G. Thomas with a sprint double
ADDIS ABABA (ETH, Apr 18): Ferdinand Omanyala clocked 9.98 (-0.2) in the 100m ahead of Haiti’s Christopher Borzor (10.16) and Chituru Ali of Italy (10.26) at the Addis Ababa Grand Prix (WACT Bronze). The first WACT meet in Ethiopia was a big success with a full stadium and great atmosphere.
Several sprint events were affected by a strong headwind, Olympic winner Gabby Thomas posted a double with 11.13 (-4.0) in the 100m & 22.15 (-0.9) in the 200m over Cambrea Sturgis (22.42). 400m wins for Botswana’s Justice Oratile in 44.92 over Nhial Gnang (45.53), and for Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain in a PB of 50.28 ahead of Kenya’s Mercy Chebet (51.38 PB), with Ajayba Alyu finishing fourth in Ethiopian NR of 51.72. Bianca Stubler of the USA topped the 400m hurdles (55.76), Kenya’s Samuel Chege the 200m in 20.63 (-3.5), and Tionna Tobias of the USA the long jump with 667 PB (0.9) over Egypt’s Owis Esraa 661 (0.5). Short hurdles wins for Americans Eric Edwards in 13.61 (-2.8), and Rayniah Jones in 13.14 (-5.5) over Cyréna Samba-Mayela (13.65). Notable wins at altitude came from Nigist Getachew in the 800m (2:01.65) and Samuel Firewu in the 5000m (13:46.09).
