World indoor record-holder Gudaf Tsegay ran the second-fastest indoor 1500m of all time, clocking 3:53.92 to improve her own meeting record at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, the penultimate Gold level meeting of this seasonâs World Athletics Indoor Tour, in Torun on Sunday (16).
Rebounding after her 3000m defeat at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on Thursday, Ethiopiaâs Tsegay was back on top in Torun and she was clearly delighted with a performance that missed her own world record of 3:53.09 set in Lievin in 2021 by just 0.83.
The two-time world champion now owns the three fastest womenâs indoor 1500m times in history, having also run 3:54.77 â the previous meeting record â in Torun in 2022. The next fastest performance on the world all-time list is her compatriot Genzebe Dibabaâs former world record of 3:55.17 set in Karlsruhe in 2014.
Tsegay â who explained after the race how she had suffered flu in the lead up to the competition in Lievin â was on form in Torun and she looked comfortable as she followed the pacemaker through 400m in 1:02.1. She then reached 800m in 2:05.2, followed by her 19-year-old compatriot Birke Haylom, who finished one place behind Tsegay in the Lievin 3000m in a world U20 indoor record.
But Haylom couldnât hold on as Tsegay picked up the pace, the 28-year-old reaching 1200m in 3:07.9 and surging away to storm over the finish line in 3:53.92. Haylom, the 2022 world U20 champion, was a distant runner-up in 3:59.82 and Worknesh Mesele completed an Ethiopian top three in 4:02.19.
With little over a month until the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 and with wild card entries up for grabs in the 11 scoring disciplines on this yearâs World Indoor Tour, athletes were keen to bank some precious points and make their mark.
Britainâs Elliot Giles was another athlete looking to rebound after his performance in Lievin and after finishing 10th in the mile there, he ran a well-judged race to win the 1500m in Torun. Ethiopiaâs Biniam Mehary, who set a world U20 indoor 3000m in Lievin, had tracked the pacemaker and took control once Adam CzerwiĹski stepped aside.
But Giles was waiting to kick and he left his attack for the final bend, striding past Mehary to clinch the win – 3:35.43 to 3:35.70. Swedenâs Samuel Pihlstrom was third in 3:36.06.
Meeting records for Jaeger, Jackson and Furlani
Meeting records also fell in the womenâs 400m and shot put, as well as the menâs long jump.
Henriette Jaeger had the run of her life to win the first of the 400m finals, the 21-year-old dipping under 51 seconds for the first time indoors with a Norwegian indoor record of 50.44.
She was a dominant winner ahead of Czechiaâs world U20 champion Lurdes Gloria Manuel (51.15) and raised her hands to her face in shock after seeing the time in which she had stopped the clock. Polandâs Justyna Swiety-Ersetic won the other final in 51.36.
The womenâs shot put offered a rematch between the top three at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Karlsruhe and this time two-time world champion Chase Jackson turned the tables on world indoor champion Sarah Mitton, who won in Karlsruhe with a North American indoor record of 20.68m, and two-time European champion Jessica Schilder.
As was the case in Karlsruhe, Jacksonâs opening throw in Torun remained her best and with that 20.24m put the 30-year-old added 3cm to the US indoor record she equalled when securing silver at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
Schilder also surpassed 20 metres with 20.01m to secure the runner-up spot, while Mitton was third on 19.69m.
The menâs long jump was also a clash of major medallists and Italyâs world indoor silver medallist Mattia Furlani saved his best until last to secure his first ever win over world and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou in style.
Furlani, the menâs World Athletics Rising Star for 2024, improved on the world lead of 8.23m he shared with Swedenâs Thobias Montler, soaring 8.37m to break a meeting record that had also been held by Montler.
Furlaniâs winning mark bettered his own Italian indoor record and was just a single centimetre off his outright best achieved at the European Championships in Rome last year. The 20-year-old had already led the competition with his 8.21m leap in the third round and he eventually won by 34cm over Tentoglou and Montler, who both jumped 8.03m.
World silver medallist Ernest Obiena of the Philippines won the pole vault with a seasonâs best of 5.80m ahead of home favourite Piotr Lisek with 5.70m, while the menâs shot put was won by world leader Leonardo Fabbri as he topped an Italian 1-2 ahead of Zane Weir, 21.62m to 21.13m.
Dosso and Nugent secure sprint success
Italyâs world indoor bronze medallist Zaynab Dosso ran the second-fastest womenâs 60m of the year so far, winning a sprint showdown against 2022 world indoor champion Mujinga Kambundji and world indoor silver medallist Ewa Swoboda in 7.05.
Kambundji and Swoboda had earlier clocked 7.19 to lead their heat, while Dosso ran 7.25, but Dosso was the dominant force in the final and won by 0.02 ahead of Kambundji, with Swoboda third in 7.10.
Jamaicaâs world leader Ackera Nugent dipped to victory in the 60m hurdles final, holding off Ditaji Kambundji by just 0.01 â 7.79 to 7.80. Nugent earlier clocked 7.93 to finish third in the heat but improved to the fourth-fastest time of her career to win the final. Ditaji Kambundjiâs performance was a PB, while Nadine Visser finished third in 7.82.
USAâs Louis Rollins won the menâs 60m hurdles final in 7.59, while the 800m races were topped by Ethiopiaâs world indoor champion Tsige Duguma in 2:00.04 and Italyâs Catalin Tecuceanu in 1:46.97.
Paulina Ligarska topped a Polish 1-2 in the pentathlon, scoring 4500 to win ahead of Adrianna Sulek-Schubert with 4458. – worldathletics.org
