Vets’ return to competition in Derby sees national marks fall, while Jessie Knight clocks big 400m hurdles PB in Switzerland

It was a busy week in athletics all over the world and Britain. Major events included:

Wanda Diamond League in Eugene – CLICK HERE

World U20 Championships in Nairobi – CLICK HERE

For World U20 Championship results – CLICK HERE

Vitality Big Half – CLICK HERE

Manchester International – CLICK HERE

British Masters Championships, Derby, August 21-22
Full results had not been processed as we published this article but it seems masters athletes were in record breaking form as they returned to outdoor championships competition after a two-year break.

Warwick Dixon won the M85 discus in a British record 23.84m and he also won the hammer with 29.19m.

Recently turned M70 Derek Jackson was second in the combined M65 and M70 1500m behind M65 David Bedwell’s 5:05.21 but his 5:08.27 took just under two seconds off of Dave Oxland’s three-year-old UK age group record.

Lisa Thomas took 13 seconds off her own British W55 record with a 7:52.12 clocking in the 2000m steeplechase.

Before this season Sally Cooke was unknown in veteran circles but she easily broke multiple global champion Caroline Powell’s British W50 record for 400m of 59.87 earlier this season and here she improved her record on automatic timing to 58.43 though she did run a 57.9 hand timed earlier in the month.

Sue Frisby won the W60 80m hurdles in 12.98 to go second all-time in the age group and comfortably defeat British record-holder Jane Horder’s 13.66 who set her record back in 2017.

Helen Godsell (main image above) won the W65 100m title in an UK lead of 14.72/0.2.

W60 1500m record-holder Fiona Matheson won the combined W55 and W60 race in 5:15.76 and the 800m in 2:43.27.

David Clarke won the M60 1500m in 4:37.64 ahead of former 1:45.6 800m runner Paul Forbes. It was closer in the 800m with Clarke winning in 2:15.45 to Forbes’ 2:16.68.

Multiple world and European masters champion Virginia Mitchell (below) won the W55 400m in 63.93 and the 800m in 2:30.40.

Another world masters champion, Mark Symes, won the M50 1500m in a PB and UK ranking-topping 4:11.36 and he also won the 800m in 2:05.58.

Lahti, Finland, August 19
European under-23 800m bronze medallist Tom Randolph, who had never previously beaten 1:46, smashed his PB with a 1:44.98 win over Joonas Rinne’s 1:45.96.

Kenyan sub-10 runner Ferdinand Omurwa ran the 100m in 10.09/1.8 in the heat and 10.09/0.6 in the final.

Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordas won the 3000m in 7:41.31.

Bern, Switzerland, August 21
The 400m hurdles was won by Jessie Knight with a meeting record and PB 54.23 (taking 0.46 off her previous best to go fifth all-time in the UK) as she beat European champion Lea Sprunger’s season’s best 54.51.

Liemarvin Bonevacia won the 400m in a Dutch record 44.48 to go into the all-time top 10 in Europe.

Swiss Olympic finalist Ajla Del Ponte won the women’s 100m in 11.04/0.6.

Kenyan Michael Saruni clocked a meeting record in the 800m with 1:45.72, just ahead of Britain’s Piers Copeland (1:45.87).

Nikola Ogrodnikova won the javelin with a meeting record 64.16m with world record-holder Barbora Spotakova in second with 61.95m.

The meeting record also went in the women’s sprint hurdles with 12.80 (0.2) for Tobi Amusan.

British Milers’ Club meeting, West London Stadium, August 22
English Schools 1500m champion Shaikira King won the under-15 mile in 4:50.00 to go second all-time to Emelia Gorecka’s 4:46.87, set in 2008.

Another English Schools 1500m champion Dan Galloway won the Peter Coe under-17 mile in an UK ranking-topping 4:14.67 ahead of England under-17 champion George Keen (4:17.57).

Scot Oliver Patton won the U15 mile in 4:27.40 to go fifth all-time and top of the 2021 UK rankings.

