Saturday At World Indoors: Michelle Carter Comes Up Totally Clutch, Ashton Eaton Crushes Field Again, Dafne Schippers Is Beaten and Much More

by LetsRun.com
March 19, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. — Saturday night at the 2016 World Indoor Track and Field Championships was full of finals as medals were handed out in the women’s 60m, 400m, 1500m and shot put and the men’s 400, 800, triple jump, high jump and heptathlon before a sellout crowd of 7,173.

We recap the non-distance finals from today below.

Our recap of the men’s 800 final, which was won by American Boris Berian, got its own article: Boris Berian’s Gutsy Run Gets 800m Gold At World Indoors 2016; Bronze for Erik Sowinski. Our recap of the women’s 800 prelims from earlier today is here: Ajee Wilson And Laura Roesler Look Excellent In Qualifying As Francine Niyonsaba Shows She’s Here To Contend.

Talk about the exciting action tonight on our world famous fan forum / messageboard:

• Official Day 3 2016 World Indoors Live Discussion Thread 
• Boris MF Berian is the World Champ!! Wire to Wire!!! 
• Boris Berian Will Win The 800m At The WC’s This Weekend 
• Duane Soloman 1:46 at UCF Invite
• Now we know why Centro is running so well this year – Salazar’s not coaching him!! His dad is!! 
• Settle the LRC Debate: Asafa Powell Choker or Not?

Ashton Eaton Crosses the Line for Gold (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for IAAF)

Men’s Heptathlon: Ashton Eaton Wins Again

Ashton Eaton made it three straight world indoor titles in three tries as he won with a world-leading score 6470, winning gold a day after his wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton won gold in the women’s pentathlon. Eaton dominated the competition as the Ukraine’s Oleksiy Kasyanov was second (just as he was in 2012) with 6182. The real excitement today came in the battle for third. Germany’s Mathias Brugger entered the final event – the 1000 – with a 67-point lead on American Curtis Beach, who was in 6th but had his best event coming up as his 1k pb is a stellar 2:23.63. Would Beach be able to catch up to Brugger, who had a 2:38.05 pb? If Beach beat Brugger by 5.8 seconds, the bronze would be his.

Beach certainly went for it as he had the lead from start to finish, winning the event in 2:29.04. But Brugger really wanted the medal and tracked Beach throughout. He was about three seconds back entering the final lap but Beach’s lead expanded from there to the finish. Yet in the end, Brugger came through with a massive pb of 2:34.10. Beach won by just 5.06 – not the 5.8 that he needed. Brugger won bronze with 6126 to Beach’s 6118.

While Eaton was totally dominant over the last two days, it’s worth pointing out that his marks this year were worse in every single event than when he set the world indoor record of 6645 in 2012.

Eaton, however, was still within striking distance of the world record during the pole vault. He cleared 5.10 (16’8″), then passed and took two attempts at over 5.50 (18’0″) which would have made the world record feasible in the 1000. Once he missed 5.50, the world record wasn’t a possibility.

Quick Take #1: Great weekend for the Eatons and coach Harry Marra

Eaton and his coach Harry Marra are always philosophical about the sport. Eaton said he would have loved to give the fans a world record, “I really wanted to set another world record and give everyone here a little treat, but hopefully they still got something out of this.”

Marra coached two gold medallists this weekend as Eaton’s wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton won gold in the pentathlon Friday night. When asked how he felt he said, “I’m numb. I’m numb.” Marra is going to retire after next season and said then he will hopefully have ten years to go to his home in California and reflect more. Before that happens, he has to prepare the Eaton’s for Rio. Marra said the only issue with Ashton was he was a bit rusty as he had more sponsorship commitments this winter.

Quick Take #2: Curtis Beach Thought He Could Run a 2:23 PR Today And That Would Have Gotten Him the Silver Medal

Curtis Beach just missed out the medals, finishing 8 points away from a bronze after running 2:29.04 in the 1000m. Beach’s lifetime best is 2:23.63, which is the heptathlon world record. Although Beach was nowhere near that today, he told LRC afterwards that he thought he could run a PR today. His workouts had been going well and he had the incentive to set a personal best as he was in contention for the medals.

