Devynne Charlton lowers 60m hurdles world record, Armand Duplantis wins another title

GLASGOW – Devynne Charlton blazed to a world record in the women’s 60m hurdles, while pole vaulter Armand Duplantis pulled a remarkable performance out of what had been an off-night to win gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships on March 3.

Charlton, a 28-year-old from the Bahamas, clocked 7.65 seconds to shave two-hundredths of a second off the previous record she had shared with American Tia Jones.

“This means a whole lot because I have set myself goals,” said Charlton, who raced with bright pink hair. “I have not changed my technique much – just a few tweaks – but I have been working hard off the track, making sure my mental health is good and working with a sports psychologist. Just taking care of myself.”

The 24-year-old Duplantis, an Olympic and two-time world outdoor champion, cleared 6.05m to add a second world indoor title to his bulging resume.

“It took a lot from me today, actually more than I would have liked,” Duplantis said. “Even going in as a big favourite, pole vaulting is very difficult, even at the heights that I should be making.”

Some uncharacteristic misses at lower heights had the world record holder puffing his cheeks in frustration.

“I had my back against the wall quite a few times, but I was able to come away and make those third attempts,” Duplantis said.

He finally cleared 6.05m on his third vault, then missed at three world-record attempts of 6.24m.

American Sam Kendricks took silver with 5.90m, while Emmanouil Karalis of Greece won bronze with 5.85m.

Femke Bol captured her second title of the meet by anchoring the Dutch women to victory in the 4x400m relay. The 24-year-old had crushed her own world indoor 400m record en route to gold the previous evening.

“I feel so tired, but the championships are like this,” said Bol. “These girls give me so much energy to run and especially if they give me the baton (when we’re) in first place. It is such a great team, you cannot let them down.”

Simon Ehammer of Switzerland won the men’s heptathlon to improve on his silver in 2022, doing just enough in the 1,000m – the heptathlon’s last event – to hold off Norway’s Sander Skotheim by 11 points.

Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia pulled away from home favourite Jemma Reekie over the final 50 metres to win the women’s 800m in 2min 1.90sec. Reekie, from Scotland, crossed in 2:02.72 for silver.

American Bryce Hoppel held off Sweden’s Andreas Kramer to win the men’s 800m in 1:44.92, the quickest time in the world this season.

Geordie Beamish of New Zealand produced a brilliant kick to win the men’s 1,500m. Beamish, whose best event is the steeplechase, was in fifth place with 50 metres to go, swinging wide en route to a time of 3:36.54.

“The race was first thing in the morning (on March 4 in New Zealand) and I hope a lot of people were watching,” Beamish said. “I hope that brought a lot of joy.”

Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu won the women’s 1,500m, the championships’ final race, in 4:01.46, with Americans Nikki Hiltz and Emily Mackay rounding out the podium.

Thea LaFond needed just two attempts to win triple jump gold and become Dominica’s first global champion in athletics.

The 29-year-old soared 15.01m on her second attempt in the morning session, the best jump in the world in 2024, and, with victory all but locked up, was able to pass on her remaining four jumps.

“I’m the only athlete here from my country and I have the gold medal,” LaFond said. “We’re just a little island with a population of 70,000 people, so this one is for my people, all of my people.”

LaFond’s previous best results were a Diamond League win in 2022 in Paris and Commonwealth Games silver and bronze medals.

“My country is small but mighty,” she said. “I am hoping that for some kid watching this on their phone, on the TV or on the live stream. This lights a little flame in their heart that can drive them to something amazing.” REUTERS, AFP