Ella Greenway won the Frank Horwill under-17 women’s mile in 4:51.20 to go a close second in the UK rankings.

British trials finalist Niamh Bridson Hubbard won the women’s mile race by 17 seconds in 4:42.34.

Sam Stevens won the men’s race in 4:00.10 well clear of Kyle Langford’s 4:05.13.

Top endurance coach James Thie went top of the UK M40 rankings with a 4:23.91 in the B race.

4:23.91 Welsh Masters Record for @TeamThie! ?? pic.twitter.com/e8gZNF9F34

— James Rhodes (@James_Athletics) August 22, 2021

Berlin Half-Marathon, Germany, August 22
Joyciline Jepkosgei won in 65:16 to break Sifan Hassan’s course record of 65:45.

Nancy Jelagat (65:21) and Valary Aiyabei (67:32) completed a Kenyan top three.

In the men’s race, Kenya’s Felix Kipkoech clocked a world-leading time of 58:57 ahead of compatriots Josphat Tanui (59:40) and Philemon Kiplimo (59:54).

A total of 15,096 athletes from 130 countries competed.

Joyciline Jepkosgei set a course record at Sunday's #BerlinerHalbMarathon of 1:05:16. She's in great form ahead of the #LondonMarathon on October 3.

? via @sccrunning / @pebesport pic.twitter.com/a0hFnnycmg

— David Monti (@d9monti) August 23, 2021

Schifflange, Luxembourg, August 22
Briton Alex Haydock-Wilson won the 400 m in 45.58 over German Manuel Sanders’ 45.74.

European under-23 champion Isabelle Boffey was a close second in the 800m in 2:03.36.

Luxembourg’s own Bob Bertemeswon the shot with a 21.70m throw. German Marc Reuther won the 800m in 1:44.71 ahead of Morrocan Mouad Zahafi (1:44.78). Julian Wagner won the 100m in 10.11/0.0 ahead of Britain’s Tommy Ramdhan’s PB time of 10.16. Meraf Bahta took the 1500m in 4:08.33 while Mauricio Ortega was first in the discus with 63.89m.

Prague, Czech Republic, August 22
European indoor champion Tomas Stanek won the shot with a 21.53m throw.

At the age of 36, Petr Svoboda won the 110m hurdles with his fastest time for seven years with 13.39/-0.1.

Oulu, Finland, August 22
Kenyan record-holder Ferdinand Omurwa won the 100m in a wind-assisted 10.16/3.1 after a 10.06/3.7 heat.

Merksem, Belgium, August 21
Belgium’s Philip Milanov won the discus with 63.43m as Moroccan Mouad Zahafi took the 800m in a 1:45.11 PB.

Parnu, Estonia. August 21
Rasmus Magi set an Estonian 300m record of 32.89.

Scottish Joint League Meeting, Grangemouth, August 22
Chris Bennett won the hammer with a 71.47m throw while Rachel Hunter took the women’s competition with a 63.35m throw.

Biallystok, Poland, August 20
Matt Ludwig cleared 5.80m to win the pole vault with Harry Coppell joint third with 2019 world medallist Piotr Lisek with a 5.66m. Croatian Filip Mihaljevic won the shot with a 21.06m throw.

Arezzo, Italy, August 20
Uganda’s Olympic 5000m finalist Oscar Chelimo won the 10km in 28:06 after a sprint finish with Kenya’s James Mburugu Murithi who ran 28:07. Italy’s Pietro Riva was third in 28:12

The women’s race over 5km saw a win for Kenya’s Lucy Muli Mawia in a course record 15:34.

Usti Nad Orlici, Czech Republic, August 18
Olympic medallists Jakub Vadlejch with 84.28m and Vitezslav Vesely with 83.25m defeated world champion Anderson Peters’ 78.57m.

The women’s event was won by world record-holder Barbora Spotakova’s 61.45m.