Just before the skies let loose on Atlanta, American sprint sensation Noah Lyles let loose on the straightaway track in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, pulling away from World Athletics Championships bronze medalist Zharnel Hughes to win the men’s 150m in 14.41, equaling Tyson Gay’s American best and making him the equal second-fastest man in history.
While Lyles ran away from a top field in the center of the track in the men’s race, the women’s 150m saw a late entrant in lane five steal the show: Candace Hill, a native of nearby Conyers, Georgia, who took gold in the 100m back at the 2016 World Athletics U20 Championships, had a sensational final 30m that saw her finish a mere six-thousandths of a second ahead of training partner Favour Ofili of Nigeria, with both being credited with 16.30 and making them jointly the second-fastest in the world with the late Tori Bowie.
In one of the more dominant displays of the afternoon, three-time outdoor world champion Grant Holloway stormed to another victory in the men’s 110m hurdles, crossing the line in a world leading time of 13.07, winning by more than three-tenths of a second. The women’s 100m hurdles featured a much tighter affair, with 2020 Olympic silver medalist and former world record-holder Kendra Harrison of the USA taking the win over 2022 World Athletics Champion and current world record-holder Tobi Amusan, 12.67 to 12.73.
The men’s 100m proved to be a battle of the two most recent African and Commonwealth 100m champions, with South Africa’s Akani Simbine taking the victory in a world leading 9.90 ahead of Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala in 10.00. In the women’s 100m, Aleia Hobbs defended her adidas Atlanta City Games title, winning in a season’s best 10.88 ahead of Tamara Clark in 10.98.
Former UGA star Lynna Irby-Jackson was the class of the field in the women’s 200m, winning by nearly three-tenths of a second in 22.67, while rising Jamaican talent Oblique Seville got the better of two-time Commonwealth Games 200m Champion Jereem Richards, winning in 19.96 to Richards’ 20.04.
In the women’s long jump, reigning World Athletics Indoor Champion Tara Davis-Woodhall skirted just under the seven meter mark with her first two attempts before leaping to a decisive 7.17m jump in the fifth round, cementing her win over runner-up Quanesha Burks’ best effort of 6.89m. The men’s long jump saw Mattia Furlani, the World Athletics Indoor Championships silver medalist, pull out the victory with his sixth and final attempt, recording a jump of 8.08m in the end, the only jump of the day to go clear of eight meters.
The women’s pole vault saw Brynn King, who will compete for Roberts Wesleyan University at next week’s NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships, get the better of Great Britain’s World Athletics Indoor Champion Molly Caudery, after clearing 4.54m on her second attempt, after Caudery was knocked out of the competition after clearing 4.39m.
