Athletics season ends with harvest of records
Two world records and four American records brought down the curtain on a spectacular 2023 track and field season as the Wanda Diamond League Final was held before a loud and appreciative crowd at Hayward Field.
It was the first time the event has been held in the United States, and the performances on Saturday and Sunday ranked Final as one of the greatest non-Olympic or World Championships meets in history.
Two-time defending world champion Chase Ealey added the outdoor American record to her collection, blasting a 20.76/68-1.5 in the third round to seal her second straight Diamond League title and better the ratified shot put AR of 20.63/67-8.25 that was set by Michelle Carter to win the 2016 Olympic title in Rio.
Ealey opened with a 19.77/64-10.5 and then unleashed a 20.61/67-7.5 on her next throw, the second-farthest effort ever by an American. Her throw was the best in the world since 2015. Maggie Ewen, who held the world lead coming into the meet, finished fifth with a best of 19.82/65-0.5.
There's something about Hayward Field that agrees with Athing Mu. Undefeated in 10 previous races at the storied stadium, Mu once again came away victorious in the Prevagen Women's 800, bettering her own American record with a tactical masterpiece that saw her stop the clock at 1:54.97. Mu was content to run off the shoulder of Britain's Keely Hodgkinson for much of the race, but pushed past her in the final meters to cut .07 off the AR of 1:55.04 she set at the Pre-Classic in 2021. Hodgkinson set a national record of 1:55.19 in second, and Jamaica's Natoya Goule-Toppin was third in 1:55.96, also a national record. Sage Hurta-Klecker was eighth in 1:59.65.
A thrilling Nike Men's Bowerman Mile lived up to its billing with a homestretch battle between Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and American indoor record holder Yared Nuguse that produced the third and fourth-best times in history. Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champion, stopped the clock at 3:43.73, missing the world record by only .6 seconds, and Nuguse was right on his shoulder as he shattered the ratified American record with a 3:43.97. Alan Webb set the AR of 3:46.91 in 2007 at Brasschaat, Belgium. The top 11 finishers all broke 3:50, with Cole Hocker scoring a lifetime best of 3:48.08 in sixth to move to No. 4 on the all-time U.S. performer list.
One of the fastest men's 3000 races ever was decided by a lean at the line and produced a meet record 7:23.63 for Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the fastest time in the world since 1999 and the third-fastest ever. Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha set a national record of 7:23.64 in second to move to No. 4 on the all-time world performer list. Grant Fisher lopped more than three seconds off his PB to clock 7:25.47 in third, bettering the ratified American record of 7:29.00 and moving to No. 8 on the world all-time performer list.
History was made in the Nike Women's 5000 as Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay demolished the world record with a 14:00.21 that took almost five seconds off the WR that was set earlier this summer by Kenya's Faith Kipyegon. Runner-up Beatrice Chebet of Kenya clocked the third-fastest time ever with a 14:05.92. Alicia Monson was seventh in 14:45.98 and Weini Kelati took eighth in 15:25.62.
