Sprint queen Jefferson-Wooden completes the double
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a sprint double for the ages, blitzing 21.47 to win the 200m in Budapest, as Kenny Bednarek, Gianmarco Tamberi and Likina Amebaw all struck gold on a stacked final night of the Ultimate Championship.
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden capped a stunning weekend in Budapest by completing the sprint double at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, adding the 200m title to the 100m she had won in a world-leading 10.62 the day before.
The showdown with Olympic champion Gabby Thomas had been billed all weekend, ever since Jefferson-Wooden chose the lane next to her rival at Thursday's lane draft. Thomas won their semi-final in 21.88, pulling clear of Jefferson-Wooden, who eased through in 22.15. But in the final, the world champion showed she'd been holding something back. Powering out of the blocks, she erased Thomas's stagger by halfway and then produced the stronger closing 100m, surging clear to win in 21.47 (-0.6) — one of the fastest times in history and enough to move her to third on the world all-time list.
Thomas ran 21.77 for silver, with Kayla White completing a US clean sweep of the podium in 21.93. Britain's European champion Amy Hunt was fourth in a season's best of 22.10.
"I did not see 21.47 coming tonight!" said a stunned Jefferson-Wooden. "I told myself that I need to be smart in the semi-final and save some energy. I never thought that people like Usain Bolt would watch my races and even have great reactions to my performances. He said to me earlier this week how proud he is of me for making it seem so easy. I told my husband that whatever happens tonight, it will happen because of him — that's what the scream was for when I crossed the finish line. I was thinking I could run this fast in maybe two years but not tonight. I really have no words."
Thomas took the defeat in her stride. "It was a very competitive race," she said. "To be disappointed with a second place on the global stage shows how far I have come."
Kenny Bednarek matched Jefferson-Wooden's feat in the men's race, following up his 100m win with a world-leading 19.52 (-0.1) to claim the 200m title as well.
The 27-year-old American, who had collected four global 200m silvers before finally breaking through in Budapest, led from half way and pulled clear of Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who ran a season's best of 19.76. Courtney Lindsey was third in 19.79, edging South Africa's Sinesipho Dambile and Canada's Andre De Grasse as the top five all broke 20 seconds.
"Oh my God, it has been a crazy few days," said Bednarek, who earned $150,000 for each of his two wins in the Hungarian capital. "Performance-wise I give myself an A+ because of the couple of things I have been working on. This was the year where I focused on making progress, and coming home with two wins in Budapest is amazing."
Saly Sarr needed only her opening leap to win the triple jump, but it was enough. The Senegalese Diamond League champion landed 15.06m in round one and, although Cuba's Davisleydi Velazco threatened with 15.04m in round three, nobody bettered the winning mark. Leyanis Pérez Hernández, the world champion, was third with 14.90m, while Olympic champion Thea LaFond of Dominica finished fourth on 14.47m.
"It really means a lot to win and become the Ultimate champion," said Sarr. "I am really happy, really emotional and truly satisfied. We will keep working, keep winning and prepare ourselves for other goals in the future. There's no holidays, it's just back to work."
Gianmarco Tamberi had "showtime babe" written on his forearm — and lived up to it, clearing a world-leading 2.37m to win the high jump. The 34-year-old Italian, world champion in this same stadium in 2023, saw off USA's JuVaughn Harrison (2.30m) and Mexico's Erick Portillo, third on countback with 2.26m.
Tamberi built the drama height by height, twice asking the crowd for a rhythmic clap before clearing 2.33m and 2.35m at the first attempt, before completing the job at 2.37m on his second try as Harrison ran out of room.
"It was already predicted — showtime, you know!" he said, pointing to his arm. "It's not thanks to me, it's thanks to the people who are there — my friends, my family, all the people here who support me. You were crazy, guys. You pushed me over my limits."
Britain & NI produced one of the performances of the night in the mixed 4x400m, finishing second behind a dominant USA quartet. Ben Jefferies opened in third place before Yemi Mary John held position as the Americans and Dutch pulled clear. Toby Harries fought hard on the third leg to keep Britain in touch, before handing over to Charlotte Henrich for the anchor.
The European under-20 champion produced the leg of the night with a 49.53 split, reeling in the Netherlands' Myrte van der Schoot with 200m to go and holding on for silver in 3:09.40 — just over a second behind the winners and 0.17 clear of the Dutch.
USA's Aaliyah Butler brought the world champions and world record-holders home in 3:08.32, extending a strong recent run of form in the discipline.
"The atmosphere with this team was so good," said USA's Alexis Holmes, who anchored their win in this same stadium in 2023. "Whenever the USA puts a team together, they put together a group they trust, people with the character to go out there and make it happen."
In an era when major 5000m finals are usually decided in a last-lap sprint, Ethiopia's Likina Amebaw tore up the script. Soon after passing 3000m in 8:51.70, she launched a long-range attack that built a lead of almost nine seconds with a lap to go, holding on to win in a Hungarian all-comers record of 14:30.36. Australia's Jessica Hull ran a PB of 14:32.39 for second, with Ethiopia's Fantaye Belayneh third in 14:32.62.
Britain's Hannah Nuttall sat near the front through the early laps of a high-quality field before the pace-setting Ethiopian trio pulled away, eventually finishing 12th. She now turns her attention to next weekend's World Athletics Running Championships in Copenhagen.
"I'm very happy to become the ultimate champion," said Amebaw, who has been based in Spain for several years before reverting to run for Ethiopia. "I was thinking I do not have too much of a sprint, so I was thinking halfway through the race that I've got to push."
Rumesh Pathirage capped a breakthrough season by winning the javelin with 91.09m — the first 90-metre throw in Hungarian history. The Sri Lankan, unbeaten in 11 of 12 competitions this year, trailed for much of the competition behind Germany's Julian Weber and Grenada's two-time world champion Anderson Peters before a third-round 87.11m put him in front, then sealed victory with his final-round strike.
Weber took silver with 85.89m and Peters bronze with 86.18m, while Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem could only manage fifth with a season's best of 81.49m.
"This was my one and only goal — to bring the trophy back to Sri Lanka," said Pathirage. "I faced a lot of challenges today but I was still hoping to win and I'm proud I did it."
