Latest news with #EuropeanIndoorChampionship
France 24
25-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Bol makes sparkling Diamond League return as Tebogo struggles
Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, who had planned to run both sprints, trailed in last in the men's 100m and did not compete in the 200m, although a second Botswanan Tshepiso Masalela had a better night, delivering another impressive victory in the men's 800m. Bol had not competed in an individual race since September, running only in the relays in the European Indoor Championship. On Sunday, the Dutchwoman ran 52.46sec, the second-fastest time in the world this year behind American Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Bol finished 1.44sec ahead of runner-up Andrenette Knight from Jamaica. "It's a great start I had a good execution," said Bol, who has never lost a Diamond League 400m hurdles, a 25-race streak going back to 2020. "I felt good in training, but it feels good to be back competing after so long." In the men's 100m, South African Akani Simbine continued his unbeaten start to the season by winning in 9.95sec. Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala was second in 10.05sec, with American Fred Kerley a further 0.02sec back in third. Tebogo eased off towards the end of the race to finish ninth and last in 10.43. Tebogo won the 200m in Doha last week but sat out the race on Sunday, won by American Courtney Lindsey in 20.04sec. The bang-bang schedule of a Diamond League meet means it is unusual for runners to double up, but, while Tebogo abandoned plans to run both sprints, Kerley did go again and collected another third place. On the women's side, Jamaica's Shericka Jackson, twice 200m world champion, claimed her first victory of the season in the 100m, crossing the line in 11.04sec despite a poor start. In the inaugural event at the Rabat stadium, rebuilt ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, Beatrice Chebet set an African record in the little-run 3000m metres. Kenya's Chebet, Olympic champion at 5000m and 10,000m and multiple world record holder, finished in 8min 11.56sec, the second fastest time ever. The world record of 8:06.11 was set by Chinese runner Wang Junxia in 1993. "My target was to run sub 8:20," said a delighted Chebet. "I see I can do more. The world record I see as possible." Italian Nadia Battocletti was almost 15 seconds back in second. Masalela won the men's 800m in 1:42.70 after winning the same event in the Doha Diamond League meet last week. Moroccan double Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali ended the evening by giving the home fans a surprisingly close-run victory, holding off a late challenge from German Frederik Ruppert to win the men's 3000m steeplechase in 8:00.70. © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
O'Connor fourth going into last pentathlon event
Ireland's Kate O'Connor has dropped to fourth place after the penultimate long jump event in the pentathlon at the European Indoor Championship but remains in medal contention going into the concluding 800m. Personal bests in the 60m hurdles and the high jump, along with a solid shot put had put the Newry-born athlete in the silver medal position. O'Connor continued her impressive performances by producing another lifetime best in the long jump as she leapt 6.27m - 0.22m further than her previous PB - but that couldn't prevent her from falling to fourth as Finland's gold medal favourite Saga Vanninen, Dutch athlete Sofie Dokter and Great Britain's Jade O'Dowda all jumped further. Vanninen looks to have secured the gold medal as her 3989 points total gives her a 62-point advantage over Dokter. The Dutch woman has a 56-point advantage over O'Dowda, who is the sister of Republic of Ireland footballer Callum O'Dowda. O'Connor is now 34 points behind third-place O'Dowda and while both have similar 800m personal bests, the Irishwoman will hope that she can finish sufficiently ahead of the British athlete to clinch a medal, with none of the other competitors in realistic medal contention. The Newry-born Commonwealth Games silver medallist clocked 8.31 seconds in the 60m hurdles - 0.06 seconds inside her previous personal best - which left her eighth overall before producing a 1.84m high jump. O'Connor, who went into the high jump with a personal best of 1.82m, was in danger of losing ground after failing on her opening two attempts at 1.75m but produced a third-time clearance. After managing 1.78m first time, she cleared 1.81m at the third attempt before screaming in joy after succeeding in her second effort at 1.84m as she managed another personal best to leave her third overall at that stage. The Irishwoman then produced a solid 14:32m shot put - 0.22m below her personal best - but that was enough to move her up to second spot. Andrew Coscoran will compete in the men's 3000m final at 15:50 GMT where Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be a huge favourite while Letterkenny man Mark English will aim for a fifth medal at European Championship level when he races in the 800m final at 16:27. Sarah Healy will be another big Irish medal hope when she competes in the women's 3000m final at 16:35. Ireland will also be in action in the women's 4x400m medal but their medal chances look remote after Sharlene Mawdsley's withdrawal from the championships because of injury after her impressive run in the anchor leg of the 4x400m mixed relay when the Irish finished fifth.
Telegraph
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Georgia Hunter Bell: Social media has a really dark side – I never read comments on race day
Georgia Hunter Bell, the runner who went from Parkrun to the Olympic podium in less than a year, has revealed that she stays off social media on race day because of its 'dark side'. Former world champion Liz McColgan also called out the online abuse of female athletes earlier this week after her daughter Eilish, the Commonwealth 10,000 metres champion, was subjected to 'demeaning and abusive' comments about her appearance. Hunter Bell is aiming this week to win her first major title after a dream comeback in 2024 when, at the age of 30, she won respective silver and bronze medals in the women's European and Olympic 1500m finals. Her story has inspired numerous people but, ahead of travelling to the Netherlands for this week's European Indoor Championship, she admitted that the accessibility of athletes comes with downsides. 'I have had to get quite a thick skin quite quickly,' Hunter Bell says. 'The majority of people are really supportive but there is a really dark side of social media where people write things about you, about your body, about how you look, about what they think of you. 'Sometimes I'll have people direct messaging me things. It is something that does need to stop. It drains a lot of your energy. I might do a post in the morning if I've got a race and then I won't go on social media all day. I just don't go on it, because you never know… you can see something and it can just really affect you and hit you in a strange spot. 'My husband George tells me to… try to see it as the ultimate compliment because, when you get to a certain level, people think that they can say what they want, that you're fair game. It's a tough one, definitely – and I think especially for women.' Cram's key role Hunter Bell's senior international debut was at the World Indoor Championships almost exactly a year ago, when she was combining her return to athletics with a full-time job in cyber security. She finished fourth, with the BBC commentator Steve Cram inadvertently helping make her decision to dedicate full-time to running. 'When I crossed the line, Steve said, 'Georgia Bell must know that if she goes full time, she'll be able to make the Olympics',' she says. 'That did really help my case, because I'd told everyone at work to watch in my out-of-office email. When I went to them a week later and said, 'Do you think I could take a break over the summer to try to make the Olympics', they were more understanding.' A British record and bronze medal in the Olympic final would follow and Hunter Bell will go into this week's European Championships as the fastest in the field and favourite for gold. She says that the added recovery from not balancing training and racing with work has been hugely beneficial, but accepts that her new professional status – and an enhanced Nike contract – does bring a new dimension. Hunter Bell is now part of the M11 Track Club, where she trains with Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson. 'Last year I was waking up at 6am to train before work, working a full day of work, and then going out to train in the dark in the evenings,' she says. 'I was working in a software sales job where, every month, if you don't hit your quota, you could be fired. So it's not like a very dossy job, where you can chill out. It was, 'There is a number you need to get on the board'. '[Now] I wake up every day really excited versus being, 'How on earth am I going to do all of this, try to train and book time off on Friday to get myself to Dortmund and race'. It was just quite a lot to manage. 'It has been a crazy 12 months. It was quite fun being the underdog. I really enjoyed that role last year because I just knew I was in great shape. I'm saying publicly I'm going for European gold. That is different, so I'm adjusting to it. I guess every athlete once they have their breakthrough, it's almost the second year which is the more telling of your capability, physically but also mentally.'
