HIGHLIGHTS: 400 m star Kerley runs world-leading 9.91; T&F world leads for Miller-Uibo, Winkler, Duplantis and eight more from Saturday!

Fred Kerley set a collegiate record with this 43.70 run in 2017, but now he's the fastest man in the world? (Photo: Texas A&M)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world/updated/:

Archery ● The World Archery World Cup circuit opened for 2021 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, with a full program and plenty of surprises.

India’s 40th-ranked Atanu Dias, 29, won the men’s Recurve final with a 6-4 decision over Spain’s 35th-ranked Daniel Castro, 24, both surprise finalists. Mexico’s Angel Alvarado defeated Dutch star Steve Wiljer, 6-2, for the bronze medal.

India swept the individual Recurve finals as veteran Deepika Kumari – currently ranked ninth worldwide – out-lasted American Mackenzie Brown in the women’s gold-medal match, 6-5, on a closer-to-the-center nine on the final shots. Mexico claimed another bronze as Alejandra Valencia defeated Madalina Amaistroaie of Romania, 6-4.

In the Recurve team finals, Spain won the men’s team gold with a 6-2 finals win over the U.S., with Germany defeating France, 5-3 for bronze. India’s women defeated Mexico, 5-4, for the women’s gold, with Germany clubbing Spain, 5-1 in the bronze final.

The Mixed Team gold went to Mexico’s Ana Vasquez and Angel Alvarado with a 6-2 win over Germany (Lisa Unruh and Florian Unruh), while India beat the U.S. in the bronze final, 6-2.

Athletics ● /Updated as underlined/A sensational Saturday across the U.S. – and Europe – produced 13 world-leading performances!

At the Oregon Relays and USA Track & Field Grand Prix in the new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, some late rain did not deter some great performances and three world leads:

Men/Steeple: 8:17.74, Isaac Updike (USA)
Men/Hammer: 81.98 m (268-11), Rudy Winkler (USA)
Women/400 m: 49.08, Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH)

Winkler, 26, was sensational and his mark – a lifetime best – is the no. 2 performance in the U.S. history, behind only Lance Deal’s 1996 American Record of 82.52 m (270-9).

The 100 m was won by comebacking Trayvon Bromell, who won his heat in 10.01 and won the final in 10.01 again. Second in the final, but lacking his usual finishing fire was Noah Lyles, in 10.17. In the 400 m, Michael Norman showed excellent finishing speed to log the no. 2 performance of the year in 44.67, ahead of friend Rai Benjamin (44.98). Australia’s Ollie Hoare won the 1,500 m in the no. 2 performance of the year in 3:33.54, making a strong claim to be selected for the Olympic Team.

The women’s 100 m was an impressive 10.97 win for Nigerian star Blessing Okagbare, ahead of American Morolake Akinosun (11.09). Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn underlined her world-leading 12.32 from last week with a dominant 12.46 win, the second-best performances of 2021. In the field, emerging U.S. star Brooke Andersen scored her first win over World Champion DeAnna Price, 77.99 m (255-10) to 76.15 m (249-10).

At the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, there was more sunshine and four world-leading performances:

Men/400 m hurdles: 48.15, Alison Dos Santos (BRA)
Men/Pole Vault: 5.86 m (19-2 3/4), Sam Kendricks (USA) /see below/
Men/Shot Put: 21.93 m (71-11 1/2), Ryan Crouser (USA)
Women/400 m hurdles: 55.02, Gianna Woodruff (PUR)

In the men’s hurdles, Dos Santos’s lifetime best was enough to hold off previous world leader Kenny Selmon of the U.S., second in 48.87. Kendricks was pushed in the vault by Chris Nilsen of the U.S., who cleared 5.80 m (19-0 3/4) for second. Woodruff’s national record for Puerto Rico in the 400 m hurdles came at the expense of American Ashley Spencer, who was second in 55.52, the no. 2 performance on the season.

The USATF Road Mile Championships were also held in Des Moines (on the 21st), with Rachel Schneider running away from Shannon Osika for a 4:30.3 to 4:31.3 victory and her first U.S. mile title. The men’s winner, Eric Avila, chased down early leader Jeff Thies and then held off Craig Engels and Clayton Murphy to win by 3:59.0-3:59.2-3:59.4.