According to the USATF heptathlon tables, if Beach had equaled his PR today, he would have won the silver medal by 1 point. Instead he missed the bronze by 8 points. To tie for bronze, Beach would have needed to run 2:28.41.

Both Beach and Ashton Eaton said the 1000m was particularly hard today and they weren’t sure why. There are uncertainties to the heptathlon from event to event, with athletes exerting more in certain events than they thought they would and events taking longer than they thought they would.

Beach now turns his attention to the outdoor season. First he’ll take a little break and maybe have some time to watch the NCAA tournament where his Duke Blue Devils advanced to the Sweet 16 by beating Yale today. Beach gained some points with LRC by saying some kind words about Yale (LRC founder Weldon Johnson went to Yale).

Results

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	POINTS		60 METRES	LONG JUMP	SHOT PUT	HIGH JUMP	60 METRES HURDLES	POLE VAULT	1000 METRES
1		Ashton EATON	USA	6470 WL	Points Mark Wind m/s	951 6.81	1081 8.08	738 14.16	794 1.99	1038 7.78	941 5.10	927 2:35.22
2		Oleksiy KASYANOV	UKR	6182 SB	Points Mark Wind m/s	933 6.86	932 7.49	761 14.53	794 1.99	1005 7.91	880 4.90	877 2:39.64
3		Mathias BRUGGER	GER	6126 PB	Points Mark Wind m/s	830 7.15	886 7.30	757 14.47	850 2.05	922 8.24	941 5.10	940 2:34.10
4		Curtis BEACH	USA	6118 SB	Points Mark Wind m/s	868 7.04	972 7.65	675 13.12	822 2.02	872 8.45	910 5.00	999 2:29.04
5		Adam Sebastian HELCELET	CZE	6003 SB	Points Mark Wind m/s	865 7.05	859 7.19	787 14.96	822 2.02	972 8.04	880 4.90	818 2:45.06
6		Kurt FELIX	GRN	5986 NIR	Points Mark Wind m/s	882 7.00	922 7.45	791 15.02	906 2.11	898 8.34	760 4.50	827 2:44.23
7		Tim NOWAK	GER	5832 PB	Points Mark Wind m/s	819 7.18	795 6.92	747 14.31	794 1.99	930 8.21	880 4.90	867 2:40.57
8		Jérémy LELIÉVRE	FRA	5769	Points Mark Wind m/s	875 7.02	847 7.14	731 14.04	687 1.87	922 8.24	790 4.60	917 2:36.15
9		Samuel REMÉDIOS	POR	5733	Points Mark Wind m/s	907 6.93	852 7.16	697 13.48	740 1.93	949 8.13	790 4.60	798 2:46.92
10		Petter OLSON	SWE	5697	Points Mark Wind m/s	823 7.17	811 6.99	723 13.92	740 1.93	920 8.25	849 4.80	831 2:43.85
		Jorge UREÑA	ESP	DNF	Points Mark Wind m/s	847 7.10	850 7.15	621 12.24	767 1.96	925 8.23	0 DNS

Michelle Carter, New America Record Holder (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for IAAF)

Women’s Shot Put: Michelle Carter Crushes The American Record With Clutch Sixth-Round Throw

Michelle Carter was totally clutch. As she entered the ring for her sixth and final throw, she trailed Hungary’s Anita Márton’s 63′ 5″ (19.33m) by three-quarters of an inch.

The 30-year-old American then came up with a massive heave of 66′ 3¾” (20.21m) to grab gold by nearly three feet and also destroy Jill Camerana-Williams’ American record of 65-3¼ (19.89m) in the process.

Carter’s winning mark was just 1.25 inches off her American outdoor record of 66’5”.  

7-time World (4 outdoor, 3 indoor) and 2-time Olympic champ Valerie Adams was third at 63′ 2″ (19.25 m).

