Athletics-Russell breaks American record in 100m hurdles at Grand Slam Track

The Star03-05-2025

Apr 26, 2025; Des Moines, IA, USA; Masai Russell wins the women's 100m hurdles in 12.74 during the 115th Drake Relays at Drake Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
(Reuters) -Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell set an American record in the 100m hurdles at the Grand Slam Track meet in Miami on Friday, breaking the tape in 12.17 seconds for the second-fastest time ever recorded in the event.
The 24-year-old Russell looked stunned when she saw the time on the scoreboard after edging fellow American Tia Jones, who had the third-fastest time ever recorded with 12.19 seconds in the first race of the day. Jamaica's Ackera Nugent was third.
The competition on a hot day at Ansin Sports Complex had the maximum allowable tailwind with 2.0.
"I can't even tell you," she said with a look of disbelief of her face after the race.
"These women bring out the best in me."
Keni Harrison previously owned the American record after finishing in 12.20 seconds in 2016.
Tobi Amusan of Nigeria is the world record holder with a time of 12.12 seconds at the 2022 World Championships.
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden stormed to victory in the women's 100m with a blistering 10.75 seconds in conditions that exceeded the wind limit.
American Tamari Davis finished second in 10.79 seconds, with Favour Ofili of Nigeria third and American Gabby Thomas fourth.
Jefferson-Wooden also won the 100m at Grand Slam Track's inaugural event in Kingston, Jamaica last month.
"I want to be one of the greatest to ever do this sport," the American, who took bronze in the event at the Paris Olympics, told FloTrack.
"I don't want to be one of the ones who they say, 'She was always on the circuit, but she didn't win a lot of medals,'" she said.
"No, I want when people see Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to know that she's here and she's not here to play."
On the men's side, Irishman Andrew Coscoran won the 3000m in 8:17.56, beating out American Grant Fisher and England's George Mills.
The three-day event in Miami marks the second Grand Slam Track meet of its first season.
The circuit was created by four-times Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson and is a direct challenge to the Diamond League, long the standard-bearer for the sport worldwide, which hosts 15 meetings each year in cities from Xiamen to Zurich.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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[Watch] Hearts Over Hardware: Pearly-Thinaah's Glorious Defeat In Indonesia Open 2025

Rakyat Post

21 minutes ago

Rakyat Post

[Watch] Hearts Over Hardware: Pearly-Thinaah's Glorious Defeat In Indonesia Open 2025

Subscribe to our FREE Sometimes losing feels a lot like winning, and Malaysia's badminton darlings Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah just proved exactly that at the Indonesia Open 2025. The dynamic duo fell short of their maiden Super 1000 title dream, succumbing to world number one Chinese pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning in a nail-biting three-set thriller that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Final score: 25-23, 12-21, 19-21. But here's the thing about great defeats—they sometimes shine brighter than hollow victories. After bulldozing through Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min in the semifinals, the Thailand Open champions walked into Sunday's final carrying the hopes of a nation that hadn't seen a women's doubles champion at this tournament since Chin Ee Hui and Wong Pei Tty claimed glory back in 2009. The match was pure theatre. Pearly-Thinaah stumbled early in the first set, trailing 6-11 before clawing back to level at 16-16. What followed was badminton at its most brutal and beautiful—two pairs trading blows until Malaysia's finest edged ahead 25-23. The Heartbreak Set: When Dreams Meet Reality The second set belonged to the Chinese world beaters, who surged to a commanding 14-8 lead and never looked back, closing out 21-12 to force a decider. The final set was where legends are made and hearts are broken. Pearly-Thinaah found their rhythm again, leading 10-7, but sport has a cruel sense of timing. The scores locked at 15-15, and from there it became a test of nerves as much as skill. In the end, experience trumped ambition by the narrowest of margins—21-19 to the Chinese pair. When the Nation Speaks 'Malaysia is proud of both of you,' perfectly captured the national sentiment, while others emphasised the quality of the opposition. It's okay, Pearly/Thinaah, what's important is that you fought, and you weren't facing ordinary opponents. The drama had fans literally on the edge of cardiac arrest, with comments about 'almost having a heart attack watching' flooding the feeds. Some couldn't help but notice how hard-fought the victory was for the Chinese pair: 'The Chinese pair really had to sweat to win today.' The cruel timing wasn't lost on supporters either: 'Already leading 9-4 in the third set… just wasn't meant to be.' But the optimism shone through: 'Excellent, if they play like this, there's hope for an Olympic medal.' Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah share a heartwarming moment with fans during a meet-and-greet session by Etihad Airways at the Axiata Arena during the recent Perodua Malaysia Masters 2025. The duo's approachable nature and connection with supporters continue to endear them to badminton enthusiasts across the nation. (Pix: Fernando Fong) The Bigger Picture Sure, they didn't get the trophy. But the In a sport where margins are measured in millimetres and milliseconds, they proved they belong at the very top table. The fans' reaction says it all—this wasn't a defeat that deflated a nation, but a performance that elevated it. When your 'loss' generates more pride than most victories, you know you've achieved something remarkable. Sometimes the real victory isn't the hardware you take home—it's the hearts you win along the way. READ MORE : Share your thoughts with us via TRP's . Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.