/Update/There were even more world leads at the LSU Alumni Gold in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Apparently just about the same time that Kendricks vaulted 5.86 m at the Drake Relays, world-record holder Mondo Duplantis (SWE) managed 5.90 m (19-4 1/4). Among the collegians, LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison (USA) moved to no. 1 on the year list with his win at 8.44 m (27-8 1/4) and teammate Noah Williams (USA) won the 400 m in 44.30, setting a lifetime best and taking the world lead (ahead of former world leader Bryce Deadmon of the U.S., second in 44.58).

Also worth noting were Americans Aleia Hobbs and Tamara Clark running 10.91 and 10.96 in the women’s 100 m

Perhaps the surprise of the weekend came at the Tru Fit Sprint Classic in Miami, Florida, where 2019 World 400 m bronze medalist Fred Kerley took the world lead in the 100 m, running 9.91 with the maximum-allowable wind of 2.0 m/s, ahead of Jason Rogers (10.01).

Kerley started 2021 with a 100 m best of 10.49, but has run 10.15, 10.11, 10.06 and 10.03 and now 9.91! He’s also equaled his personal best of 20.24 in the 200 m and won his only 400 m race in 45.03 indoors. Wow!

Jamaica’s Natasha Morrison, a 2015 Worlds finalist at 100 m, won the women’s 100 m in 10.87 (wind: +1.3), a lifetime best by 0.09 and the no. 2 performance in the world for 2021. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes took the men’s 200 m in a windy 19.93 (+3.6).

In Offenburg (GER), 2017 World Champion Johannes Vetter took the seasonal lead in the javelin at 91.50 m (300-2), his sixth-best throw ever.

Curling ● The Grand Slam of Curling completed its 2020-21 season with the second straight event held in a sequestered environment in Calgary (CAN). The Players’ Championship ends this (shortened) season, but on a happy note for Canada’s Kerri Einarson.

She skipped her squad to a third Grand Slam of Curling title, winning 5-2 over fellow Canadian Rachel Homan in the final.

The men’s final was a second win in a week for Scotland’s Bruce Mouat, the 2021 Worlds silver medal winner, with a 6-5 win over Canada’s Brad Gushue, thanks to two points in the eighth end.

The Champions Cup, also held in Calgary and finishing last Monday (19 April), saw Homan’s team edge the Swiss squad skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni by 6-3 in the final. The men’s final was a happy win for Scotland and Mouat, who won by 6-3, over the Canadian team skipped by Brendan Bottcher. Mouat’s team defeated World Champion Niklas Edin (SWE) and his squad in the quarterfinals by 6-5 in a rematch of the Worlds final.

For Homan, it extended her record as the winningest women’s skip in the Grand Slam of Curling, with her 11th victory. It was also Homan’s third Champions Cup title, after wins in 2017 and 2018.

The 2011-22 season will begin in September with the Tour Challenge.

Cycling ● Two of the famed springtime Classics were held this week: La Fleche Wallonne – “The Flemish Arrow” – and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and the races were indeed classics.

The 85th La Fleche Wallonne for men was 193.6 km from Charleroi to the Mur de Huy in Belgium, with French star Julian Alaphilippe winning his third title in the last four runnings. He barely edged Slovenian superstar Primoz Roglic at the line, with both given the same time of 4:36:25. Spain’s Alejandro Valverde – a five-time winner – was third (+0:06) and Canada’s Michael Woods was eight seconds back.

Roglic burst to the lead with 400 m to go, but Alaphilippe and Valverde were both in hot pursuit. The Frenchman caught Roglic with 75 to go and managed to hang on for the victory.

The women’s La Fleche Wallonne was another showcase for Dutch star Anna van der Breggen, who is set to retire at the end of this season. Already the six-time defending champion, she was part of a nine-rider group chasing American Ruth Winder, who had a 30-second lead with 5 km left in the 130.2 km route. On the final climb up the Mur de Huy, Dutch rider Demi Vollering led the charge that passed Winder, with van der Breggen and Pole Kasia Niewiadoma taking the lead with less than 500 m left. Van der Breggen then powered away with 75 m left for her seventh straight win in this race; Niewiadoma finished seconds back with Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) and Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) six seconds behind. Winder finished seventh and Vollering was 10th.

