Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:
● Archery ● The second stage of the Hyundai World Cup was held in the Olympic capital of Lausanne (SUI), with another win for World Champion Brady Ellison of the U.S.
Ellison shut out Spain’s Yun Sanchez, 6-0, in the semifinal and then faced Germany’s Maximilian Weckmueller in the final, and triumphed 6-2. The Rio 2016 bronze medalist, Ellison is one of the favorites heading into Tokyo.
Sanchez won the bronze over Nicholas d’Amour of the U.S. Virgin Islands, 6-4.
The women’s Recurve gold-medal match was an all-Russian affair with a stunning win for 22-year-old Svetlana Gomboeva, who defeated 2017 World Champion Ksenia Perova, 6-0, to win her first World Cup in her first try! France’s Audrey Adiceom won the bronze over Lisa Unruh (GER) by 6-4.
In the team events, Germany beat Spain, 6-0, in the men’s Recurve final; Italy beat Mexico, 5-1, in the women’s final and the Netherlands won the Mixed Doubles final over Bangladesh, 5-1.
● Athletics ● The 2021 Wanda Diamond League got going in Gateshead (GBR) on Sunday, with overcast skies, rain, wind and cold.
How bad was it? The women’s 100 m heats had headwinds of 4.2 and 4.4 m/s, which contributed to pedestrian winning times of 11.53 for Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. and 11.45 for Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
In the final, the headwind was down to 3.1 m/s, but Asher-Smith was easily the best, winning in 11.35 to 11.44 for Richardson, 11.48 for Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) and 11.51 for Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. American Javianne Oliver was sixth in 11.58. Maybe we’ll know more in Doha on the 28th?
Said Richardson after her heat win, “This won’t be the last time that I’m going to line up against these ladies and I want to let the world know and let the ladies know that I’m here to compete just as well as they’ve done for many years. I’m here to show them what I’m good at.
“I’m definitely looking forward to running in some sunshine next week in Doha!”
Americans scored four wins, including an impressive 20.33 performance into a 3.0 m/s wind by Kenny Bednarek in the men’s 200 m, over Canadians Aaron Brown (20.79) and Andre De Grasse (20.85). World Champion Sam Kendricks got the best of world-record holder Mondo Duplantis (SWE) in the vault, cleaning 5.74 m (18-10) on his second try, while the winds held Duplantis to 5.55 m (18-2 1/2). Hillary Bor won the men’s Steeple in 8:30.20 over Kenyan Leonard Bett (8:31.52), and Kendall Ellis won a difficult women’s 400 m while battling the wind in 51.86.
Said Bednarek: “I felt very good despite the terrible conditions. My coach told me to work on my technique and that’s what I did so I am really pleased; I would have liked to run faster but with the rain and a headwind and it was cold, so you can only go so far.”
The home crowd – such as it was – was thrilled to see Laura Muir (GBR) run away with the women’s 1,500 m, winning in 4:03.73 despite the conditions, with Rababe Arafi (MAR: 4:07.73) a distant second. In the men’s 1,500 m, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen managed to win the straightaway sprint from Australians Ollie Hoare and Stewart McSweyn, 3:36.27-3:36.58-3:37.32.
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The adidas Boost Boston Games, a Continental Tour Gold meet, featured the usual oddball events and the elevated, temporary track on Boylston Street in downtown Boston, but also some serious running in the sprints:
● Men/100 m: Noah Lyles led the qualifying at 10.03, but Isiah Young (USA) got out well in the final and Lyles could not catch him, finishing second in 10.10 to Young’s 9.94, a seasonal best and his third-fastest race ever (wind: +0.5 m/s). Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade was third (10.17). Lyles’ usual late rush failed him this time and in his three meets in 2021, he’s run 10.08 (4th), 10.17 (2nd) and now 10.10 (2nd). That will not make the U.S. team for Tokyo in the 100 m.
● Men/200 m straight: Great interest in the fitness of Rio 400 m champ Wayde van Niekerk (RSA), who now trains in the U.S. This was his first race in more than a month, since winning the national title in 20.38 on 17 April.
He was out smoothly, but pulled up, feeling something wrong with about 40 m to go, with pain on his right side. He hopped off the track and removed his right shoe, pointing to his right thigh to fans. Canada’s Jerome Blake won in 19.89 (-0.3 m/s), with Zharnel Hughes (GBR) second in 19.93. Not a good day for the 400 m world-record holder, but his coach Lance Brauman (USA), thought he would be fine.
