Duplantis clears 6.03m and Jacobs returns with a win in Berlin

Olympic champions Mondo Duplantis and Marcell Jacobs shone at the ISTAF Indoor – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting – in Berlin on Friday (4).

Sweden’s pole vault star Duplantis added a centimetre to his own world lead, clearing 6.03m to also break the meeting record before a good attempt at a world record, while Italy’s Jacobs ran 6.51 to win the men’s 60m final in his first event since claiming Olympic 100m and 4x100m gold in Tokyo.

It was a bit of a bumpy road for Duplantis to get into position to attack his own world record of 6.18m, but once there he had two good attempts. While USA’s KC Lightfoot sailed over 5.92m at his first attempt, Duplantis needed all three tries to clear it. After another failed attempt at 6.03m, he then returned to more familiar form and cleared the height well, improving the world lead of 6.02m he had set in Karlsruhe the week before and the meeting record of the same height which had been set by Renaud Lavillenie in 2015.

Duplantis then attempted 6.19m, with his second and third attempts at the world record height being very close.

“These attempts felt good and I realised that it is possible,” he said. “I am now at a point in my career where I make small improvements. One week I change my run-up, in the next week I am jumping a bit more aggressively. That way I can improve step by step. I know what to do and that I am in a position to jump higher.”

Lightfoot finished second with 5.92m and Germany’s Oleg Zernikel cleared a personal best of 5.81m to take third place.

Leading from the start, there was no catching Jacobs in the 60m. He first ran 6.57 to win his heat and then improved to 6.51 in the final – his second-quickest time behind his national record of 6.47 set when winning the European indoor title in Torun last year.

He finished ahead of Arthur Cisse of the Ivory Coast who clocked 6.60 and France’s Jimmy Vicaut with 6.61.

“Last year I started my season here and it was the beginning of an unforgettable year. So, it was good to start in Berlin again,” said Jacobs.

“I had a very long time with no competitions after Tokyo but I really needed to recover mentally and physically. The indoor season will be very intense and will peak with the World Indoor Championships.”

The women’s 60m was dominated by Britain’s Daryll Neita, who could hardly have made a better start in her first race of the season. Storming away from her challengers in the first round, she qualified for the final with a PB of 7.18. Her previous best had been the 7.21 she set last year.

The Olympic 100m finalist improved again in the final, running 7.15 to win ahead of Italy’s Zaynab Dosso and Germany’s Sophia Junk, who ran respective PBs of 7.28 and 7.29.

Finland’s Reetta Hurske took the women’s 60m hurdles with a strong finish in 7.99 from Zoe Sedney of the Netherlands with 8.05, while the men’s event was won by France’s Aurel Manga in 7.62 from Koen Smet of the Netherlands and Brazil’s Rafael Pereira, who were both timed at 7.68.

Earlier in the heats, Pereira had broken the South American record when clocking 7.58 to improve his PB by 0.18 and better an 18-year-old area mark.

Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia won the long jump with a fifth-round leap of 6.68m. Until that round, Germany’s Merle Homeier had been the leader with 6.59m. She then jumped a PB of 6.66m in the final round, which was enough to secure second place in the competition on countback ahead of her compatriot Malaika Mihambo, the Olympic champion, who had problems with her run-up during her season debut in her specialist event. Mihambo also contested the 60m and ran 7.48 in the heats.