On Sunday, Vollering got her revenge with a brilliant victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, outlasting van Vleuten, Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma and van der Breggen in a five-woman sprint to the line.

Van der Breggen had the lead for most of the 13 km run-in to the finish after the final climb of the 140.9 km route, but van Vleuten attacked with 300 m to go, but Vollering blew by for her first Women’s World Tour victory. The top four received the same time and van der Breggen was two seconds back,

The 107th Liege-Bastogne-Liege was a another five-man sprint, but this time it was Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar who edged Alaphilippe at the line in 6:39:26.

Pogacar and his UAE-Team Emirates squad were not allowed to ride in La Fleche Wallonne over what turned out to be false Covid-19 positives. So they were motivated on Sunday, and the race came down to five riders – Pogacar, Alaphilippe, Valverde, Woods and France’s David Gaudu – enjoying a 30-second gap on the field with 7 km left.

The final placings were not decided until the finishing straight into Liege, with Valverde moving first, but Alaphilippe charged ahead, only to be shadowed and then passed late by Pogacar, who added his first “Monument” race to his already-glowing young career.

Gymnastics ● Eight women gymnasts achieved a qualifying mark of 52.000 in the All-Around to qualify for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships at the 2021 American Classic in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Skye Blakely won the All-Around at 55.350, ahead of Leanne Wong (54.450), Karis German (53.250), Addison Fatta (52.900) and Kara Eaker (52.700). Three-time Worlds medalist Sunisa Lee competed in a partial program, and won the Uneven Bars at 15.200 and Beam at 14.550.

Judo ● The home team – the Dominican Republic – dominated the Pan American Open in Santo Domingo, this weekend, taking home eight wins in the 14 classes.

The Dominicans earned men’s golds at 66 kg (Wander Matteo), 73 kg (Antonio Tornal), 90 kg (Eduardo Guzman), 100 kg (Lewis Medina) and +100 kg (Jose Nova Alcantara). Women’s winners included Ariela Sanchez at 63 kg, Eiraima Silvestre at 78 kg and Moira Morillo at +78 kg.

The U.S. had two winners: Kell Berliner at 81 kg for men and Nicole Stout in the wome’s 70 kg class, both leading a 1-2-3 sweeps!

Volleyball ● The second FIVB World Tour event in Cancun, Mexico is heading for its conclusion on Monday. Look for match results here.

Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum are looking for a second straight win on tour and are into the semifinals. The no. 1-ranked women’s team, Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman, are also into the semifinals.

Weightlifting ● Colombia and the U.S. dominated the “2020″ Pan American Championships, held in Santo Domingo (DOM) this past week.

Columbia won a total of 15 medals – seven gold – in the Combined category only, trailed close by the U.S., with 14 (6-3-5).

All seven Colombian winners were in the men’s division and included Miguel Suarez at 55 kg (242 kg combined); Francisco Mosquera at 61 kg (280 kg total); Luis Javier Mosquera at 67 kg (318 kg total); Brayan Rodallegas at 81 kg (363 kg total), Diego Betancur at 89 kg (365 kg total); Jhonatan Rivas at 96 kg (393 kg) and Lesman Paredes at 102 kg (390 kg total).

The U.S. had won men’s winner in Clarence Cummings, Jr., who won at 73 kg and lifted a combined total of 343 kg. American women won five titles, with Cicely Kyle winning at 45 kg (166 kg total); Jourdan Delacruz won at 49 kg and set Pan-Am records for the Snatch (89 kg), Clean & Jerk (111 kg) and total (200 kg); Meredith Alwine won at 71 kg (238 kg total); Mattie Rogers won at 81 kg and set a Pan-Am record for the 251 kg total, and former World Champion Sarah Robles won at +87 kg, winning both lifts and combining for a 280 kg total.

The 2019 World Champion at 71 kg, Katie Nye of the U.S., moved up to 76 kg and was second to Ecuador’s Neisi Dajomes, who listed a total of 250 kg to 235 kg for Nye.

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