OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Men’s Olympic 400 meters champion Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas maintained his unbeaten streak to lead Caribbean performers at the Golden Spike meet on Tuesday in the Czech Republic.
TIGHT FINISH: Alexander Doom of Belgium (left) and Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas (right) during the finish of the men’s 400 metres at the Golden Spike meet on Tuesday in Ostrava, Czech Republic. (World Athletics photo)The 28-year-old, who also claimed the world title five years ago in Doha, Qatar, went out hard and looked ready to cruise to victory during the meet, a leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, at the Mestský Stadion.
But Gardiner came under attack from world indoor champion Alexander Doom of Belgium, and he had to dig deep to prevail in a season’s best time of 44.39 seconds in a thrilling finish to the race to finish five hundredths-of-a-second faster than his challenger.
Doom ended with a personal best time, but he narrowly missed the Belgian national record of by one hundredths-of-a-second, while Sean Bailey of Jamaica came a commendable third in a season’s best 44.93 secs.
Jamaican sprinters tested, but they were no match for Andre De Grasse of Canada, and the multiple Olympic and world medallist proved his class with a sprint double.
World Championship finalist Ryiem Forde of Jamaica clocked 10.17 to come second in the men’s 100 dash, finishing between De Grasse, the reigning Olympic 200 champion, whose time was 0.07 faster, and Italian Marcell Jacobs, the reigning Olympic 100 champion, with a time of 10.19.
Andrew Hudson, another World Championship finalist from Jamaica, ran 20.56 to come runner-up in the men’s 200, but De Grasse returning to the track about an hour-and-a-half after the 100 for his specialty won that too, in 20.09, with Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Great Britain taking third in 20.63.
The men’s javelin closed the programme and two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada hurled 78.60 metres and finished third far behind the winner Julian Weber of Germany, whose throw of 87.26m in the second round denied hometown favourite Jakub Vadlejch.
The distance for Weber was more than a metre farther than Vadlejch, the Olympic and world medallist, could manage, and the Czech had to settle for second with 86.08 from his first throw.
