Track stars Noah Lyles, Jordan Anthony and Rai Benjamin were among the winners as the Seiko Golden Grand Prix at the Tokyo\u2019s National Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And meeting records fell in the 3000m and women\u2019s 400m as athletes made their marks early in the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Olympic and multiple world champion Lyles contested his first 100m races of the year, back in the stadium where he claimed world 200m and 4x100m titles in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He opened with 10.05 into a 1.1 m\/s headwind and improved to 9.95 (0.6m\/s) in the final to win the last race on the programme. His 18-year-old compatriot Tate Taylor was second in 10.04 and another 18-year-old, Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan, was third in 10.09.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I\u2019m happy with the race, I\u2019m happy with the time,” said Lyles. “It\u2019s a great way to start the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It wasn’t my fastest, but it was definitely in my top five fastest season openers, so I’d say it was very worth the journey and I’m excited that I got to have it in a fun place like Tokyo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His compatriots Anthony and Benjamin also secured sprint wins \u2013 world indoor 60m champion Anthony taking the 200m in 20.05 into a 1.3m\/s headwind and world 400m hurdles champion Benjamin winning the 400m flat in 44.69.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courtney Lindsey got the stronger start in the 200m, but Anthony judged his race well and a powerful finish clinched him a clear win. Lindsey was second in 20.28. The 400m was closer and four athletes were in contention as they reached the home straight. But Benjamin \u2013 in his first race since the World Championships \u2013 looked relaxed, running alongside a battling Muzala Samukonga. The hurdles specialist won by 0.14 ahead of Zambia\u2019s Olympic bronze medallist (44.83).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think I could have done better execution wise, but it’s the first one,” said Benjamin. “So, I feel happy to come out with the win and get a good one in front of a good crowd.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Britain\u2019s world and Olympic relay medallist Yemi Mary John impressed in her first outdoor 400m of the year, becoming a member of the sub-50.00 club as she improved her PB from 50.50 to 49.85 \u2013 a meeting record. USA\u2019s Bailey Lear was second in 50.42.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was always going to be a fast race because I know the Tokyo track is so incredible,” said John, who opened her outdoor season two weeks ago at the World Relays in Gaborone. “The Olympics were here and I was fortunate to race here last year at the World Championships. I was hoping for a fast race and just great energy, a great atmosphere.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meeting record also fell in the women\u2019s 3000m as Kenya\u2019s Japan-based Janet Jepkoech picked up the pace during the final kilometre to win in a PB of 8:39.24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nagiya Mori, Ryuto Igawa and Yu Shibata delighted home fans as they all dipped under the Japanese record and meeting record in the men\u2019s 3000m. Mori led the way as he clocked 7:38.98 to beat Suguru Osako\u2019s national record of 7:40.09 set in 2014, closely followed by Igawa in 7:39.36 and Shibata in 7:39.51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was more home success in the men\u2019s 110m hurdles as Tatsuki Abe won in 13.26 (-0.2m\/s) ahead of USA\u2019s Connor Schulman (13.33). US indoor champion Alia Armstrong won the 100m hurdles in 12.75 (-0.9m\/s), narrowly holding off Japanese champion Yumi Tanaka (12.81).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Racing on the track where the world record was set during the Tokyo Olympics, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s 2022 world U20 champion \u0130smail Nezir ran a PB of 48.25 to win the 400m hurdles. Japan\u2019s Kaito Tsutsue was second in 48.65.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two-time NACAC Championships medallist Rhema Otabor of The Bahamas denied Japanese champion Momone Ueda a home win in the javelin. Otabor soared into the lead with 61.57m in the fifth round and her rivals couldn\u2019t respond, Ueda securing second place with 61.40m and Colombia\u2019s 2023 world silver medallist Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado placing third on 60.98m. Japan\u2019s Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi was fifth in her first competition since last year\u2019s World Championships, recording a best of 60.36m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Czechia\u2019s multiple world and Olympic medallist Jakub Vadlejch opened his season with a 85.24m men’s javelin win \u2013 his farthest throw since the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan\u2019s Yuki Hashioka leapt 8.22m (1.9m\/s) to win the long jump, while his compatriot Sou Shibuya won the high jump on countback with a first-time PB clearance of 2.24m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Track stars Noah Lyles, Jordan Anthony and Rai Benjamin were among the winners as the Seiko Golden Grand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-12952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-athletics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t