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Kuwait Times
03-08-2025
- Sport
- Kuwait Times
McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell book World Championship berths
EUGENE: Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell produced convincing wins at the US trials in Oregon to punch their tickets to the athletics World Championships on Saturday. 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 performance delivering victory in 12.22secs 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 in third. McLaughlin-Levrone signalled she could well be in the hunt for gold in Tokyo after blasting to victory in 48.90secs, taking the tape ahead of Isabella Whittaker (49.59secs) and Aaliyah Butler in 49.91sec. '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 400m. 'Obviously it's uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I'm committed to it. Just excited to see where I can push myself,' she told AFP. Russell, who achieved a breakthrough major title with gold in Paris last year, will be the woman to beat in Tokyo in Saturday's evidence. 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 12.17secs in May before an ankle injury threatened to derail her season. However she looked back to her best in Saturday's win. '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.' Hocker upset A thrilling battle in the men's 1,500m saw Olympic champion Hocker upstaged by Kenyan-born Jonah Koech. Hocker found himself boxed in with 200 to go, and despite a strong finishing kick was unable to reel in Koech and second placed Ethan Strand. Koech won in a time of 3min 30.17sec, ahead of Strand in 3:30.25. Hocker was third in 3:30.37. 'Winning was not the number one 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.' — AFP Elsewhere on Saturday, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into Sunday's final with a comfortable victory in the heats. Benjamin never looked in danger on his way to winning his heat in 47.45secs, the fastest time of qualifying. In the men's 400m, Jacory Patterson advanced to Tokyo with a win in 44.16secs, the latest milestone of his fairytale journey to elite sprinting. The 25-year-old juggled his athletic 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
The Hindu
03-08-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell book World Championship berths at US trials
Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell produced convincing wins at the US trials in Oregon to punch their tickets to the athletics World Championships on Saturday. 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 performance delivering victory in 12.22secs 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 in third. McLaughlin-Levrone signalled she could well be in the hunt for gold in Tokyo after blasting to victory in 48.90secs, taking the tape ahead of Isabella Whittaker (49.59secs) and Aaliyah Butler in 49.91 secs. '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 400m. 'Obviously it's uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I'm committed to it. Just excited to see where I can push myself,' she told AFP. Russell, who achieved a breakthrough major title with gold in Paris last year, will be the woman to beat in Tokyo on Saturday's evidence. 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 12.17secs in May before an ankle injury threatened to derail her season. ALSO READ | Murali Sreeshankar continues strong form with win at Qosanov Memorial in Almaty However she looked back to her best in Saturday's win. 'I could have shut down my season two months ago when I couldn't walk. But I was like 'This is the goal',' Russell said. '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,' she added. Hocker upset A thrilling battle in the men's 1,500m saw Olympic champion Hocker upstaged by Kenyan-born Jonah Koech. Hocker found himself boxed in with 200 to go, and despite a strong finishing kick, was unable to reel in Koech and second-place Ethan Strand. Koech won in a time of 3min 30.17sec, ahead of Strand in 3:30.25. Hocker was third in 3:30.37. 'Winning was not the number one 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,' he added. Elsewhere on Saturday, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into Sunday's final with a comfortable victory in the heats. Benjamin never looked in danger on his way to winning his heat in 47.45secs, the fastest time of qualifying. In the men's 400m, Jacory Patterson advanced to Tokyo with a win in 44.16secs, the latest milestone of his fairytale journey to elite sprinting. The 25-year-old juggled his athletic 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. I don't know, it just feels like a dream,' Patterson said afterwards.
NBC Sports
04-06-2025
- General
- NBC Sports
Cole Hocker wants to follow Olympic gold with two more career firsts in 2025
Naturally, Cole Hocker wants to follow his 2024 Olympic gold medal by taking the world title this September, but that's not his only goal this summer. Hocker, who last Aug. 6 became the second American in the last 116 years to win an Olympic 1500m, was asked what would make 2025 a successful follow-up campaign. 'World champion,' he said without hesitation. 'That's, without a doubt, the goal. To go back to back in what I think is one of the most competitive eras that the 1500m has ever seen, that would make it a success without a doubt. Obviously, fast times are always in the cards, and I want to run fast, but most importantly, I want to win.' Beyond winning, the 23-year-old has sights set on another event. 'Also making the U.S. team in the 5k alongside the 1500m, I think that would be a huge step in the right direction for my career,' said Hocker, who was seventh in the Olympic Trials 5000m in his fifth total race of that meet. No American has competed in both the 1500m and 5000m at an Olympics or World Championships since Bernard Lagat, who won both events at the 2007 Worlds and took silver and bronze in 2009. Elle St. Pierre did qualify for both events for the 2024 Paris Games but dropped the 5000m to focus on the 1500m. To make his double happen, Hocker will most likely have to place in the top three in both events at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships from July 31-Aug. 3 at his old college home in Eugene, Oregon. Unlike Olympic Trials, he would only have to race three times at nationals. In the 1500m, the U.S. has developed depth over the last few years, just as the world has. At nationals, Hocker must deal with Olympic bronze medalist Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler (fifth in Paris) and possibly emerging talents like Jonah Koech, who won a Diamond League race last week. In the 5000m, Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher was the lone American to finish in the top eight at either the 2023 Worlds or the Paris Games. Hocker, who trains under Virginia Tech coach Ben Thomas, will be race tested like never before thanks to the new Grand Slam Track series. He has faced both Nuguse and Olympic silver medalist Josh Kerr of Great Britain at three meets already this season. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Tokyo Olympic champion, hasn't raced since March 23 while recovering from an Achilles injury. In six total 1500m races since Paris, Hocker has finished second, third, third, third, third and second. Hocker's gold medal — won with a kick from third place in the last 100 meters — sits on a dresser in his room. No fancy display case. 'From what I've experienced and what I've gotten, you put feelings and emotions onto this object,' he said. 'I try to detach myself from that and just let it be a mark of what a beautiful season I put together. Look at the full season as almost like a work of art. That was a perfect season for me. So I feel like the gold medal for me is just that all encapsulated into an object, but I hate to give any object too much value.' Nick Zaccardi,
RTHK
01-06-2025
- Sport
- RTHK
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet
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)
France 24
01-06-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at Grand Slam Track meet
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. "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.