● Men/110 m hurdles: With a still wind, World Champion Grant Holloway (USA) won easily in 13.20, his fifth-fastest time of 2021.
● Women/100 m: American Aleia Hobbs charged over the last 25 m to win in 11.05 (+0.5), ahead of Gabby Thomas (11.16) and Morolake Akinosun (11.17).
● Women/200 m straight: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), already the 200 m world leader at 22.03, won the 200 m straight race in 22.08 into a slight headwind of 0.1 m/s.
● Women/100 m hurdles: An impressive 12.49 win for world-record holder Keni Harrison (USA), well ahead of Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan (12.62), into a 0.9 m/s headwind, just 0.01 off of her season’s best.
Also worth noting: Erriyon Knighton, 17, who turned professional earlier this year, prior to his junior season at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida, won the “Future Stars men’s 100 m” in 10.16 into a slight headwind of 0.3 m/s. That’s as fast as Houston McTear ever ran in high school – in 1976, and still no. 8 on the all-time prep list – and moves Knighton to no. 2 on the 2021 World U-20 list; there will be World U-20 Championships in August in Kenya.
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On Saturday, a fabulous USATF Throws Festival was held in Tucson, Arizona with great performances including two amazing world leaders:
● Men/Shot: 23.01 m (75-6), Ryan Crouser (USA)
● Women/Discus: 70.22 m (230-4), Jorinde van Klinken (NED)
Crouser won a sensational shot competition from World Champion Joe Kovacs of the U.S. (22.04 m/72-3 3/4), Darrell Hill (USA: 21.88 m/71-9 1/2) and New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh (21.62 m/70-11 1/4).
Crouser authored a staggering series of 22.44 m (73-7 1/2), 22.59 m (74-1 1/2), 22.20 m (72-10), foul, 23.01 m (75-6: lifetime best) and 22.86 m (75-0). Crouser’s 75-6 is the number four throw of all time and he is only the third to ever reach 23 m. His 75-0 in the final round is the equal-10th throw in history and the apparently unstoppable Crouser now owns four of the top ten throws ever. Wow! Wow!
Van Klinken’s mark was an enormous lifetime best for the 21-year-old Arizona State junior. She had set the Dutch national record of 65.94 m (216-4) on 20 May, but now stands 25th on the all-time list and is only the fourth woman to throw past 70 m this century!
American Vashti Cunningham won the women’s high jump at 1.99 m (6-6 1/4) to move to no. 2 on the world outdoor list for 2021.
Pan American Games champ Gwen Berry won the women’s hammer and moved to no. 3 on the world list for 2021 at 76.79 m (251-11), beating World Champion DeAnna Price (third: 75.88 m/248-11) and world no. 2 Brooke Andersen (second: 76.36 m/250-6).
American world-leader Rudy Winker won the hammer at 81.44 m (267-2), a distance no one else has reached thus year. Fellow American Shane Donnelly was second at 79.27 m (260-1) to move to no. 2 on the 2021 world list and Daniel Haugh got his second lifetime best in three days (79.03 m/259-3) to move to no. 3!
With both the American men and women now – astonishingly – dominant in the hammer, where are the sponsorships from Stanley? Lowe’s? The Home Depot?
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Elsewhere, Sweden’s Daniel Stahl took the world lead in the men’s discus at 69.71 m (228-0) in Helsingborg (SWE) on Saturday. In a meet in Andujar, Spain, Venezuelan triple jump star Yulimar Rojas scored a world-leading win at 15.43 m (50-7 1/2), a new national record and the no. 2 jump of all time. Only Inessa Kravets (UKR) world record of 15.50 m (50-10 1/4) from 1995 is further.
Germany’s Johannes Vetter continued his dominance of the men’s javelin, throwing past 90 m twice in the same series to win on Friday in a Continental Tour Bronze meet in Dessau (GER). He won at 93.20 m (305-9) and also reached 91.86 m (301-4).
Earlier in the week, Russian Ilya Ivanyuk took the world lead in the men’s high jump at 2.37 m (7-9 1/4).
● Badminton ● The re-scheduled BWF World Tour Spain Masters was held in Huelva, with Indonesia claiming finalists in all five events and winning four titles.
In the women’s Singles final, Putri Kusuma Wardani (INA) dispatched Line Christophersen (DEN), 21-15, 21-10. The all-Indonesian final in the men’s Doubles saw Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan (INA) skate past Sabar Gutama and Moh Reza Isfahani (INA) in a see-saw final: 21-15, 8-21, 21-14.
