Golden Spike 2023: Simbine stuns De Grasse to win 100m final, while Duplantis and Crouser reaffirm dominance
World record holders Armand Duplantis and Ryan Crouser lead competition from start to finish, while Czech two-time Olympic javelin champion Barbora Spotakova makes comeback nine months after announcing retirement.
Athletics
South Africa’s Akani Simbine won the men's 100m race at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava on Tuesday (27 June), finishing ahead of Italy’s European Games champion Samuele Ceccarelli and Canada’s Olympic champion Andre De Grasse.
Simbine was the only sprinter to go under the 10-second mark in the Czech stadium, crossing the line in a time of 9.98.
Meanwhile, Ceccarelli continues to impress. After winning the 100m title at the European Games the previous week, he clocked in just 0.02 seconds over that time to finish behind Simbine at 10.15.
De Grasse wrapped up the podium. The 10.21-second finish was a season’s best for the Canadian sprinter, but still far below his personal best of 9.89.
Crouser sets the bar, while Duplantis keeps world leading mark
Ryan Crouser, a double Olympic champion and world record holder in the men's shot put, set a high mark from his first throw, reaching 22.17 metres to take the lead that he maintained for the rest of the competition.
The USA athlete raised that bar even higher with his second throw, which was the meet's best at 22.63.
One of Crouser's main rivals from Tokyo 2020, New Zealand's Olympic bronze medallist Tomas Walsh, was also in Ostrava, but could not exceed Crouser's first attempt. He finished second with a best throw of 22.15.
Czechia's Tomas Stanek finished third with a seson's best of 21.71.
Like Crouser, pole vaulter Armand Duplantis took the lead from his first attempt. With the exception of a snag at the 5.90-metre mark, the Swedish star was faultless in his advance through the competition.
That progress halted when the bar was raised to 6.17 metres and Duplantis finished the meet 0.10 metres below his world record, which sits at 6.22.
Australia's Kurtis Marschall finished second (5.90), with Ernest John Obiena of Philippines (5.90) wrapping up the top three.
Meanwhile in the women's field events, Czech legend Borbora Spotakova made a suprising return to competition after announcing her retirment from sport in September 2022.
The two-time Olympic champion in the women's javelin throw finished sixth at the home meet with a best throw of 57.23 metres.
Japan's Haruka Kitaguchi won the event with three throws, her best reaching 63.72 metres.