Bol and Zapletalova become first pair to both run sub-39 in same race at Continental Tour Gold meeting in the Czech Republic; Taylor rallies past Zango on final attempt, Crouser, Stahl and Dongmo continue throwing success

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The ongoing pursuit of the men’s 400-meter hurdles world record by Norway’s Karsten Warholm was overshadowed Tuesday at the 59th Ostrava Golden Spike by a 20-year-old Dutch talent who might one day take aim at the women’s all-time mark.

Femke Bol ran the second-fastest 300-meter hurdles race in history, clocking 38.55 seconds at the Municipal Stadium during the Continental Tour Gold meeting in the Czech Republic.

Bol reached last year’s World Championship semifinals in the 400-meter hurdles at age 19 and broke the Dutch record with a world-leading 53.79 effort July 18 in Arnhem.

Her performance Tuesday trailed only the all-time mark of 38.16 achieved in 2013 by Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic. Hejnova was sixth in her return to Ostrava in 40.80.

RESULTS

Bol made additional history, as she and Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova (38.97) became the first athletes ever to run under 39 seconds in the same 300 hurdles race. Zapletalova equaled the No. 7 all-time mark.

“I did not expect to beat Zuzana Hejnova and Lea Sprunger, but I hoped and believed the whole time,” Bol told meet organizers.

“I made a few mistakes during the race. It could have been even faster, but I am more than happy with this time. We worked hard during the Coronavirus period. I ran a lot of kilometers in the forest during the lockdown. I was very excited to run in such a great atmosphere in front of the spectators.”

Bol’s performance was one of seven meet records achieved or eclipsed in Ostrava, including Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo elevating to the No. 12 all-time performer in the men’s 5,000 by clocking 12:48.63 to hold off Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega (12:49.08). Barega remains the No. 5 athlete in history at 12:43.02.

Kiplimo also broke the 2003 meet record of 12:48.81 established by Kenya’s Stephen Cherono.

A pair of national records were set in the race as Yemaneberhan Crippa took third 13:02.26 to take down the Italian standard of 13:05.59 by Salvatore Antibo that had stood since 1990.

Serbia’s Elzan Bibic was eighth in 13:26.56, lowering the 1971 mark of 13:31.2 achieved by Danijel Korica.

American Christian Taylor produced the only world-leading mark, doing so in dramatic fashion by emerging victorious in the men’s triple jump with a final-round effort of 57-3.50 (17.46m) to surpass the second-round mark of 57-2 (17.42m) by Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango.

It was the best mark achieved by Taylor since winning last year’s World Championships with a 58-9.50 (17.92m) performance and allowed him to move past Zango among global competitors during the outdoor season. Zango had produced the world lead Aug. 19 with a jump of 57-2.25 (17.43m) at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Hungary.

Fellow American Ryan Crouser continued his dominance in the shot put with his second European victory in three days, prevailing with a fourth-round mark of 73-7.25 (22.43m).

Crouser has the top 23 outdoor efforts in the world this year and has surpassed 22 meters a total of 27 times, including the indoor season. No other athlete has achieved the feat once this year.

Warholm did run 47.62 to produce another lopsided victory against France’s Ludvy Vaillant (49.14), but he wasn’t able to replicate the form of his 46.87 performance Aug. 23 in Sweden. Vaillant elevated to the No. 4 global performer this year.

Sweden’s Daniel Stahl saw his unbeaten run in the men’s discus reach 15 consecutive competitions with a third-round throw of 217-11 (66.42m).

Following her one-hour world all-time best Friday in Brussels, Dutch star Sifan Hassan produced another strong surge late in the race to win the 5,000 in 14:37.85, rallying past Kenya’s Sheila Chelangat (14:40.51), who did much of the early pacing during the one-hour record pursuit in Belgium.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon became the third female athlete this year to run sub-4 in the 1,500, clocking 3;59.05 to prevail against Great Britain’s Laura Weightman (4:01.96) and Jemma Reekie (4:03.25).

Scotland’s Laura Muir, the world leader in the 1,500, added another strong performance to elevate to No. 2 among global outdoor performers this year in the 800 to triumph in 1:58.84, with Switzerland’s Sofia Ennaoui taking second in 2:00.82.

The men’s 800 produced a much more thrilling finish, with Great Britain’s Jake Wightman ascending to No. 4 in the world this year by clocking 1:44.18, ahead of Andreas Kramer, who set the Swedish national record by running 1:44.47.

Kramer improved to the No. 6 global performer, followed by Amel Tuka of Bosnia at No. 7 after he ran 1:44.51 to place third.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, already No. 2 in the world this year in the 1,500, earned his second straight victory by clocking 3:33.92. Kenya’s Kumari Taki took second in 3:34.14 and Australia’s Stewart McSweyn finished third in 3:34.25.

Much like the seldom-run women’s 300 hurdles, the meet also showcased a pair of 150-meter races.

Arthur Gue Cisse of the Ivory Coast won the men’s race in 15.15 and Dutch star Dafne Schippers prevailed in the women’s race in 16.56.

Portugal’s Auriole Dongmo, already the world leader in the women’s shot put, matched Crouser by also winning for the second time in three days with a fifth-round mark of 60-5.25 (18.42m).

Barbora Spotakova improved to No. 5 among global competitors this year in the javelin, winning with a first-round throw of 213-10 (65.19m).

Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines achieved one of the biggest victories of his career, prevailing with a second-attempt pole vault clearance of 18-10 (5.74m) to edge both France’s Renaud Lavillenie and American Sam Kendricks.

Lavillenie also cleared 18-10 on his second try, but needed three attempts to make 18-6 (5.64m), the same height cleared by Kendricks to finish third.

Great Britain’s Holly Bradshaw won the women’s pole vault competition by clearing 15-1 (4.60m) on her second attempt, with Sweden’s Michaela Meijer taking runner-up at 14-10.75 (4.54m).

Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus cleared 7-4.25 (2.24m) on his second attempt to win the men’s high jump and Latvia’s Gatis Cakss rallied to secure victory in the men’s javelin with a sixth-round throw of 273-8 (83.41m).