The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DEVYNNE Charlton lowered her co-women's 60 metres hurdles world record with a gold medal on Sunday to lead the six-member Bahamian team at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

As the curtain came down on the three-day championships at the Emirates Arena, Charlton highlighted the race that included Charisma Taylor, while there was a climax at the end of the heptathlon for national record holder Ken Mullings that dropped him from the podium to fourth.

Shining brightly in another perfect race from start to finish, Charlton separated herself from the rest of the field as she powered over the five flights of hurdles in 7.65 seconds to shatter the previous mark of 7.67 that she established on February 11 at the Millrose Games in New York.

The time was matched a week later by American Tia Jones at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But while Jones was not in Glasgow for the ultimate showdown, Taylor got some of the spotlight with sixth in 7.92.

And in the absence of the much anticipated match-up against Jones, defending champion Cyrena Samba- Mayela of France emerged with the silver in 7.74 and Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland claimed the bronze in 7.79.

“I felt blank on that one. I can’t tell you what happened,” said Charlton to reporters after the race in the mixed zone. “I knew that I had that time in me. It was just about executing the perfect race.”

As for the record and the gold, Charlton admitted that she didn’t like the fact that she shared the mark with Jones, so her goal was to lower it and, in the process, walk away with the gold.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “Can’t wait to get home to celebrate.”

Charlton’s feat placed The Bahamas in a seven-way tie for ninth place on the medal chart with Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Commonwealth of Dominica, St Lucia and Switzerland.

The United States topped the field with 20 medals, including six gold, nine silver and five bronze. For her efforts, the 28-year-old Charlton earned a total of $90,000, which included a $50,000 bonus for the world record and $40,000 for her victory.

She previously got $10,000 from the Bahamas Government for the first world record. What will be the figure for the gold and record feat as she brings

the curtain down on the indoor season and prepares for a medal at the Olympic Games in Paris, France in August? In the semifinals earlier on Sunday, Charlton booked her lane in the final by winning the first of three heats in 7.72 for the fastest qualifying time, well ahead of second place finisher Skrzyszowska, who ran a personal best of 7.78.

Charlton was right on target as she breezed through the first round of the heats on Sunday night, winning her heat in 7.93 for the seventh fastest qualifying time.

Double sixth place for Taylor

Taylor, rushing from one event to the next, had an eventful day on Sunday, but she was up to the challenge, as she advanced through the rounds of both the women’s triple jump and the 60m hurdles, earning $8,000 for her pair of sixth places.

Taylor came through in fourth in heat five in 8.05 for 17th place overall to advance to the semifinal. On Sunday, she ran a lifetime best of 7.91 for second place in the last of three heats to get into the final.

She trailed American Masai Russell, who won the heat in a season’s best of 7.79. With her performance, Taylor ended up with the sixth fastest qualifying time for the final.

In the final, Taylor finished sixth in 7.92 as she watched and celebrated with Charlton for her second world-record breaking performance. Not bad for a debut for Taylor in her first global senior international appearance.

In the triple jump, Taylor also had to settle for sixth place overall with her season’s best performance of 46-3 1/2 (14.11m) on his sixth and final attempt. Her previous series of jumps were 45-8 (13.92m), 45-0 1/4 (13.72m), 43-9 1/4 (13.34m), 44-4 (13.51m) and 46-0 3/4 (14,04).

Mullings led from start to finish

After leading at the end of the first day, Mullings had a disappointing performance in the pole vault, which knocked him into second place. However, he closed out the seven-event competition with ninth in the 1,000m with a personal best of 2:49.35 place, dropping him to fourth place overall for $8,000.

His total points of 6,242 was short by just two points of getting his first global medal for the Bahamas in any multiple event.

Simon Ehammer captured the gold with 6,418, Sander Skothem of Norway got the silver with 6,407 and the bronze went to Johannes Erm of Estonia with 6,340.

Mullings went into the championships with the leading performance.

“I kind of let it get to my head instead of being aggressive. I don’t know what happened. I had the lead and I had a chance to get a medal and I just let it get away from me in the pole vault.”

To start the final day of competition, Mullings equalled his personal best of 7.76 for second place in the last of the two heats of the 60m hurdles on Sunday morning for 1,043 points to keep him on top of the standings with 4,680.

But he slipped to second in the pole vault with a leap of 15-feet, 1-inch or 4.60 metres for 10th place for 790 points for his worst outing in the guelling, seven-event competition. He came back to close out the competition in the 1,000 with his ninth place for 917 points, but it was just a little too short of getting on the podium.

After the first day of competition on Saturday, Mullings emerged on top of the leaderboard with 3,637 points after he soared 7-1 (2.16m) for a personal best in the high jump with 953 points.

In the first three other events on the day, Mullings was third in the 60m in 6.83 for 944 points; third in the long jump with 25-2 3/4 (7.69m) for 982 points and third as well in the shot put with a heave of 47-6 1/2 (14.49m) for 758 points.

Veteran 29-year-old Thea LaFond earned Dominica’s first global gold medal with her world-leading mark of 49-6 1/4 (15.01m). Cuba’s Leyanis Perez-Hernandez got the silver with 48-10 3/4 (14.90m) and Ana Peleteiro-Compaore did 48-4 3/4 (14.75m), both season’s best performances.

Thomas ninth in high jump

Grand Bahamian Donald Thomas, despite being the oldest competitor in the field at 39, was hoping for one of the only two medals that has eluded him in his long and illustrious career as a former basketball player who switched to the high jump on a “dare” from one of his team-mates.

But the world outdoor champion in 2007 ended up ninth with his best of 7-0 1/2 (2.15m) in the men’s high jump final. His best showing at these championships came in Birmingham, England in 2018 when he got sixth place.

His other goal will be the Olympic medal in Paris, France in August. His best performance in the games came in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 when he was seventh.

New Zealnad’s Hamish Kerr took the gold with a world-leading height of 7-8 3/4 (2.36m), the silver went to American Shelby McEwen with 7-5 3/4 (2.28m), the same height for Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo for the bronze on the countback on knockdowns.

Nairn 15th

Commonwealth Games champion LaQuan Nairn had a best leap of 24-11 (7.59m), but it was only good enough for 15th place in the final of the men’s long jump held early Saturday morning.

He posted 23-6 (7.16) on his first and 24-9 3/4 (6.56m) on his third attempt.

Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, winner of every international meet, took the gold with 26-11 3/4 (8.22m) in the countback over Mattia Furlani, the 19-year-old rising star from Iralty. Jamaica’s Carey McCleod was the bronze medallist with a season’s best of 26-7 3/4 (8.21m).

Strachan missed final

Anthonique Strachan, still looking for her first individual medal at a major senior international meet, advanced to the semifinal of the women’s 60m on Saturday, but finished eighth in the first of three heats in 7.59 for 23rd out of a field of 24 competitors.

Earlier in the day, she moved out of the preliminaries with a second place finish in 7.24 for the 20th best performance overall.

NCAA sprint queen Julien Alfred, 22, made history winning the first global title for St Lucia in the final of the 60m in a world-leading time of 6.98, followed by Ewa Swoboda of Poland in 7.00 for the silver with Zaynab Dosso of Italy in 7.05 for the bronze.