World Champion Steven Gardiner ran a season’s best time and Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo settled for second as the Bahamian elite athletes got back in action, competing at the 2021 Gyulai István Memorial at the Bregyó Athletic Center in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, on Tuesday.
In a highly anticipated matchup, billed as the race of the meet, Gardiner was set to line up against US National Champion Michael Norman and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, of South Africa, in the first meeting ever between the three Olympic favorites. However, van Niekerk was a no-show, leaving Gardiner and Norman to battle each other for the title in the World Continental Tour Gold event.
Gardiner fell short of his meet record of 44.30 seconds that was set six years ago, but still took the tape, finishing first in the men’s 400 meters (m) in a season’s best time of 44.47 seconds. Norman settled for third in 44.65 seconds. Bryce Deadmon, who finished seventh at the United States (US) Olympic Trials, split the pre-race favorites in 44.58 seconds. Another American, Michael Cherry, was fourth in 44.69 seconds.
Coming off a groin injury, Miller-Uibo crossed the finish line in second in the women’s 200m in 22.15 seconds. It was her first loss in the women’s 200m since 2017, snapping her 16-race unbeaten streak. Jamaican Shericka Jackson was impressive again, winning in 21.96 seconds. Both went under Miller-Uibo’s meet record of 22.18 seconds.
Two-time World Champion in that event Dafne Schippers, of the Netherlands, finished third in 22.70 seconds.
Miller-Uibo will now prepare for the Meeting Herculis EBS Wanda Diamond League event in Monaco on Friday, going up against US National Champion Gabrielle Thomas and Jamaican National Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Thomas and Fraser-Pryce have the top two times in the world this year, 21.61 and 21.79 seconds, respectively.
According to reports, Miller-Uibo has re-focused her attention of going after the 200 and 400m titles at the Olympics. She had initially planned to contest just the 200m due to a scheduling conflict, but came home and ran both events at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Junior and Senior National Championships two weekends ago, creating speculation that she would attempt the 200-400 double at the Olympics. A final decision would still be made in Tokyo, based on her health status, but according to reports, Miller-Uibo is leaning heavily in that direction. The heats of the women’s 400m and the final of the women’s 200m are on the same day in Tokyo.
The rapidly approaching Olympics is now a little over two weeks away, set for July 23 to August 8, in Tokyo, Japan. The athletics portion of the Olympics will get underway on July 30.
Former World Champion Donald Thomas was the only other Bahamian in action in Hungary, on Tuesday, competing in the men’s high jump.
Thomas, who has a history of jumping well in Hungary, finished seventh with a season’s best leap of 2.27m (7’ 5-1/4”). He was clean in the competition up until 2.27m, and knocked the bar down twice at that height before going over on his third attempt. He knocked down the bar once at 2.30m (7’ 6-1/2”) before passing on his final two attempts at that height. Thomas then went after the height of 2.33m (7’ 7-3/4”) and failed on both attempts at that height.
Maksim Nedasekau, of Belarus, won the competition, matching the world lead of 2.37m (7’ 9-1/4”). Ilya Ivanyuk, of Russia but competing as one of the Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) due to Russia’s ban, was second with a clearance of 2.33m. Fellow ANA athlete Mikhail Akimenko cleared that same height but had to settle for third based on number of knockdowns.
Thomas, now 14 years removed from his world title, set his personal best (PB) clearance of 2.37m, just a centimeter off Troy Kemp’s national record of 2.38m (7’ 9-3/4”), in Hungary in 2016. In 2015, he had another huge jump in Hungary, leaping 2.34m (7’ 8”) at the same meet. Kemp is the only other World Champion for The Bahamas in the men’s high, winning that global title in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/gardiner-runs-seasons-best-in-hungary-miller-uibo-second/
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