Bahamian sprinter Shaunae-Miller Uibo ran a historic race to win the highly anticipated women’s 400m event on Friday, which was the first Track event at the Herculis Meeting in Monaco, setting the stage for several outstanding performances on the evening.
The race was a face-off between the 24-year old and Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser who came to Monaco with an unbeaten run to her name in the Diamond League this season.
And so the reigning Olympic Champion was pushed all the way by 20-year old Naser and had to respond, leading to a fantastic run of 48.97s – a new Personal Best (PB), World Lead (WL), Meeting Record (MR) and Diamond League Record (DLR) for Miller-Uibo, making her just the fifth woman in history with sub-22s/49s in the 200m (21.88s) and 400m.
London 2017 Silver medallist Naser was rewarded with a PB, National Record (NR) and Asian Record of 49.08s in 2nd place, while Shakima Wimbley settled for 3rd in 50.85s and World Champion Phyllis Francis 4th in 51.05s.
The second Track event of the evening, though a non-Diamond League event, also produced another World Lead and Meeting Record (MR).
This time around it was Botswana’s Nijel Amos who bounced back into reckoning to dominate the men’s 800m with the fifth fastest time in history, smashing the former MR of 1:45.45 and replacing it with a time of 1:42.14. Canada’s Brandon McBride followed with an NR of 1:43.20.
Caster Semenya reigned supreme in the women’s 800m race where she clocked an MR of 1:54.60, with Francine Niyonsaba following in 1:55.96. Jamaica’s Natoya Goule smashed her PB and NR with a new time of 1:56.15 in 3rd place.
It was four wins in four races for Ivory Coast’s Marie Josee Ta Lou who came through once more to snatch the victory in the women’s 100m in 10.89s, as compatriot Murielle Ahoure settled for 2nd in 11.01s while Elaine Thompson finished a close 3rd in 11.02s. Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor placed 8th with a time of 11.32s.
USA’s Noah Lyles brought his own magic to Monaco, running a brilliant race to underline his status as a game changer in the men’s 200m.
The former World Junior Champion who turned 21 yesterday, gifted himself with the perfect present by extending his unbeaten run in the men’s 200m this season, sailing down the home straight in a PB, WL and MR of 19.65s, improving on his former PB and WL of 19.69s.
Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot was the man to beat in the 1500m where he raced to a WL and PB of 3:28.41 to finish ahead of teammate and World Champion Elijah Manangoi (3:29.64, SB) and Filip Ingebrigsten (3:30.31, NR).
Queen Harrison was more than excited with her win in the 100m Hurdles – a non-Diamond League event. She returned a time of 12.64s, an SB, in 1st place, while Dawn Harper-Nelson followed in 12.90s. Jamaica’s Yanique Thompson was 3rd in 12.92s.
Sergey Shubenkov extended his winning streak in the 110m Hurdles to Monaco, pulling away from the rest of the field to clock a time of 13.07s, while Orlando Ortega (13.18s) and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (13.20s, SB) finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
World and Olympic Champion in the men’s Triple Jump, Chris Taylor took the day with a fantastic leap of 17.86m, defeating fierce rival Pedro Pablo Pichardo (17.67m) and Omar Craddock (17.37m).
World Indoor Champion in the men’s High Jump, Danil Lysenko gave a good account of himself in the absence of Mutaz Barshim who is out for the rest of the season after suffering an injury. The youngster soared to a PB of 2.40m, equalling the WL and MR set by Barshim in Doha.
The men and women’s Shot put events were decided a day earlier, and it was Olympic Champion Ryan Crouser who dominated the men’s event with a best throw of 22.05m, with 2017 Diamond Trophy winner Darrell Hill setting an SB of 21.72m in 2nd place, and Darlan Romani 3rd with 21.70m.
Lijiao Gong’s best throw of 20.31m got her the win in the women’s event as Raven Saunders and Christina Schwanitz joined her in the Top 3 with distances of 19.67m and 19.51m respectively.