The women’s Doubles was a straight-set victory for Yulfira Barkah and Febby Valencia Gani (INA) over Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn (DEN), 21-16, 21-14, and in Mixed Doubles, Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Mentari (INA) defeated Niclas Nohr and Magelund (DEN) by 21-18, 21-15.
In the men’s Singles, however, it was France’s Toma Junior Popov who scored a 21-15, 21-17 win over Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo (INA). But four out of five is pretty good!
● Canoe-Kayak ● A few more precious spots in the Tokyo Games were available at the Olympic Sprint Qualifier on Thursday and Friday, followed by a Sprint World Cup in Barnaul (RUS) over the weekend.
In the qualifying races, one spot each was available to racers in the men’s and women’s K-1 200 m, K-1 500 m for women, K-1 1,000 m for men and C-1 200 m for both. In some cases, a quota place was won on Thursday or Friday, but who actually qualified was decided by the succeeding World Cup results.
In the men’s K-1 200m, Lithuania’s Mindaugas Maldonis, 30, claimed his Tokyo entry by winning in the qualifier and also during the World Cup, taking the World Cup final in 36.411.
In the men’s K-1 1,000 m, China’s Dong Zhang did the same, winning the qualifier in 3:45.215, then the World Cup final in a speedy 3:42.057.
The men’s C-1 1,000 m, Moldova’s Serghei Tarnovschi, 23, won the qualifier in 4:14.861, and will go to Tokyo thanks to the postponement to 2021. He won the bronze in Rio in 2016, but was disqualified for doping; because the Games were moved from 2020 to 2021, he has competed his four-year ban and is eligible to compete this year.
In an amazing twist, Tarnovschi won at the line over Russia’s Ilia Shtokalov, who was awarded the Rio bronze after Tarnovschi was disqualified!
The women’s K-1 200 m was a triumph for Russian Natalia Podolskaia, who won the qualifier by 42.731-43.670 over Lisa-Maria Gamsjager (SVK).
The women’s K-2 500 m saw Portugal’s Joana Vasconcelos qualify for her second Games – also in London – winning in 1:57.831, just ahead of Pole Justyna Iskrzycka (1:58.370).
Croatia’s Vanesa Tot took the women’s C-1 200 m qualifying race to earn her spot in the Games. In the World Cup final, Cuba’s Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys, 19, earned her place in the women’s C-1 200 m field in Tokyo with a convincing win in 48.736, while countrywoman Katherin Nuevo Segura was seventh (but both will compete in the C-2 500 m at the Games).
In the World Cup races on the weekend, Cuba dominated the field, winning five races, including the men’s C-1 1,000 m with Jose Ramon Pelier Cordova, the men’s C-2 1,000 m with Serguey Torres and Fernando Jorge, and Jorge won the men’s C-1 5,000 m. In addition to Cirilo Duboys’s win in the C-1 200 m, she and Nuevo Segura won the women’s C-2 500 m.
Austria’s Viktoria Schwarz celebrated two wins, in the women’s K-1 200 m and with Ana-Roxana Lehaci in the women’s K-2 500 m.
● Curling ● The WCF World Mixed Doubles Championship was finally held in Aberdeen (SCO) with the top seven teams qualifying for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
In round-robin play, Scotland won Group A at 8-1, followed by Canada (7-2) and Italy (7-2), who all advanced to the playoff round. In Group B, Sweden was undefeated at 9-0, followed by Norway (8-1) and Switzerland (5-4). The U.S., with Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo, was fourth (also 5-4).
The Czech Republic, fourth in Group A, beat the U.S., 8-6, in the Olympic qualification match; the U.S. will have to try and get to 2022 via the Olympic qualifying tournament later this year.
In the playoff rounds, Canada beat the Swiss (7-6) and Norway defeated Italy (7-5) to get to the semifinals. There, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds skipped past Canada’s Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue, 7-4, and Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten edged Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson of Sweden, 7-6, to advance to the title match.
Mouat and Dodds scored early and often in the final, taking points in five of the eight ends and winning the title with a 9-7 final against Norway. The Norwegians had a 5-3 lead after four ends and 7-5 after six, but the Scots put up four straight points in the final two ends to win their first-ever World Mixed Doubles title. Mouat had gotten to the 2016 bronze-medal match, but finished fourth.
