20th July 2020
WEEKEND UPDATE - 20/07/20
Meeting Internazionale, Savona, Italy, 16 July
Andrew Pozzi (coach: Santiago Antunez; club: Stratford-upon-Avon) lowered his 110m hurdles world leading time with a superb 13.30s (1.6) clocking in Italy.
After stopping the clock in 13.44s in Rieti just shy of a fortnight previous, he produced yet another flawless performance to win the event, and continuing his unbeaten 2020 season.
The Briton flew out of the blocks and had a comfortable lead by the time he clattered into hurdle six. He regained his composure and despite clipping the final two barriers, he dipped well clear of the rest of the field and shaved another tenth off his own world leading mark set just shy of two weeks prior.
1er meeting Régional ACM, Montpellier, France, 16 July
Having returned to her training base in France following the coronavirus pandemic, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Bertrand Valcin; Liverpool) competed outdoors for the first time this season and produced two second-place finishes in the 200m and the shot put.
On the track, the Liverpudlian clocked 23.65s (no wind indicated), coming in just 0.05s off victory behind Floria Guei, but showed improvement from her first competition of the year in the shot put as she took second position with a 12.50m best.
After an opening round throw of 12.41m, her nine centimetre improvement was good enough to second spot, behind Laura Arteil (FRA), who won with 13.75m. Johnson-Thompson also cleared the 12m mark a third time, with a 12.23m final attempt.
The Bigger Friendly, Portland, Oregon, United States of America, 17 July
World Championship finalist Josh Kerr (Danny Mackey; Edinburgh) secured his first victory in his first outdoor race of the season, winning the 1000m in Portland, with fellow Briton Jake Heyward (Mark Rowland; Cardiff) coming home in fourth.
Kerr took the race out from the off, leading at the 600m mark, before kicking for home in a 54-second final 400m that was enough to see him secure first place in 2:17.60, his first ever run over the distance.
For Heyward, he was in contention at the bell but found himself squeezed into fourth positon in 2:18.55 by Vincent Ciattei, the time also a PB for the young Welshman.
Nationales Meeting, Osterode, Germany, 18 July
British discus record holder Lawrence Okoye (John Hillier; Croydon) opened up his 2020 season with his best throw since leaving the sport back in 2012, producing a 63.02m effort to move straight to the top of the British rankings.
The second-round effort of the Croydon man was good enough to open up a 1.67m lead on German David Wrobel, with Okoye backing up his second round throw with three more efforts over the 60.00m mark, including a third round 62.12m.
Jade Lally (Zane Duquemin; Shaftesbury Barnet) continued to show she is returning towards the top of her game as she took third place in the women’s event, with Kirsty Law (Zane Duquemin; Sale Harriers Manchester) fifth.
Lally, British record holder struggled to make an impact in the early rounds, but in round four, upped her game with a 56.55m effort, before improving to a new season’s best of 58.76m in the fifth round, securing third spot behind world and European Championship finalist Claudine Vita (GER) and European U23 Championship shot put bronze medallist, Julia Ritter.
Law’s best effort came in the second round owed to a 53.88m throw, backed up by three further throws that all cleared the 53.00m mark. Her result was good enough for fifth position in the standings.
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