Results

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	DETAIL	ATTEMPT 1	ATTEMPT 2	ATTEMPT 3	ATTEMPT 4	ATTEMPT 5	ATTEMPT 6
1	817	Michelle CARTER	USA	20.21	WL	X	18.90	19.31	19.28	X	20.21
2	693	Anita MÁRTON	HUN	19.33	NIR	17.99	18.38	19.01	18.71	19.08	19.33
3	759	Valerie ADAMS	NZL	19.25		18.49	18.30	19.25	X	19.02	18.31
4	801	Cleopatra BOREL	TTO	18.38	SB	17.41	17.73	17.59	17.31	18.38	17.50
5	816	Jillian CAMARENA-WILLIAMS	USA	18.17		18.17	X	X	17.57	17.52
6	626	Radoslava MAVRODIEVA	BUL	18.00	SB	17.01	18.00	X	X	17.91
7	683	Lena URBANIAK	GER	17.91		X	17.19	17.55	X	17.91
8	636	Yang GAO	CHN	17.67		17.26	17.27	17.65	17.67	17.02
9	614	Aliona DUBITSKAYA	BLR	17.45		17.45	X	X
10	635	Ka BIAN	CHN	17.34		16.86	17.13	17.34
11	702	Chiara ROSA	ITA	17.10		17.10	X	16.89

Women’s 60m Final (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images for IAAF)

Women’s 60: American Barbara Pierre Holds Off Dafne Schippers

2016 world leader and US champion Barbara Pierre held off co-world leader Dafne Schippers (Netherlands), 7.02 to 7.04. Both had run 7.00 this year.

Schippers, the 200 world champ, was closing hard and if this race had been 80 meters she would have been the winner but Pierre’s superior start gave her the win. Kudos to Schippers, one of track and field’s biggest female stars, for working on her short speed at Worlds.

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	834	Barbara PIERRE	USA	7.02		0.138
2	747	Dafne SCHIPPERS	NED	7.04		0.144
3	718	Elaine THOMPSON	JAM	7.06		0.174
4	798	Michelle-Lee AHYE	TTO	7.11		0.145
5	667	Asha PHILIP	GBR	7.14		0.137
6	815	Tori BOWIE	USA	7.14		0.125
7	641	Marie-Josee TA LOU	CIV	7.29		0.312
	664	Dina ASHER-SMITH	GBR	DNS

A proper celebration by Tamberi (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for IAAF)

Men’s High Jump: 23-Year-Old Italian Gianmarco Tamberi Caps Off Undefeated Indoor Campaign

The magical season of 23-year-old Gianmarco Tamberi continued as he capped off an undefeated indoor campaign with a win by clearing 7’9″ (2.36m), a height no one else made tonight, on his first attempt. 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz got the silver and American Erik Kynard the bronze as they both cleared 7′ 7¾” (2.33m).

That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of drama in this event. Tamberi came into World Indoors a perfect four for four on the year, having cleared at least 7′ 7¾” (2.33m) in all of his wins. However, he almost went home without a medal as he needed three attempts to get over 7′ 6¼” (2.29m). He then needed three more attempts to get over 7′ 7¾” (2.33m) which gave him at least a bronze before getting the win on his next jump.

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	DETAIL	2.20	2.25	2.29	2.33	2.36	2.38	2.40
1	245	Gianmarco TAMBERI	ITA	2.36		XO	O	XXO	XXO	O	–	XXX
2	216	Robert GRABARZ	GBR	2.33	SB	XO	O	XO	O	XXX
3	388	Erik KYNARD	USA	2.33	SB	O	O	O	XO	XXX
4	320	Mutaz Essa BARSHIM	QAT	2.29		O	O	O	XX-	X
5	228	Konstadínos BANIÓTIS	GRE	2.29		O	O	XO	XXX
6	157	Guowei ZHANG	CHN	2.29		O	XO	XO	XXX
7	361	Andriy PROTSENKO	UKR	2.29		O	XXO	XO	XXX
8	209	Chris BAKER	GBR	2.29		XO	O	XXO	XXX
9	244	Marco FASSINOTTI	ITA	2.25		XO	XO	XXX
10	118	Donald THOMAS	BAH	2.25		O	XXO	XXX
11	119	Jamal WILSON	BAH	2.20		O	XXX
12	392	Ricky ROBERTSON	USA	2.20	SB	XXO	XXX

