Washington (AFP) – Karayme Bartley and Leah Anderson gave Jamaica a sweep of 400-meter titles on Saturday as global talent spread out the victories at the 128th Penn Relays.
The Jamaicans also won the men’s 4x100m relay and reached the podium in two other elite Paris Olympic tuneup relays in the meeting at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field.
Bartley, a Tokyo Olympic relay runner, won the men’s 400 in 46.43, holding off a late charge by reigning US 400m champion and Olympic and world 4×400 relay gold medalist Bryce Deadmon to win by .07 of a second.
Anderson won the women’s 400 in 52.48 seconds, edging Ashley Williams by .22 of a second.
American Jada Griffin was third in 52.92, edging Tovea Jenkins by .04 to deny Jamaica a podium sweep.
Powered by a strong anchor leg from Sandy Dawson, Jamaica won the men’s 4×100 relay in 39.59 seconds with Ghana second in 39.71.
Spain, anchored by Maribel Perez, edged Jamaica for the women’s 4×100 relay title in 43.97 to 44.11 for the Caribbean squad.
Anchor runner Okar Elkhatib ran a 45.27 final leg to rally Portugal to victory in the men’s 4×400 relay in 3:05.97 with Spain second in 3:06.68 and Jamaica third in 3:07.54.
Kenya’s Festus Lagat won the men’s 800 in 1:46.76 with Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo second in 1:47.18 and Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson third in 1:47.58.
Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi won the women’s 800 in 2:02.49, defeating 2022 world indoor champion Ajee Wilson of the United States by .39 of a second.
Vashti Cunningham, a 14-time US high jump champion, won her specialty over compatriot Sanaa Barnes on fewer misses after both cleared 1.84m.
Cunningham, 26, hopes to make her third Olympic start in Paris after placing sixth at Tokyo.
American Yared Nuguse won the men’s mile in 3:51.06, edging Australian Oliver Hoare, reigning Commonwealth Games 1,500m champion, by .22 of a second.
Reigning Millrose Games mile champion Nuguse missed the Tokyo Olympics in the 1,500 due to a quad injury but was second in last month’s world indoors at 3,000.
American Kyle Rollins won the men’s high jump by clearing 2.23m with Germany’s Jonas Wagner second at 2.20.
American Sage Huerta Klecker won the women’s 1,500 in 4:07.10, edging compatriot Helen Schlachtenhaufen by .63 of a second with Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka third in 4:08.32.
© 2024 AFP
