McLaughlin-Levrone impresses in 100m debut in Philadelphia
The American four-time Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles, accustomed to dominating the one-lap event, found herself beaten by Jamaica's Ackera Nugent, who won in 11.11 seconds.
Nugent's victory completed a weekend double, securing the women's short hurdles group with a perfect 24 points following her success in Saturday's 100 metres hurdles.
American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden scorched the track with a blistering time of 10.73 seconds in the 100 metres, cementing her victory in the short sprints group with 24 points after her 200 metres triumph on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino dominated the women's long sprints group with 24 points, having won the 200 metres in 22.46 seconds.
Britain's Lina Nielsen also shone, capturing the 400 metres hurdles in 52.60 seconds, while Etiopia Diribe Welteji secured victory in the 800 metres in 1:58.94.
In the men's events, American Kenny Bednarek shaved one-hundredth of a second off his personal best in the 100 metres, finishing in 9.86 seconds and took the short sprints group getting 24 points.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr from Britain beat gold medallist Cole Hocker by just seven-hundredths of a second in a thrilling 1500 metres race, finishing in 3:34.44.
American Trevor Bassitt provided late drama in the 400 metres hurdles, outduelling Alison dos Santos and Chris Robinson to win in 45.47 seconds. He also won the men's long hurdles group with 20 points.
There were also wins for Americans Trey Cunningham in the short hurdles group 100 metres with a time of 10.36 seconds and Nico Young in the men's 3000 metres in his first Grand Slam Track appearance, while Dominican Alexander Ogando took the men's 200 metres with a time of 20.13 seconds.
The Grand Slam Track season will conclude with its fourth meeting in Los Angeles on June 27-29.
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
A ‘wake-up call': National coach Gary Tan on Singapore swimmers' performances at WCH 2025
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Gary Tan rates the Singapore swimmers' campaign at the WCH as a "soft" seven out of 10. SINGAPORE – With three national records in two days as well as a final berth on home soil, distance swimmer Gan Ching Hwee shone at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) in Singapore. The 22-year-old's performance , however, was a rare bright spot for the hosts. No one else from the 16-member Singapore swimming team reached the semi-finals at the WCH Arena, with national coach and performance director Gary Tan labelling it a 'good wake-up call' for the rest. Rating the campaign a 'soft' seven out of 10, he told The Straits Times on Aug 3: 'Could we have seen more semi-finalists? We definitely had more semi-finalists in Doha (2024 WCH) and an Olympic qualifier. This time, we only had one girl in the finals and no semi-finalists.' Swatting away suggestions that the swimmers were focusing on the year-end SEA Games instead, Tan said: 'We were gunning for this. We did whatever we could in our best capacity to prepare them in the best way possible. 'But again, swimming is like this. There will always be days that you'll fall short, and unfortunately it had to happen in Singapore when we missed out on maybe three or four chances to make evening swims.' At the 2024 WCH in Doha, the women's 4x100m medley relay team comprising two pairs of sisters – Quah Ting Wen and Jing Wen as well as Letitia and Levenia Sim – set a national record in the heats to clinch a historic qualification for the Paris Olympics. Letitia (200m medley, 100m and 200m breaststroke), Teong Tzen Wei (50m butterfly) and Jing Wen (200m fly) also reached the semi-finals. