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Sprinter Ajla Del Ponte and high jumper Loïc Gasch both miss an exploit at the West Midlands meeting.
The Swiss missions
It was to be assumed that Ajla Del Ponte would not be one of the favorites to win the day in her personal season debut over 100 m. Nevertheless, the Ticino was not satisfied with her performance at the meeting in Birmingham. Del Ponte struggled to keep up with her competitors from the start. After that, the Olympic finalist never found her rhythm and finished last in 9th place. With 11.72 seconds, she was far from her personal best (10.90 s). Local Dina Asher-Smith took the lead in 11.11 seconds, just ahead of Shericka Jackson (+0.01 s) from Jamaica and her compatriot Daryll Neita (+0.03 s).
Loïc Gasch also experienced a disappointing afternoon. The high jumper broke three times at a height of 2.22 meters and finished the competition in 5th place. The Frenchman thus clearly missed his target height of 2.30 meters. Django Lovett won the day ahead of the Italian co-Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi. The Canadian was the only one to jump the height of 2.28 meters.
On the track
It got loudest this afternoon in the Alexander Stadium, which was filled with 13,000 spectators during the men’s 400m sprint. Here secured himself with Matthew Hudson Smith namely a local victory in 45.32 seconds. The 27-year-old athlete hails from Wolverhampton, a neighboring town to Birmingham. The joy was correspondingly great after the race, in which he relegated the two Americans Bryce Deadmon and Kahmari Montgomery to their places.
The men’s sprint race over the king’s distance needed three attempts. In the first attempt, American Trayvon Bromell, a big name, fell victim to a false start. A little later, the Brit Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for the same offense. The Canadian advanced in the reduced field of participants Aaron Brown in 10.13 seconds to the winner. Yohan Blake (JAM) and Brown compatriot Jerome Blake completed the podium.
In the oval
Distanced by almost five meters and more Kristian Ceh the men’s discus throw competition. With a phenomenal throw of 71.27 meters – the tenth largest distance ever measured – the Slovenian pulverized several brands: His 3rd attempt not only meant a personal best, but also a world record for the year and a national record in addition to meeting and Diamond League records.