The Olympic champion recorded a world-leading jump of 7.12m and maintained her unbeaten run in the discipline since 2023
Tara Davis-Woodhall booked her ticket to the Tokyo World Championships in some style after dominating the long jump at the USATF Outdoor Championships (July 31).
The 26-year-old, who secured the Olympic gold medal in Paris last summer, once again impressed in the discipline and, with two jumps over seven metres, was way too good for her competitors inside Hayward Field.
Davis-Woodhall fouled her first two attempts before a mark of 6.92m in the third round put her second overall, behind Claire Bryant’s 6.97m. Then, in the fourth and fifth rounds, Davis-Woodhall upped her game, recording distances of 7.11m and 7.12m respectively.
Not only were both marks more than enough to take the win but they were also the two biggest leaps of the season so far, surpassing Malaika Mihambo’s 7.07m from Karlsruhe back in February.
Both Bryant and Quanesha Burks (6.90m) also qualified in the long jump for Tokyo.
The first day of the USATF Championships included a spate of field finals, with DeAnna Price starring in the hammer throw with a sublime series. The 2019 world champion didn’t no-fault at all and recorded a best mark of 78.53m, the fifth biggest distance by anyone so far this season, which was not far off her US record of 80.31m from 2021.
Brooke Anderson (75.14m) and Rachel Richeson (74.57m) completed the podium and they will also be off to the Japanese capital.
In the men’s edition, Rudy Winkler’s best throw of 81.47m was enough to beat both Trey Knight (78.76m) and Daniel Haugh (77.28m), with the trio all off to Tokyo.
Curtis Thompson could’ve won the javelin with any one of four throws, so it was no surprise that his biggest mark of 83.89m was over six metres greater than the best distance (Dash Sirmon’s 77.28m) set by the rest of the field. The Pan American champion will represent the US at the World Championships.
The two track finals, both in the 10,000m, produced a myriad of drama filled with exhilarating endings.
The men’s race could not have been tighter as Nico Young edged out Grant Fisher in an extremely close finish, with the pair clocking 29:02.12 and 29:02.37. Graham Blanks, who wasn’t far back with 29:03.66, means the US go to Tokyo with a fearsome trio over 25.2 laps.
Emily Infeld triumphed in the women’s 10,000m and, in a four-way battle for the national title, saw off the challenge of Elise Cranny, Taylor Roe and Weini Kelati down the home straight. With a time of 31:43.56, Infeld should have now done enough to qualify for Tokyo via the world rankings system. The same goes for Cranny (31:44.24), while Roe (31:45.41) and/or Kelati (31:46.37) might have to rely on some athletes dropping out of the rankings quota.
Unsurprisingly, one of the standout heats was in the men’s 1500m, with all 12 athletes qualifying for the semi-finals going sub-3:35. Olympic champion Cole Hocker was the quickest overall with 3:32.57, while Yared Nuguse (3:32.66) and Eric Holt (3:32.95) also looked in good shape.
With a season’s best of 2:00.42 in the 800m, much was made of Athing Mu-Nikolayev’s form ahead of the national championships. The Olympic 800m champion looked in good shape however and qualified second fastest for the semi-finals with 2:00.06, just behind Sage Hurta-Klecker’s 1:59.28.
The men’s 800m saw the return of 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier after a long-term injury, who turned back the clock with 1:48.23 to place second in his heat.
One of the most consistent athletes of the season so far has been Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and she continued that trend, clocking a spellbinding 10.86 into a 1.5m/s headwind in the 100m heats. If the Olympic bronze medallist continues that kind of form in the semi-finals and final, plus gets a favourable wind, then expect her to beat her personal best of 10.73.
Sha’Carri Richardson, who as world 100m champion gets a bye to Tokyo, is still competing over the distance at Hayward Field and clocked 11.07 (1.3) to qualify for the semi-finals.
Similarly, Noah Lyles gets a bye for the World Championships, after he triumphed in both the 100m and 200m in Budapest. Lyles ran 10.05 (0.1) in the 100m heats but later stated that he would just focus on the 200m for the rest of the national championships.
Anna Hall, who went joint-second on the world all-time heptathlon rankings with 7032 points at Götzis back in May, is the overnight leader at Hayward Field with 4097 points after four events.
