Reigning world and Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Murielle Ahoure ran the fastest time in a closely contested women’s 100m at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday.
The Jamaican sprinter, 28, claimed the 100m dash from World Championships silver medalist Ahoure, as both athletes clocked a world-leading 10.81secs (+1.7m/s) in the third leg of the 2015 Diamond League in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Ahoure’s time also sets a national mark back home in Ivory Coast.
United States Tori Bowie maintained her steady rise in the Diamond Race with a third-placed finish, crossing the line in 10.82secs, while Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor dropped to fourth in 10.87secs.
Six women ran under 10.90 seconds in both the A and B finals at Hayward Field, with American Gardner English and Jamaican Elaine Thompson both registering world-leading 10.84secs time in the B race.
Fraser-Pryce leads the Diamond Race tied on four points with Okagbare-Igho, winner in Shanghai just over a fortnight ago, ahead of Rome’s Golden Gala. It was a second successive victory in the short sprint in Eugene for the five-time World Championships gold medalist and her fastest time since Moscow 2013.
There were other world-lead feats in the men’s 200m, 400m, 10,000m, 1 Mile, 3,000m Steeplechase, 110m Hurdle, High Jump and Pole Vault, as well as the women’s 800m, Triple Jump, and Long Jump.
Five-time Diamond Race winner, Renaud Lavillenie, got his 2015 season off to a spectacular start, setting triple records in the men’s Pole Vault at the Pre Classic. The Frenchman stole the limelight from Greece’s Konstantinos Filippidis- winner in Doha- scaling a height of 6.05m (a Diamond League Record, Meet Record and a World Lead).
As well as setting a World Lead time in their respective fields, Kenya’s Ezekiel Kemboi (Men’s 3000m Steeplechase), Justin Gatlin (Men’s 200m) of the USA, Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba (Women’s 5000m), Qatar’s Essa Mutaz Barshim (Men’s High Jump) and Yekaterina Koneva (Women’s Triple Jump) of Russia recorded Meet Records.
Gatlin’s 19.68 is the fastest time so far in the 200m, while Dibaba’s 14:19.76 was an unrivaled performance ever at the Pre Classic.
Earlier on Saturday, Great Britain’s Mo Farah set a world-leading 26:50.97 in the men’s 10000m.
