Pole vaulter Barber caps Diamond League season with bronze in Brussels
Canadian teammate Mo Ahmed runs season-best 13:03.08 in record-breaking men's 5,000m
Shawn Barber continued a recent stretch of strong performances on Friday, clearing 5.83 metres to finish third in men's pole vault at the Diamond League track and field final in Brussels.
It appeared the Canadian-born athlete might bow out after missing his first two attempts at 5.40, but Barber overcame a slow start at King Baudouin Stadium to wage an exciting battle with Russia's Timur Morgunov (5.93) and American Sam Kendricks (5.88), who finished 1-2.
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After jumping 5.40 at the recent NACAC championships in Toronto, a place the Kincardine, Ont.-born, New Mexico-raised Barber calls home, the 24-year-old travelled to Poland and delivered a 5.85 on Aug. 17 — his second highest outdoors of 2018 and best since a 5.92 on March 31.
Watch Shawn Barber's journey to a 3rd-place finish:
The 2015 world champion then set an indoor season best of 5.86 at an exhibition in Switzerland on Wednesday, defeating Kendricks, longtime rival Renaud Lavillenie, Olympic-record holder Thiago Braz and Poland's Pawel Wojciechowski and Piotr Lisek — all of whom were in Friday's field.
On Friday, the six-foot-one Barber took two attempts to clear 5.53, 5.63 and 5.68 before making good on his first try at 5.73 to sit third after clipping the bar. The 2018 Canadian champion would miss at 5.78 and chose to re-enter at 5.83 and cleared to move into first place.
Barber missed all three attempts at 5.88 while Morgunov and Kendricks each converted on their final try. The Russian vaulted 5.93 and Kendricks bypassed the height and re-entered at 5.98, missing three times.
Watch Timur Morgunov's close call in July at a meet in Rabat:
Ahmed sets season best in 5,000m
Mo Ahmed's ninth-place finish and season-best time of 13 minutes 3.08 seconds was overlooked following an extremely fast men's 5,000 metres that saw Ethiopia's Selemon Barega shatter the Diamond League mark in a world-leading and meet record 12:43.02 — the fourth-fastest in history.
Watch Ahmed reflect on his season-ending performance:
Of the 13 finishers, nine established person bests, including Hagos Gebrhiwet (12:45.82) and Yomit Kejelcha (12:46.79), as Ethiopia filled the podium.
It marked just the fifth 5,000 of the season for the Somalian-born, St. Catharines, Ont.-raised Ahmed, who has never won gold or silver in a Diamond League race. He finished fifth at last year's Diamond League final in Zürich.
The 27-year-old, however, did prevail earlier in the season at the Canadian championships and won silver in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the Commonwealth Games.
Ahmed, who runs 80 to 100 miles weekly with his teammates at the Portland-based Bowerman Track Club, will be part of the Canadian contingent at the Continental Cup Sept. 8-9 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, along with Matt Hughes (3,000m steeplechase), Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (1,500), Barber and Nettey.
Mason 7th in high jump
High jumper Mike Mason, trying to make the most of his opportunity to compete at a Diamond League final, placed seventh with a best clearance of 2.26 metres.
Click on the video player below to watch Mike Mason's high-flying finish:
The 31-year-old from Nanoose Bay, B.C., had qualified 10th of 12 competitors for Friday's competition with a second-place finish (2.30) two weeks ago at the Müller Grand Prix in Birmingham, England.
On Friday, Mason missed his first try at 2.15 but made good on his second attempt. The three-time Olympian went on to clear 2.23 and 2.26 on his first try before missing three times at 2.29.
Mason was in top form for much of the season. He jumped 2.32 in May at Victoria — just shy of his 2.33 personal best, set three years ago in Edmonton. Earlier this month, Mason went 2.28 for a silver medal at the NACAC championships in Toronto.
Australia's Brandon Starc, who beat Mason to win at Birmingham, captured the Diamond Trophy with a jump of 2.33.
Long jumper Nettey reaches 6.52m
Christbel Nettey finished seventh in a field of nine long jumpers, topping out at 6.52 metres on the second of her six attempts.
Click on the video player below to watch Christbel Nettey's rebound performance:
The Surrey, B.C., native dipped to 6.47, 6.39 and 6.35 before rebounding to jump 6.50 on her final try.
Nettey, 27, excelled to open the outdoor season coming off her first indoor campaign in three years. She won her first three competitions, including a season-high 6.92 jump in Brisbane, Australia, and a gold medal two weeks later on the Gold Coast at the Commonwealth Games.
But she extended herself during a mid-season trip to Europe for four competitions in two weeks and struggled to regain top form following her return, jumping 6.54 in Birmingham, England, after taking nearly a month off.
Still, Nettey won seven of 11 outdoor events this year.
Colombia's Caterine Ibarguen jumped 6.80 to top Friday's field.
Coleman runs world-leading 9.79 seconds
Christian Coleman became the fastest sprinter of the season when he won the 100 metres in 9.79 seconds and beat favoured U.S. compatriot Ronnie Baker.
Click on the video player below to watch Coleman's world-leading performance:
Coleman set a personal record — the seventh-fastest 100m of all-time — despite a slight headwind and easily won because Baker totally missed his start and had to recover to finish in 9.93 seconds. Former world champion Yohan Blake finished third.
Coleman is 22 and with his win at the end of a strong season, he establishes himself as a new star who could shine at next year's world championships in Doha, Qatar.
Watch Coleman's post-race interview:
Perez ends Perkovic's 6-year reign in discus
Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perkovic lost her hold on the Diamond League Trophy after six years when she was defeated by Yaime Perez on the Cuban's final throw of the year-long competition.
The reigning Olympic, world, and European champion seemed ready to coast to her seventh title after she took the early lead at the Van Damme with 64.31 metres on her first throw, but Perez hit back on her sixth throw with 65.
Also on her final throw, Andressa de Morais of Brazil took second place with 64.65.
Perkovic said she had been suffering from the flu for several days, and complained the International Association of Athletics Federations should not award the trophy based on one day's performance.
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With files from The Associated Press