Tuesday July 30, 2019 23SPORTS
u American beats one of the longest-standing WRs in women’s athletics
Muhammad smashes 400m hurdles record
Hungarian ‘sorry’ for touching nightclub dancer
Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad
shattered one of the longest standing
records in women’s athletics on Sunday
with a superb display to clinch victory in
the 400-meter hurdles at US Champi-
onships.
The 29-year-old powered home to
win in 52.20 seconds at rain-soaked
Drake Stadium, obliterating the 16-year-
old previous world record of 52.34 sec-
onds set by Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina
in 2003.
“I’m just shocked,” Muhammad said.
“My coach kept telling me [the record]
was there. I just had to trust that and go
for it.
“I wanted it so bad I knew I had to go
out there and prove myself.”
Muhammad, the first American
woman to win Olympic gold in the event
at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, later
revealed she had an injury scare head-
ing into the week’s event, suffering a
concussion in a training run two weeks
ago.
However, she revealed she had been
quietly confident that she could threaten
Pechonkina’s benchmark.
“I was hoping for it this weekend,”
Muhammad. “I just trusted in what we’d
been working for up to this point.”
Muhammad had set a furious pace
over the opening 300 meters to lead
coming into the home straight, and then
pulled clear from Sydney McLaughlin,
who finished second in 52.88 and Ash-
ley Spencer (53.11).
Muhammad’s record-breaking dis-
play put the seal on the final events of
the four-day meeting, the US trials for
this year’s World Championships in
Doha.
In other events, charismatic rising
sprint star Noah Lyles made sure of his
spot on the team for Qatar with a blister-
ing win in the 200 meters.
Lyles, who warmed up in the blocks
by copying mixed martial arts fighter
Conor McGregor’s swishing arms rou-
tine, scorched to a win in 19.78 seconds,
with 100 meters winner and rival Chris-
tian Coleman crossing second in 20.02.
Ameer Webb was third in 20.45.
Lyles, who broke into a dance routine
inspired by NBA star Kevin Durant after
sealing the win, was neck-and-neck with
Coleman with around 60 meters to go
before pulling clear to take the tape.
“All I cared about today was the win,”
Lyles, 22, said. “USA’s the hardest team
to make and anything can happen over
the three rounds.”In the women’s 200 meters, mean-
while, Dezerea Bryant took victory with a
time of 22.47, crossing ahead of Brittany
Brown and Angie Annelus.
The men’s 110-meter hurdles saw an
upset with Daniel Roberts beating Grant
Holloway, this season’s fastest man over
the distance, with a time of 13.23 sec-
onds.
Holloway finished second in 13.36
while Devon Allen was third in 13.38.
The men’s 1,500 meters saw Craig
Engels score a notable victory over 2016
Olympic champion Matthew Centrow-
itz, winning in 3min 44.93 seconds.
Centrowitz was second in 3:44.97while Josh Thompson was third in
3:45.25.
In the women’s 3,000-meter steeple-
chase, reigning world champion Emma
Coburn powered to her sixth consecutive
US crown to win in 9min 25.63 seconds.
Coburn, the 2016 Olympics bronze
medalist, held off a late challenge from
Courtney Frerichs down the stretch,
with Colleen Quigley finishing third.
Coburn’s winning time was roughly
30 seconds slower than the world lead-
ing time this year set by Kenya’s Beatrice
Chepkoech of 8:55.58.AFPuSWIMMINGHungarian swimmer Tamas
Kenderesi has apologized for
“thoughtlessly touching” a
nightclub dancer after being
arrested on sexual harass-
ment charges during the world
championships.
The 22-year-old Olympic
bronze medalist has been
banned from leaving the coun-
try while police investigate the
incident at a bar in Gwangju,
around 330 kilometers south of
Seoul, at the weekend.
Kenderesi has admitted
making contact with his accus-
er but denies charges of sexual
harassment.
“After coming back from
the toilets and heading towards
the dance floor, I touched the
backside of a Korean girl who
was working as a dancer at the
club,” the swimmer said.“I did not even stop behind
her – I took only a single, per-
haps thoughtless move, which
seriously angered this girl who
filed a complaint against me.
“Realizing the seriousness
of the situation, I was absolutely
cooperative throughout the en-
tire process,” added Kenderesi,
who finished last in the men’s
200-meter butterfly final. “I
deeply regret what happened
and I wish to beg for the Korean
girl’s forgiveness. But I strongly
deny that I’m guilty in any kind
of sexual harassment.”
Hungarian team officials
and swimming’s governing
body FINA confirmed that Ken-
deresi had been released from
custody but would not be al-
lowed to leave the country for
the next 10 days.
Kenderesi added that he
had not been shown the video
of the incident but insisted, “Ihonestly believe my words will
be justified by the footage [and
reveal] I did not commit any
serious offense. However, I
have to understand that I hurt
certain moral norms, which are
the foundations of the local val-
ues.”
After the athlete’s arrest,
FINA executive director Cornel
Marculescu told AFP, “For now
he is free but he cannot travel
out of Korea. We will see what
the next step is.”
Kenderesi’s arrest came a
day after an indoor balcony at
a Gwangju nightclub collapsed,
killing two local people and in-
juring several athletes compet-
ing at the tournament.AFPPage Editor:
wanghuayun@
globaltimes.com.cnDalilah Muhammad poses after winning the
women’s 400-meter hurdles in a world record 52.20
seconds on Sunday in Des Moines. Photo: ICRoundUp
Sailing
Chinese youth sailing
league hits Yangjiang
Yangjiang, South China’s
Guangdong Province hosted
the national youth sailing
league last week, with Xia-
men’s Li Cheng’en overtaking
teammate Chen Nan for the
lead.
The event, which included
Laser 4.7, Topper 4.2, Top-
per 5.3 and OP, also served as
a preliminary round for the
second National Youth Games,
which begins in August in
North China’s Shanxi Prov-
ince.
The youth league has
attracted 434 people in five
races this year, organizers
said, as the Chinese Yachting
Association is promoting the
sport through competitions for
the younger generation in the
country.
AthleticsKenyans dominate
Liupanshui marathon
Kenyans swept the Liupanshui
marathon on Sunday, with
Robert Kipkemboi finish-
ing first in a course record of
2:14:58.
China’s Guan Yousheng
was the top domestic finisher,
clocking 2:24:41 in his home-
town.
The city in Southwest Chi-
na’s Guizhou Province began
hosting marathons in 2013,
and has become a gold label
race under the Chinese Athlet-
ics Association since 2015.
The city, previously known
for coal mining, is trying to
establish itself as a tourist
destination for its average
temperature of 19 C in the
summer.Global Times