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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At the 2025 WCH, Gan won her 400m free heat and finished 13th overall in 4min 9.81sec to break Lynette Lim's record of 4:11.24 set in 2009. A day later, she smashed two more national records and clinched a spot in the 1,500m free final to become the first female Singapore swimmer to compete in a world championship final since Tao Li finished seventh in the 50m fly in 2007. Her time of 16:01.29 in the heats was almost nine seconds under the 16:10.13 she swam in the 2024 Olympics heats, while her front 800m split of 8:29.93 was also a national record – her previous best at Paris 2024 was 8:32.37. Gan finished seventh in 16:03.51 in the final, which was won by American legend Katie Ledecky. In the 800m free heats, she clocked 8:31.36 to finish 13th out of 30 overall. Gan Ching Hwee clocked 8:31.36 in the 800m free heats to finish 13th out of 30 overall. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Tan noted that Gan had prepared for the meet with a clear, year-long plan and others were also preparing, but without the same clarity or intensity which was needed post-Olympics, as performance standards have shifted. Reaching the final now required not just hard work, but a willingness to push beyond limits. 'Hopefully her swim will inspire the others to say 'we can do that as well', but I think they needed a good wake-up (call),' he added. 'This is a good wake-up call for us going into SEA Games and Asian Games because, to be frank, if the others apart from Ching are happy with that performance... we would have lost the plot. 'But I know for a fact that all of them have gone back and really thought about it and reflected about how well they need to be... they are actually having a bit more clarity as to what they need to do.' Besides Gan, Quah Zheng Wen has also shown some form, coming close to all three of his national backstroke records. On Aug 2, the 28-year-old clocked his best (25.38sec) in the men's 50m since setting the national record of 25.13 in 2015. In the 100m, he registered 54.39sec, 0.6 of a second off his national record of 53.79sec. In the 200m back, his 2:00.58 effort was also within a second of the 1:59.49 national record he set in 2017. Quah Zheng Wen came close to all three of his national backstroke records. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO There were some who struggled with injuries or mental blocks. Tan noted that Teong – who recorded 23.38sec in the 50m fly heats, some way off his 21.97 national record – was still dealing with an elbow issue. Letitia, who clocked 2:27.91 in her 200m breaststroke heat – more than three seconds behind her 2:24.15 national record – mentioned that she was experiencing mental blocks and self-doubt. Calling on swimmers and coaches to heed the lessons from the 2025 WCH, Tan said the fraternity needs to 'work harder, work smarter, work more efficiently and intentfully' ahead of the next big assignments – the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand and the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. 'I think we are going to go back as a coaching group, to really reassess how to get them better,' said Tan. 'We still didn't perform up to the mark that I wanted them to, and at the end of the day, our saving grace was Ching.' The 2025 WCH saw Singapore field a 72-strong contingent, their largest at the world meet . Besides the 16 swimmers, there were also 10 divers, nine artistic swimmers, eight open water swimmers, and the men and women's water polo squads. Singapore Aquatics president Kenneth Goh said he was proud of how the Singapore contingent performed on home soil and noted that there were milestones across disciplines. He highlighted Gan's campaign, how the open water swimmers finished as South-east Asia's top performers, 14-year-old Ainslee Kwang becoming the first Singaporean diver to qualify for the WCH semi-finals , the artistic swimming duet team finishing 14th with a new personal best, and the men's water polo team beating South Africa to secure their maiden victory on the world stage. Goh added that while these breakthrough moments were savoured, 'we would have liked to have more personal bests and new national records to celebrate'. He added: 'These championships reinforced that sustained success comes from building depth and resilience over the long term. We will continue to strengthen access to world-class coaching, sport science and technical expertise across all disciplines. 'The right competition exposure is critical, and our athletes need regular opportunities to compete and spar against top-tier opponents so that competing at that level becomes normalised.'
