympics. 'Despite receiving immediate expert medical care at one of China's leading medical institutions, he passed away,' the statement said. It did not provide details on the cause of death. The event took place in intense heat and humidity, with temperatures above 30 degrees. Orienteering sees athletes navigate an unmarked course with a map and compass, punching in at designated spots along the route in the quickest time. Debertolis, from Primiero in eastern Italy, was taking part in the final of the men's middle-distance, the first medal event of the Games. The six-kilometre (3.7 miles) course featured 180 metres of ascent and 20 control points that athletes must visit. Footage from the World Games' social media accounts showed athletes running through crop fields and villages on a largely rural course. The winner, Switzerland's Riccardo Rancan, completed the course in 45 minutes and 22 seconds. 'I needed to acclimatise quickly with hot and humid conditions. I think I managed quite well,' Chinese state media quoted Rancan as saying. Debertolis was listed as 'Did Not Finish' in official results, along with 11 other athletes. Black armbands He was ranked 137th in the men's Orienteering World Rankings and had been competing since 2014, according to the IOF website. He participated in several World Championships and World Cups as part of the Italian team. Alongside his training, Debertolis was studying for a PhD at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he lived. President of the Italian Orienteering Federation (FISO), Alfio Giomi, invited the national team to wear black armbands while competing in the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships, which begin on Tuesday in Poland. Debertolis' family had agreed that 'athletes will be able to participate in the competitions in Mattia's name and memory', Giomi said in an online statement. World Games organisers and the IOF were 'struck by this tragedy and extend their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the athlete and the whole orienteering community', the joint statement read. 'Our thoughts are with those touched by this event.' Organisers will 'continue to support the family of Mattia Debertolis and the orienteering community in every possible way', it added. This is the 12th edition of the World Games and it runs until August 17, with approximately 4,000 athletes competing in 253 events.
