Sunday July 21, 2019
LONDON-- South Africa's Akani Simbine claimed the men's 100m title at the London leg of the IAAF Diamond League at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The 25-year-old clocked a season best time of 9.93 seconds for the title. Britain's Zharnel Hughes finished second in 9.95 and Jamaica's two-time Olympic champion Yohan Blake was third in 9.97.
"I'm really happy with the time," Simbine said. "It's mostly about building the confidence and making sure I get through the races and winning them so by the time I get to the Doha World Championships I will be ready and the confidence will be there."
Blake, who won the men's relay gold medal seven years ago at the same stadium, said, "In the season it is a bit early with running times like this right now. But at Doha, I am going to bring it."
Yuki Koike became the third Japanese sprinter to run under 10 seconds as he finished fourth in a personal best of 9.98 seconds. His fellow Japanese Yoshihide Kiryu was seventh in 10.13 in the day's race.
Jamaica's Elaine Thompson, who won both 100m and 200m at the Rio Olympics, won the women's 200m title in 22.13 seconds, followed by Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote d'Ivoire and Britain's Beth Dobbin.
"I'm feeling great to be back in London," Thompson said. "I came out here and pulled through today. I think there's great strength in the 200m fields and I feel like it's helping me continually improve."
Two-time Olympic champion and seven-time world titlist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce outsprinted Britain's Daryll Neita in the last second to earn Jamaica the women's 4x100m relay title. Jamaica beat Britain by one hundredth second with a time of 42.29. China took third in 42.71.
Norway's Karsten Warholm, who won the championship here in the 2017 worlds, took the men's 400m hurdles in a personal best of 47.12 seconds and Kenya's Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich won the 800m race in 1:43.14.
"I always try to surprise but at the same time it's not a given. It takes hard work, dedication and a lot for me to get out those extraordinary times," he said.
Jamaica's Danielle Williams soared to seventh on the all-time list finishing in 12.32 seconds in the 100m hurdles.
Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia held off Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway during the final lap to win the men's 5000m.