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell book world championship berths at US trials
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (left) stormed to victory in the 400m while Masai Russell delivered a flawless performance in the 100m hurdles. – Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell produced convincing wins at the US Track and Field Championships in Oregon on Aug 2 to punch their tickets to the World Athletics Championships. McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and golden girl of American track, stormed to victory in the 400m flat as she targets a new world title at Tokyo in September. Russell, the Olympic 100m hurdles champion, was similarly impressive, with a flawless victory in 12.22 seconds at Eugene's Hayward Field. But, while Paris Olympics gold medallists McLaughlin-Levrone and Russell delivered, there was an upset in the men's 1,500m, where Olympic champion Cole Hocker finished third. McLaughlin-Levrone signalled she could well be in the hunt for gold in Tokyo after blasting to victory in 48.90sec, taking the tape ahead of Isabella Whittaker (49.59) and Aaliyah Butler (49.91). 'I felt like this is the year I wanted to step out of the box and really push myself in a different way,' McLaughlin-Levrone said of her decision to switch to the 400m flat. 'Obviously it's uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I'm committed to it,' she said to AFP. 'Just excited to see where I can push myself.' Russell, who achieved a breakthrough major title with gold at Paris 2024, will be the woman to beat in Tokyo on the evidence of Aug 2. The 25-year-old executed flawlessly to come home ahead of Grace Stark (12.31) and Alaysha Johnson (12.36). Russell started this season in prime form, clocking a US record 12.17sec in May before an ankle injury threatened to derail her season. However, she looked back to her best on Aug 2. 'I could have shut down my season two months ago when I couldn't walk,' Russell said. 'But I was like 'this is the goal'. 'Winning the Olympics put a little bit more pressure on me. Because I feel I have a standard to uphold. 'People expect something from the reigning Olympic champion.' A thrilling battle in the men's 1,500m saw Olympic champion Hocker upstaged by the Kenyan-born Jonah Koech. Hocker found himself boxed in with 200m to go and, despite a strong finishing kick, was unable to reel in Koech and second-placed Ethan Strand. Koech won in 3min 30.17sec, ahead of Strand in 3:30.25. Hocker was third in 3:30.37. 'Winning was not the No. 1 priority today, but I'm not gonna lie – it always stinks a little not to,' Hocker said. 'I think if today was a world final, I'd have run that race a lot differently. 'In the back of my head today, above all, above winning was to move on and get top three.' Elsewhere, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into the Aug 3 final with a comfortable victory in the heats. Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into the Aug 3 final with a comfortable victory in the heats. PHOTO: AFP Benjamin never looked in danger on his way to winning his heat in 47.45sec, the fastest time of qualifying. In the men's 400m, Jacory Patterson advanced to Tokyo with a win in 44.16sec, the latest milestone of his fairy-tale journey to elite sprinting. The 25-year-old juggled his track career with a job working an overnight shift loading delivery trucks for UPS until recently, working his final shift in June. 'I'm waiting for someone to pinch me,' Patterson said afterwards. 'I don't know, it just feels like a dream.' AFP
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Straits Times
Gretchen Walsh blocks out criticism of US team's performance at world championships
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Gretchen Walsh after winning the 50 metres butterfly title on Aug 2 to add to her 100m crown at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. SINGAPORE – Gretchen Walsh admits she struggles to understand the flak being directed at the US team over their performance at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and said the swimmers have been competing under extremely difficult circumstances. The United States team were hit by an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis during a training camp in Thailand just before the championships, with several swimmers travelling late to Singapore and other having to pull out of events. On Aug 1, six-gold Olympic champion Ryan Lochte shared an image on social media of a tombstone with the inscription: "In loving memory of United States Swimming. They set the bar high – until they stopped reaching for it." He also added a caption referencing the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, saying: 'Call it a funeral or call it a fresh start. We've got 3 years.' US swimming great Michael Phelps then shared Lochte's post and added: 'Is this the wake-up call USA Swimming needed?' Asked about the criticism Walsh, who won the 50 metres butterfly title on Aug 2 to add to her 100m crown in Singapore, said she was trying to ignore it. 'I was made aware, and it's frustrating, but I think that personally, I am just trying to block it out and take on the meet with everything I can and just show up and race like I know how... 'I think we've been dealing with a lot so it's hard to get the criticism in the first place because I don't think people quite understand the magnitude of everything going on behind,the scenes. 'But showing up, giving my best, and coming out a world champion twice now has been everything, and I'm just happy to keep doing it and happy that I'm feeling like myself again in the water.' The US top the medal standings with eight golds, one ahead of rivals Australia with one final day of competition to come. The US have won only one individual gold in the men's events, Luca Urlando claiming the 200 butterfly title. Jack Alexy, who was part of the team that won the mixed 4x100 mixed freestyle gold in a world record time on Aug 2, said US athletes were always held to the highest of standards. 'It's definitely fuel to the fire for the next couple years,' added Alexy, who also has a silver and two bronze medals from his events in Singapore. 'And the theme going into this meet was setting off the tone right for LA 2028. So I think we're continuing to do a better job at that, especially after tonight, and I'm really excited for the future.' REUTERS