Ashley Spencer’s Comeback Continues (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images for IAAF)

Women’s 400: Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya Wins

Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain went wire to wire and won the women’s 400 title in a new indoor pb and Bahrain indoor record of 51.45. America went 2-3 as former DII superstar Quanera Hayes (Livingston), who came in with the best seasonal best time of any of the competitors (51.09; NCAA champ Courtney Okolo ran 50.69 at NCAAs last week), ran right behind Adekoya for most of the race before being overtaken just before the line by 2012 and 2013 NCAA champ Ashley Spencer (also the 2012 world junior champ) as Spencer ran 51.72 to Hayes’ 51.76.

Adekoya is 23 years old and was born in Nigeria. Outdoors, she ran 51.11 in 2014 and 50.86 in 2015 but also runs the 400 hurdles (54.12 pb), which is the event she ran at Worlds last summer (DQ’d in first round).

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	625	Oluwakemi ADEKOYA	BRN	51.45	AIR	0.189
2	839	Ashley SPENCER	USA	51.72		0.187
3	827	Quanera HAYES	USA	51.76		0.197
4	712	Stephenie Ann MCPHERSON	JAM	52.20		0.129
5	767	Justyna SWIETY	POL	52.46		0.202
6	791	Iveta PUTALOVÁ	SVK	54.39		0.277

Pavel Maslak for Repeat Gold (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images for IAAF)

Men’s 400: Pavel Maslák Stalks Down Bralon Taplin And Gets The Win

The Czech Republic’s Pavel Maslák’s unbeaten streak indoors continued as he came on late to successfully defend his world indoor crown. Grenada’s Bralon Taplin had the lead for the entire race until the home stretch when Maslák blew by for the win in 45.44. 19-year-old Qatari Abdalelah Haroun – who earlier this winter became the first human under 60.00 in the 500 – ended up second in 45.59 as former Texas A&M star Deon Lendore (Trinidad and Tobago) was third in 46.17. Taplin, who came in as the world leader at 45.20 and also went to Texas A&M, tied up big time in the home stretch and didn’t even end up with a medal as he went from first to fourth (46.56) in a matter of meters.

Maslak hasn’t lost indoors since February 3, 2013.

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	171	Pavel MASLÁK	CZE	45.44		0.185
2	321	Abdalelah HAROUN	QAT	45.59	SB	0.204
3	350	Deon LENDORE	TTO	46.17		0.214
4	233	Bralon TAPLIN	GRN	46.56		0.138
5	269	Boniface Ontuga MWERESA	KEN	46.86		0.186
6	349	Lalonde GORDON	TTO	47.62		0.135

Bin Dong (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for IAAF)

Men’s Triple Jump: China’s Dong Bin Dominates

China’s Dong Bin came into worlds as the world leader by more than a foot (13.75 inches) and he left as a much deserved world champ as he won with a mark of 56′ 10¼” (17.33m). Bin was totally dominant as he had three jumps that were better than the 56′ 2¾” (17.14m) runner-up mark put up by Germany’s Max Hess. France’s Benjamin Compaoré was third at 56′ 1″ (17.09).

