Reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden delivered a dramatic victory over Sha’Carri Richardson in the women’s 100 metres at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on Saturday, winning by the slimmest of margins in a breathtaking photo finish.
Richardson, widely celebrated for her blazing closing speed, was unable to hold off Jefferson-Wooden in the final stretch. Jefferson-Wooden crossed the tape in 10.78 seconds, edging Richardson by just one hundredth of a second to claim the win.
Twenty-year-old Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands rounded out the podium with a time of 10.80.
“It was a fight literally to the finish but I wanted it more,” Jefferson-Wooden said after the race.
On the men’s side, Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi pulled off a major upset, overtaking Jamaican world leader Oblique Seville at the 50-metre mark and finishing in 9.84. Seville came in five hundredths of a second behind, while American Christian Coleman took third in 9.95.
“I’ve been consistent,” Ajayi said. “That was part of my goal. Stay on top of it all, stay consistent, come out here and do what I have to do and just execute my race.”
The meet also featured a remarkable performance from 18-year-old American Tate Taylor, who knocked off reigning Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the men’s 200 metres. Fresh out of high school, Taylor ran into a headwind and still crossed the finish line 0.18 seconds ahead of the field, posting a time of 19.75 — well below his previous personal best of 19.94.
“I just can’t really believe it,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t going to expect to win this race.”
Australia’s Cameron Myers, 20, dominated the men’s mile, winning in 3:46.06 and finishing 0.55 seconds ahead of American 1,500m Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse after pulling away down the final straightaway.
American Nikki Hiltz set a world-leading time of 4:17.49 to take the women’s mile, with Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi finishing second in 4:17.62. Three-time 1,500m Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon was a surprising third in 4:17.80.
In the 110m hurdles, American Jamal Britt won in 12.86, with Ja’Kobe Tharp — who shattered a 14-year-old U.S. record in the same event at the same track last month — fading after a strong start to finish just 0.05 seconds behind.
U.S. Olympic champion Masai Russell dominated the women’s 100m hurdles, finishing a full tenth of a second ahead of world-record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, crossing in 12.24.
Kenya’s world champion Lilian Odira held off Britain’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson in the final 100 metres to win the women’s 800m in 1:56.19. Hodgkinson, who has publicly spoken about her goal of breaking the 800m world record, finished in 1:56.73. She had withdrawn from the 400m at the U.K. Athletics Championships last month but later indicated she was in good health.
Botswana’s 400m world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi won his specialty event in exactly 44 seconds, running down hurdles Olympic gold medallist Rai Benjamin, who finished in 44.11, on the final stretch.
In the field events, Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall soared to a winning leap of 7.13 metres in the long jump. Two-time world champion Chase Jackson won the women’s shot put on her very first throw with a distance of 20.56 metres.
China’s Zhang Jiale (77.94 metres) edged Canada’s Olympic champion Camryn Rogers (77.81 metres) in the women’s hammer throw. Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna took the men’s discus with a throw of 71.06 metres, and Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri won the men’s shot put at 22.74 metres.
