The US wrapped up the World Indoor Championships with four more golds on Sunday. Chanelle Price took top spot in the women’s 800m, Omo Osaghae won the men’s 60m hurdles, and the US won the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay event. The US also took home a silver and a bronze on Sunday to make it eight golds and 12 total medals in Sopot.
Men’s High Jump
Erik Kynard missed out on the medals in the men’s high jump when he couldn’t clear 2.36m or 2.38m between his three final attempts. Kynard still finished fourth.
Women’s Pole Vault
The US had two women in the women’s pole vault final with Jennifer Suhr the top finisher for the US. Suhr passed on the opportunity to attempt 4.70m and thus ended up with a lower final height final cleared than the medalists after everyone couldn’t clear 4.75m. Mary Saxer couldn’t clear 4.65m so she finished 8th.
Men’s 3000m
In the men’s 3000m final the margins were very thin at the end after nearly eight minute race. Bernard Lagat finished second just 0.28 seconds behind the winner while Galen Rupp missed out on a medal when he finished fourth, 0.45 seconds behind bronze.
Women’s 60m
In the women’s 60m semifinals Tianna Bartoletta was second in her heat and reached the final while LaKeisha Lawson was third in her heat and did not reach the final. Bartoletta was third in the final with a time of 7.06, eight hundredths of a second behind the winner.
Women’s Long Jump
In the women’s long jump final Tori Polk jumped 6.61m on her third jump to place fifth. Polk was 0.16m behind the bronze.
Women’s 800m
Chanelle Price won gold for the US in the women’s 800m when she just missed going sub-two minutes with a time of 2:00.09. She won the race by 0.36 seconds to take top honors for the US.
Women’s 3000m
The women’s 3000m didn’t go as well as the men’s event as the two US competitors both finished more than 10 seconds off the lead. Shannon Rowbury was in 8th place, 12.78 seconds back, while Gabrielle Grunewald finished 10th.
Men’s 60m Hurdles
Omo Osaghae qualified for Sunday’s final in the 60m hurdles with a win in her heat by a hundredth of a second while Dominic Berger was fifth in her heat and missed out on a spot in the final by five hundredths of a second. Osaghae used the same hundredth of a second margin to win the final with a time of 7.45 seconds and was just two hundredths ahead of the bronze.
Men’s 4x400m Relay
The men’s 4x400m got a big win in the final to capture the gold. They were 1.36 seconds better than Great Britain for the silver and 1.56 seconds better than Jamaica for the bronze.
Men’s Triple Jump
Chris Carter’s best attempt in the triple jump final was a 16.74 on his third attempt. That score placed him sixth overall in the final.
Women’s 4x400m Relay
The women’s 4x400m relay team also won gold on Sunday as they bested Jamaica by 1.71 seconds and Great Britain by over three seconds.
Upcoming:
This event wrapped up the indoor season. Indoor track will be back in early 2015 with the Indoor Permits, a series of one-day events that provide top level competition. It’s the indoor equivalent of the Diamond League. The Diamond League will have 14 events this summer starting in Doha, Qatar on May 9th.
The next Indoor World Championships will be in 2016 while the next World Championships in track and field are going to be the outdoor championships in Beijing in August 2015.
Before that we’ll see the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech, Morroco on September 13th and 14th. This event has the athletes competing as part of four teams, Europe, Americas, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The Europe-Americas competition is always interesting in that event.
Another competition coming up in 2014 is the first ever World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas on May 24th and 25th. The event features ten different relays, five for each men and women with legs of 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m.