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	DETAIL	ATTEMPT 1	ATTEMPT 2	ATTEMPT 3	ATTEMPT 4	ATTEMPT 5	ATTEMPT 6
1	150	Bin DONG	CHN	17.33		17.18	16.20	17.29	16.98	17.33	X
2	222	Max HESS	GER	17.14	PB	16.25	16.37	X	17.14	X	17.14
3	203	Benjamin COMPAORÉ	FRA	17.09	SB	16.77	X	17.00	–	17.04	17.09
4	315	Nelson ÉVORA	POR	16.89	SB	X	16.66	16.63	16.89	16.89	X
5	377	Omar CRADDOCK	USA	16.87		16.58	16.33	–	16.52	16.87
6	295	Tosin OKE	NGR	16.73	SB	16.73	16.65	X	X	16.64
7	191	Pablo TORRIJOS	ESP	16.67		16.16	16.20	16.51	16.30	16.67
8	110	Nazim BABAYEV	AZE	16.43		X	16.36	16.07	16.43	16.41
9	204	Harold CORREA	FRA	16.30		16.12	16.30	X
10	323	Marian OPREA	ROU	16.27		16.05	15.98	16.27
11	369	Chris BENARD	USA	16.15		16.14	X	16.15
12	385	Alphonso JORDAN	USA	16.11		16.11	X	15.99
13	283	Jonathan DRACK	MRI	16.04		16.04	X	15.82
14	296	Olu OLAMIGOKE	NGR	15.94	SB	13.73	15.59	15.94
15	262	Roman VALIYEV	KAZ	15.54		X	15.54	X
16	176	Yordanys DURANONA	DMA	15.27	SB	15.27	X	–

(L-R) Bronze medallist Paraskevi­ Papahristou, Yulimar Rojas, Kristin Gierisch (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for IAAF)

Women’s Triple Jump: 20-Year-Old Yulimar Rojas Wins Gold As University of Georgia Sophomore Keturah Orji Nearly Medals

In this event, which was held during the morning session, Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas lived up to her billing as the favorite and won with a mark of 47 feet, 3 ½ inches (14.49m). Rojas, who is just 20, is the word leader (14.69m) for 2016 and won despite only having one legal jump (round 2).

Germany’s Kristin Gierisch got the silver with a seasonal best of 46’11” (14.30m) as Greece’s Paraskeví Papahrístou got the bronze 46’5.25” (14.15), just edging American Keturah Orji by 1 centimeter.

Orji was the story of the day from an American perspective. The 20-year-old collegian, who won the 2015 NCAA outdoors for Georgia as a freshman last year, had never broken 14.00 meters indoors until the SEC championships three weeks ago. There she jumped 14.08m (46’2.5”), which she improved to 14.12m (46′ 4″) to win NCAAs last week and now 14.14m (46’4.75”). So three pbs in three competitions. Her outdoor pb is 46′ 5¼” (14.15).

POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	DETAIL	ATTEMPT 1	ATTEMPT 2	ATTEMPT 3	ATTEMPT 4	ATTEMPT 5	ATTEMPT 6
1	848	Yulimar ROJAS	VEN	14.41		X	14.41	X	X	X	X
2	678	Kristin GIERISCH	GER	14.30	SB	13.73	14.07	13.92	14.16	14.30	14.08
3	687	Paraskeví PAPAHRÍSTOU	GRE	14.15		X	14.15	X	X	X	X
4	832	Keturah ORJI	USA	14.14	SB	14.13	X	14.04	14.08	13.96	14.14
5	775	Elena PANTUROIU	ROU	14.11		13.96	X	14.02	14.11	14.11
6	660	Kristiina MÄKELÄ	FIN	14.07		X	14.04	13.92	14.07	13.93
7	662	Jeanine ASSANI ISSOUF	FRA	14.07		X	13.65	14.07	13.84	X
8	717	Shanieka THOMAS	JAM	13.95	SB	13.73	13.46	13.95	13.85	13.94
9	620	Keila COSTA	BRA	13.94	SB	13.66	13.94	X
10	822	Christina EPPS	USA	13.68		13.68	X	X
11	650	Ana PELETEIRO	ESP	13.59		13.59	13.57	13.37
12	783	Carmen TOMA	ROU	13.31		13.31	X	13.31
13	619	Iryna VASKOUSKAYA	BLR	13.28		13.28	13.19	13.07
14	661	Sanna NYGÅRD	FIN	13.21		X	13.21	13.20
	799	Ayanna ALEXANDER	TTO	NM		X	X	X