Sweden’s de Val and Eriksson took the bronze medal with a 7-4 win over Canada.
● Cycling ● The 104th Giro d’Italia headed into its final week with Colombia’s Egan Bernal – the 2019 Tour de France champion – poised to win his second career Grand Tour.
Saturday’s brutal 205 km ride from Cittadella to Monte Zoncolan ended with a steep uphill climb of 1,379 m over the final 25 km. The winner was yet another first-time UCI World Tour victor, Italy’s Lorenzo Fortunato, who broke away in the last 2.3 km and won in 5:17:22, 26 seconds up on Jan Tratnik (SLO) and Alessandro Covi (ITA: +0:59). Overall race leader Bernal was fourth (+1:43).
Stage 15’s hilly, 147 km route ended in a one-on-one sprint to the line between Belgian Victor Campenaerts and Oscar Riesebeek (NED), with Campenaerts taking the stage for his second career World Tour victory. German Niklas Arndt led for others from the chase pack for third, seven seconds back.
Through 15 of the 21 stages, Bernal now owns a 1:33 lead over Britain’s Simon Yates, the 2018 Vuelta a Espana winner. Italy’s Damiano Caruso is third (+1:51) and Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (+1:57) is the only other rider within two minutes of the lead.
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The UCI Women’s World Tour was in Spain for the second edition of the four-stage Vuelta a Burgos Feminas. The first three stages were hilly, with the toughest stage on Sunday, finishing uphill at Lagunas de Neila.
Australian Grace Brown, Russia’s Anastasia Chursina and Danish vet Cecile Uttrup Ludwig won the first three stages, with Niamh Fisher-Black of New Zealand the overall leader, but essentially in a tie with Brown and with the top 27 riders bunched within 30 seconds.
On Sunday, the final 10 km of the 121.6 km route was a 747 m ascent that would decide the race. A breakaway group was finally caught on the uphill and left three Dutch stars – Anna van der Breggen, Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten – to battle for the win and the overall victory.
It was van der Breggen who managed to stay on the inside and finished just ahead of van Vleuten, with Vollering falling back by 20 seconds in the final kilometer. Overall, van der Breggen maintained her three-second edge over van Vleuten that she had at the start of the day – when they were in sixth and 12th place – and that was enough for the overall title. Vollering was third (+0:23).
● Gymnastics ● The U.S. Classic in Indianapolis was another tour de force for American superstar Simone Biles, who dominated the event with 58.400 in the All-Around, despite a 15th-place finish in the Uneven Bars after a fall.
She started with a historic 16.100 in the Vault on a Yurchenko double pike – reportedly never before tried in women’s competition – and also won on Beam (14.850) and Floor (14.250). She finished 1.3 points up on Jordan Chiles (57.100), who was followed by Kayla DiCello (56.100, also the Uneven Bars winner at 14.600) and Grace McCallum (55.100).
Many of the other U.S. stars performed on only some of the apparatus and none placed highly. Rio gold medalist Laurie Hernandez scored 13.250 on Vault and 12.200 (22nd) on Beam after a fall. Former World Champion Morgan Hurd was 11th on Beam (13.200) and tied for 10th on Floor (12.900).
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held from 24-27 June in St. Louis, with only Biles and Chiles looking to be in strong form. But it’s still a month away.
In Friday’s junior division, Katelyn Jong won the All-Around title at 54.750, taking the Vault (14.200), Uneven Bars (13.300) and Beam (13.750) and finishing second on Floor (13.500).
● Ice Hockey ● The IIHF men’s World Championship finally opened in Riga, Latvia, with Russia beating the Czech Republic, 4-3, in Group A, and Latvia defeating Canada, 2-0 in Group B on Friday (21st).
On Saturday, Russia stomped Great Britain, 7-1, and reigning champ Finland beat the U.S., 2-1, in Group B. All the goals were scored in the second period, with Atte Ohtamaa scoring at 6:54 of the period and Iiro Pakarinen at 15:41 for a 2-0 lead. Jason Robertson scored in a power play at 18:01 of the period, but there was no further scoring, despite a furious third period where the U.S. out-shot the Finns, 14-8.
The 0-1 U.S. and 0-1 Canada tangled on Sunday at the Arena Riga, with Robertson opening the scoring with a first-period goal with 7:42 to go, assisted by Conor Garland. The Americans did not let up in the second period, scoring just 1:19 into the period on an Adam Clendening goal and then again just 2:08 later on a power-play goal from Trevor Moore (on an assist from Robertson), for a 3-0 advantage. Moore scored again at 18:20 of the period for a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.
