World and Olympic Champion Clears 15-9.75 (4.82m) On Final Attempt In Switzerland

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos by Chiara Montesano/Diamond League

In the month of her 32nd birthday, Katie Moon retains her stature as the top women’s pole vaulter.

The world and Olympic champion raised her world-leading mark to 15 feet, 9.75 inches (4.82m) with a last-attempt clearance Friday in the Diamond League meet at Lausanne, Switzerland.

After needing a last attempt to make 15-5.50 (4.71m), Moon passed the next bar, 15-7.75 (4.77m). Finland’s Wilma Murto had cleared it on her first and was poised for victory.

Instead, Moon went over 4.82 – one centimeter higher than her 4.81 from May 5 at Doha – despite brushing the bar with her midsection. So, Murto finished second.

The meet’s other highlight was a riveting 5,000 meters.

Berihu Aregawi pressed the tempo after pacesetters dropped off and won in 12:40.45. He ran the closing 3,000 in 7:30.7 and last mile in 3:58. The 22-year-old Ethiopian dropped everyone except Joshua Cheptegei, who could not overtake him down the stretch and finished second in 12:41.61.

Cheptegei, of Uganda, holds the world record of 12:35.36. Aregawi climbed to No. 5 on the all-time list behind Cheptegei, Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie and Daniel Komen.

In March’s World Cross Country Championships, Aregawi finished second and Cheptegei third behind winner Jacob Kiplimo, also of Uganda.

Notable in third was Ethiopia’s 29-year-old Hagos Gebrhiwet in 12:49.80. He ran sub-12:50 after doing so for the first time in 2012.

In a duel of recent world record-breakers – Jakob Ingebrigsten at 2 miles and Lamecha Girma in the 3,000 steeplechase – the 22-year-old Norwegian showed his customary strength in the stretch to win in a meet record of 3:28.72. (His world lead is 3:27.95 from June 15 at Oslo.)

Girma was second in 3:29.51, breaking the Ethiopian record of 3:29.91 by Aman Wote from 2014. Scotland’s Josh Kerr, the 2021 Olympic bronze medalist, was sub-3:30 at third in 3:29.64.

Another featured women’s event was the 100 hurdles, in which Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, won in 12.40 (-1.4) over world record-holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, 12.47.

Tia Jones continued her breakout season by finishing third in 12.51. Now Jones is off to next week’s USATF Championships, where the top hurdlers are all potential world medalists.

In other men’s events:

>> Ryan Crouser won the shot put with a distance of 73-1.75 (22.29m), exceeding 22 meters on all five of his legal throws. The world record-holder padded his staggering numbers to 76 meets and 213 puts over 22 meters.

>> World junior champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won the 200 in 20.01 (-1.4.).

In other women’s events:

>> Kenya’s Mary Moraa kept holding off Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson to win an 800-meter duel of respective world bronze and silver medalists, 1:57.43 to 1:58.37.

>> Marie Josee'-Ta Lou of Ivory Coast won the 100 in 10.88 (-0.8), compared with her world lead of 10.75 from Oslo.

>> Femke Bol of the Netherlands set a meet record of 52.76 in the 400 hurdles, winning by nearly two seconds.

>> In the high jump held downtown Thursday, Nicola Olyslagers of Australia set a world lead of 6-7.50 (2.02m).

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.