Americans Tyson Gay and Carmelita Jeter confirmed their excellent post-Berlin form winning the men and women 100m races in style before a decent Korean crowd at the Daegu Stadium. Head wind was measured for every running event tonight and therefore top marks were out of reach in this meet.

Jeter still won the women’s 100m in 10.83 into a minor 0.3 m/s head wind and although her time wasn’t bad either it was the 0.52s gap to the next athletes which really was the news in this event. Gay won another tough race against Jamaican Asafa Powell in 9.94s with the Jamaican close behind in 10.00s into a -0.6 m/s wind.

The best mark in the field events was set by Teemu Wirkkala of Finland in the javelin where he hit an 86.95m throw to win the competition.

Jeter remains undefeated

Carmelita Jeter really underlined her newly found superiority in the women’s 100m with another emphatic win in Daegu. The 29-year-old had a good start immediately powering away from the rest of the field and was in a clear lead 30m into the race. From this point her trademark high-frequence sprinting set a massive gap with the rest of the runners with a 10.83 clocking in the end equalling her third fastest career result. Jamaican Sherone Simpson was a distant second in 11.35s and fellow American Gloria Asumnu third with the same time with both athletes an unbelievably more than half a second behind the winner. 200m specialist Allyson Felix (USA) finished in fourth place in 11.50s.

Gay over Powell, again

Although the favourite also won the men’s 100m race, it was very different to the women’s race as Tyson Gay really got pushed very hard. In the race run into a 0.6 m/s head wind, Jamaicans Asafa Powell and Nesta Carter got both excellent starts but Gay’s first strides were far from perfect and the American had to work really hard to get back in the race.

By half way all three were side by side with Gay finally moving in front after about 70m. The surprise was the fact that Gay’s last 30m wasn’t as powerful as usual and Powell stayed very close until the finish line but once more Gay conquered in 9.94s against Powell’s 10.00s with Carter in third clocking 10.15s.

In the men’s javelin 25-year-old Finn Teemu Wirkkala proved that he will be a factor in this event in the future. Although Wirkkala did not do well in Berlin as one of the medal favourites only managing a 9th place there, he did find his form at the Daegu Stadium where the next World Championships will be held.

The Finn led the competition after round 1 (77.53m) and round 2 (80.22m) and only briefly let Mark Frank of Germany take the lead in the third round with his best throw 81.86m before unleashing a massive 86.95m winning effort, his second best career throw behind a 87.23m personal best a couple of months ago.

This was also Wirkkala’s first 85m throw outside Finland which should give him some confidence after many people have stamped him as a “home thrower” after the Berlin disaster. Frank was second with 81.86m and Mike Hazle (USA) third with 79.38m in a competition where athletes only had four attempts today.

4.60 enough for Isinbayeva

Another signature event today, the women’s pole vault failed to live up to the expectations. Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia did win, but only with a 4.60m clearance this time. The 27-year-old won all of her five competitions after the Berlin disappointment and also set a World record 5.06m in Zürich. Monika Pyrek of Poland was second with 4.50m and another Russian Aleksandra Kiryashova third with the same 4.50m result.

Jamaicans win sprint hurdles

In the women’s 100m hurdles Berlin World champion Jamaican Brigitte Foster-Hylton ran an extremely well balanced race clearing all hurdles without a touch to win in a fast 12.60s result. Reigning Olympic champion American Dawn Harper was second in 12.75 and fellow Jamaican 400m hurdles specialist Nickiesha Wilson third in 12.96s. In the men’s 110m hurdles Dutch Gregory Sedoc looked to be on his way to upset the favourites leading until the 9th hurdle, but was finally caught by Jamaican World Championships finalist Dwight Thomas who won comfortably in 13.36s. Sedoc just kept American Joel Brown behind him to get the second place in 13.45s with Brown clocked 13.46s. 38-year-old veteran Allen Johnson (USA) was fourth in 13.74s.

Kamel sprints to 800m victory

Both men’s and women’s 800m races were won in stylish fashion, but the races were very different. In the women’s race Berlin bronze medallist Briton Jennifer Meadows led from the start reaching the bell in about 60 seconds and finally accelerating off the others with 200m to go to win in 2:01.65, well before Slovenian Sonja Roman who set a season’s best 2:02.88 for the second place.

In the men’s race Bahraini Bilal Mansour Ali was right behind pace maker Vincent Mumo Kiilu (KEN) after the first lap with World champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa and Dutch Bram Som close behind. The reigning World champion lead the runners to the front straight with Mansour Ali looking to power home for the win mid-way through the final 100m.

But 1500m World champion and 800m bronze medallist Youssef Saad Kamel of Bahrain had other thoughts as he slalomed in between five runners in front of him with 50m to go to win in 1:45.09 making it look easy in the final metres too. Mansour Ali was second in 1:45.29 with World champion Mulaudzi beaten this time for third place in 1:45.56.

In the 200m races there was no question about the winner for men or women. Debbie Ferguson McKenzie of the Bahamas was in the lead at the start of the front straight winning easily in 22.90s into a 1.7 m/s head wind before Jamaica’s Shericka Williams who clocked 23.18s for the second place.

Also running to a strong head wind, American Wallace Spearmon got nowhere near his 19.65s personal best set on this same track three years ago, but did still win in 20.29s after a powerful run which had given him a clear lead in the curve. Briton Jeffrey Lawal-Balogun lost by a huge margin to finish second in 20.98s.

And the rest...

Nancy Langat of Kenya won the women’s 1500m in 4:06.80 fading quite badly during the final lap. The Kenyan had a clear lead after 800m which she reached in 2:07, but a 67-second last lap gave others a small chance to catch her. Polish Lidia Chojecka didn’t get too close however finishing in second place in 4:08.35.

In the men’s 5000m Joseph Kiplimo of Kenya was an early leader and early paced promised a finishing time close to 13 minutes, but race then slowed down to be decided in the final sprint. It was Kiplimo who outsprinted the others in the final straight after another Kenyan Josephat Bett Kipkoech had kicked hard with 200m to go. Kiplimo clocked 13:24.92 for the win with also fellow Kenyan Sammy Mutahi passing Kipkoech to finish in second in 13:25.14 with Kipkoech timed 13:25.34.

Felix Sánchez (DOM) won the 400m hurdles in 48.94s having lead from the start and Russian Mariya Abakumova, bronze medallist in Berlin, produced a good 66.37m javelin throw result in round one to win the competition by almost 10 metres.

Both men’s triple jump and women’s long jump were decided in the last round. American Brandon Roulhac took the lead in the men’s triple jump with his last jump of 16.44m, but Berlin bronze medallist Bahamian Leevan Sands answered with a 16.50m fourth and last round effort to win the triple jump.

In the women’s long jump American Funmi Jimoh lead almost the whole competition with her first round jump of 6.74m, but Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia, second in this event at the Berlin World Champs, grabbed the win with her fourth jump 6.78m with Korean Jung Soon-Ok in third with a 6.52m result.

Click here for official results

Mirko Jalava for the IAAF