The third period showed one goal for each side and the final at 5-1. The U.S. is now 1-1 in Group B and Canada is 0-2, with five more group games to be played. The top four teams in each of the eight-team groups advance to the playoffs; group play continues through 1 June.
● Judo ● This week’s Pan American Open was in Guayaquil (ECU), with Colombia and the home team each winning three classes.
Juan Hernandez (men’s 66 kg), Francisco Balanta (men’s 90 kg) and Luz Alvarez (women’s 48 kg) won for Colombia, while Ecuador celebrated golds from Freddy Figueroa (men’s +100 kg), Estefania Garcia (women’s 63 kg) and Celinda Corozo (women’s 70 kg).
The U.S. also got two wins, from Nicolas Yonezuka in the men’s 81 kg all-American final against Kell Berliner, and from Katelyn Jarrell won at 52 kg over Mexico’s Renata Ortiz.
● Rowing ● China and Great Britain had the most to cheer abut at the second World Cup of 2021 in Lucerne (SUI), with three wins each.
The Brits won the men’s Eight – by 0.03 over Germany! – and men’s Four, plus the Lightweight women’s Double Sculls, while China collected golds in the men’s Double Sculls (Zhiyu Liu and Liang Zhang), women’s Quadruple Sculls and Li Huiru in the Lightweight women’s Single Sculls. A total of 15 nations won at least one medal.
In the men’s Single Sculls final, Oliver Zeidler (GER: 6:48.26) and Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen (6:50.13) repeated their 1-2 finish in a re-match of the 2019 World Championships. Reigning women’s champ Sanita Puspure of Ireland finished third (7:30.02) in the women’s final, behind Russian Hanna Prakhatsen (7:28.07) and American Kara Kohler (7:29.57), who won bronze at the Worlds in 2019.
The U.S. women’s Double Sculls team of Kristina Wagner and Gevvie Stone was third in 6:53.44, behind Romania (6:46.72) and the Netherlands (6:52.55).
● Skateboard ● The only U.S.-based Olympic qualifying event left before Tokyo is the Dew Tour Des Moines, held in the impressive Lauridsen Skatepark, a two-acre facility reported as the largest in the country. Riders are trying to pile up points in the World Skate rankings, which are the primary qualifier for Tokyo.
Competitions were on in both Street and Park, with no. 1-ranked Pamela Rosa (BRA) winning the women’s Street final, scoring 14.08 to best no. 2 Rayssa Leal (BRA:12.20; age 13) and Roos Zwetsloot (NED: 7.75).
The women’s Park win went almost to form: no. 3-ranked Sakura Yosozumi (JPN: 61.71) won over the now-recovered-from-injury British sensation, no. 2-ranked Sky Brown (58.50; age 12), with Japan’s top-ranked Misugu Okamoto (57.00) a close third.
The men’s Park final was a stunning win for 22-year-old American Zion Wright – ranked 114th worldwide! – who scored 91.04 to best no. 13 Oskar Rozenberg (SWE: 86.10) and no. 22 Gavin Rune Bottger (USA: 86.00).
The men’s Street final was another upset, and all about Brazil’s 21st-ranked Felipe Gustavo, who won with at 12.10, a clear victor over second-ranked Yuto Horigome (JPN: 9.06), seventh-ranked Aurelian Giraud (FRA: 8.62) and American Nyjah Huston, the three-time defending World Champion (8.21).
Next up will be the Street World Championships from 30 May-6 June in Rome, Italy.
● Sport Climbing ● Czech World Champion Adam Ondra and American Natalia Grossman took the top honors at the IFSC Bouldering World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ondra, who won the Bouldering world title in 2014 and the Lead title three times, beat a good field and was the only one to achieve four tops (4T4Z), finishing ahead of Mejdi Schalck (FRA: 3T4Z) and 2019 Bouldering Worlds silver medalist Jakob Schubert (AUT: 3T3Z). Sean Bailey was the top U.S. finisher in eighth.
Grossman led a 1-3 American finish, reached four tops and four zones (4T4Z) in the final, winning over Oriane Bertone (FRA: 3T4Z) and fellow American Brooke Raboutou (3T3Z). Grossman, 19, won her first IFSC World Cup at the senior level after winning bronze in the season opener in Switzerland last month.