Soccer-Mbappe and Olise earn France third place in Nations League

The Star

an hour ago

The Star

Soccer-Mbappe and Olise earn France third place in Nations League

Soccer Football - Nations League - Third Place Play Off Match - Germany v France - MHPArena, Stuttgart, Germany - June 8, 2025 France's Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal REUTERS/Heiko Becker STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - Goals from captain Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise earned France a 2-0 victory over Germany in Stuttgart on Sunday, a success that means they finish third in this season's Nations League. Hosts of the Nations League finals, Germany were looking to bounce back from defeat in the last four against Portugal but fell behind on the stroke of halftime after Real Madrid striker Mbappe controlled and finished well. Germany thought they had levelled through Deniz Undav early in the second half, but the VfB Stuttgart forward's finish was ruled out following a VAR review. France did, however, remain in control and should have made the result more comfortable before Mbappe squared for Olise late on to secure third spot, with Iberian neighbours Portugal and Spain facing off in the final later on Sunday. (Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Cricket-Lack of test preparation no bother for South Africa head of WTC final

The Star

2 hours ago

The Star

Cricket-Lack of test preparation no bother for South Africa head of WTC final

FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Men's Champions Trophy - Semi Final - South Africa Practice - Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan - March 4, 2025 South Africa's Aiden Markram with coach Rob Walter during practice REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -A lack of preparation for the World Test Championship final will be no problem for South Africa as they get set to take on Australia at Lord's, opener Aiden Markram said on Sunday. South Africa last played a test in January when they beat Pakistan to book a place in the WTC final and their hopes of an extensive warm-up last week were stymied as their four-day match with Zimbabwe was largely rained out. "A lot of our series have been two test series, so in order to win them, you can't start slow, so I suppose there's a little bit of that that's helped us along the way," Markram told a press conference at Lord's, where the WTC final begins on Wednesday. "We know the importance of starting well, trying to get ahead of the game early and how important each session is going to be, because there's no second dip at it. "We have to make sure we hit the ground running and are nice and sharp come day one," he added. South Africa qualified for the final with a seven-match winning streak but also having played seven tests fewer than Australia, who are defending champions. "We've had a lot fewer games, so I suppose every time you get in, everyone's obviously getting super pumped up to play test cricket because we don't play as much of it," Markram said. South African cricket has a long history of coming close but failing in limited overs tournaments, but Markram felt that would have no impact on their first WTC final. "This team's obviously very different (in) personnel to what the white-ball squad was, so we haven't addressed it too much," he said. "The few of us that have been a part of previous ICC events that didn't go our way, have dealt with it. We've obviously chatted to each other and made sure we've buried it nicely and taken some good lessons from it. "But besides from that now it's more about the excitement of having another opportunity to actually do the job. So it's pretty much where the mind is at the moment. If we play good cricket, you give ourselves at least a fairly good chance of winning." (Editing by Christian Radnedge)