NIGERIAN sprint hurdles star Tobi Amusan was in good form on tonight, powering to victory in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Amusan, who holds the world record in the distance at 12 12s, won the Ostrava race in 12.45 seconds, clearly ahead of the chasing pack.
Viktoria Forster of Slovakia came a distant second in 12.74s, with Ireland’s Sarah Lavin third in 12.76s, both their season’s bests.
Austria’s Karin Strametz (12.83) and Hungary’s Anna Tóth (12.86) were fourth and fifth respectively, with Elena Carraro (13.01) sixth and Helena Jiranová (13.27) in last place.
Meanwhile, teenager Gout Gout set a new personal best and an Australian record with victory in the men’s 200m on his senior international debut at the same Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava.
The 17-year-old clocked 20.02 seconds in a highly anticipated first European meeting in the Czech Republic.
The sprinter powered past Portuguese-based Cuban Reynier Mena, who had to settle for second after winning the last two Diamond League 200m races.
Gout’s time was better than Jamaica’s world record holder and eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, who finished in 20.28 on his first Golden Spike meet in 2006.
However, Gout is yet to run a legal time under 20 seconds, which Bolt achieved four months before his 18th birthday with a 19.93 in Bermuda.
Gout’s previous personal best was 20.04, which he ran last December to break Olympic silver medallist Peter Norman’s long-standing Australian record.
Pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis was one of four athletes to set new Golden Spike records.
Sweden’s Olympic and world champion, who broke the world record for a 12th time with a clearance of 6.28m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm this month, claimed victory with 6.13m in Ostrava.
Kenyan teenager Phanuel Koech, 18, also set a meeting record in the men’s 1500m with a time of three minutes 29.05 seconds, while South Africa’s world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso clocked one minute 57.16 seconds to claim victory in the women’s 800m.
In the women’s 400m, Bahrain’s former world champion Salwa Eid Naser broke home favourite Tatana Kocembova’s 42-year course record with victory in 49.15 seconds.
With agency report