● Swimming ● The European Championships in Budapest came to a furious finish on Sunday, with a powerful showing by Italy, Great Britain and Russia.
Always a high-stakes meet, the record books were re-written, including world marks in two events:
● Men/50 m Back: 23.80, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS); old: 23.93, Kolesnikov in semifinals.
● Women/50 m Breast: 29.30, Benedetta Pilato (ITA) in semifinals; old: 29.40, Lilly King (USA), 2017.
Pilato set a World Junior Record of 29.50 in the preliminaries and at 16, will challenge King in Tokyo. It’s worth noting that the 50 m is not an Olympic distance except in Freestyle. Russian Yuliya Efimova was second in a not-very-close 30.25.
Italy won the most medal with 21 total (2-8-11), followed by Great Britain (20: 9-7-4) and Russia, which win 17 medals (8-2-7); no one else had more than nine. Britain had the most wins with eight.
There were championship records everywhere and world-leading marks for 2021 in 10 different individual events:
● Men/400 m Free: 3:44.18, Martin Malyutin (RUS)
● Men/50 m Back: 23.80, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS: world record)
● Men/100 m Back: 52.09, Kolesnikov (relay lead-off)
● Men/50 m Breast: 26.21, Adam Peaty (GBR)
● Men/50 m Fly: 23.00, Szebasztian Szabo (HUN)
● Men/100 m Fly: 50.18, Kristof Milak (HUN)
● Men/200 m Fly: 1:51.10, Milak
● Women/50 m Free: 23.97, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)
● Women/50 m Breast: 29.30, Benedetta Pilato (ITA: world record)
● Women/400 m Medley: 4:34.76, Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
Multiple stars won multiple individual events:
● Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS): men’s 100 m Free, 50 m Backstroke
● Martin Malyutin (RUS): men’s 200-400 m Frees
● Mykhallo Romanchuk (UKR): men’s 800-1,500 m Frees
● Adam Peaty (GBR): men’s 50-100 m Breaststrokes
● Kristof Milak (HUN), 100-200 m Butterflys
● Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED): women’s 50 m Free, 50 m Butterfly
● Simona Quadarella (ITA): women’s 400-800-1,500 m Frees
In the men’s Breaststroke events, Peaty won his fourth European titles in both the 50 m and 100 m events. Hungarian star Hosszu won her fourth European 400 m Medley title.
There was an unusual occurrence in the women’s 100 m Back final, where Britain’s Kathleen Dawson won in a European Championships record of 58.18, ahead of Dutch star Kira Toussaint (59.02). But two swimmers – Louise Hansson (SWE) and Maaike de Waard (NED) – apparently could not hear the start, so the race was re-ordered to be re-done 45 minutes after the end of the same session on Friday.
Inevitably, the results were not the same the second time around. Dawson won again in 58.49, but Toussaint faded to fourth in 59.32, with Margherita Panziera (ITA) second in 59.01 and Russian Maria Kameneva again third (59.22).
Wrote Toussaint on her Instagram account: “I’m proud of how calm and positive I remained, but at the end of the ‘second final’, my tank was empty. 4th…seems unfair, it feels like I’m robbed of a silver medal, it is painful. But, it’s only a bump in the road. I will be back stronger.”
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American Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky ended up winning four events to highlight the Longhorn Elite Invite in Austin, Texas, but Madisyn Cox claimed the only world-leading mark.
Ledecky edged her former Stanford teammate (and reigning Olympic champ) Simone Manuel in the women’s 100 m Free, 53.82-53.83 on Thursday, but wasn’t challenged otherwise. She won the women’s 400 m Free in 4:00.37 later that night and the women’s 200 m Free (1:55.47) and 800 m Free (8:14.48) on Friday.
Manuel came back to win the 50 m Free in 24.74, while Cox dominated the 200 m Medley – with the best time in the world in 2021 in 2:08.51 – and 400 m Medley (4:36.61 lifetime best). Isabelle Stadden took the backstroke events in 59.33 (100 m) and 2:07.28 (200 m).
On the men’s side, Carson Foster – still just 19 – won three events, taking the 200 m Free (1:47.59) and both Medleys in 1:58.57 (200 m, ahead of brother Jake in 1:59.71) and 4:11.13 (400 m). The other men’s multi-event winners were Shaine Casas in the 100 m Back (53.26) and 100 m Fly (52.05) and Daniel Roy doubled in the 100-200 m Breaststroke events in 1:00.88 and 2:09.48.
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