Will Claye improved on his 2012 world-leading triple jump Saturday with a leap of 17.63 meters, winning the US indoor athletics championships title and booking a world indoors berth. It was a big day for other top US performers, as well.
Dexter Faulk clocked 7.40sec in the heats of the men’s 60m hurdles, his time supplanting the 7.41 of China’s Liu Xiang as the best in the world this year.
Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion, who had a four-year doping suspension, continued his dash down the comeback path with a 6.51 in the first round of the 60m. Tianna Madison, the former long jump world champion, was the fastest qualifier in the women’s 60m at 7.10. The hurdlers and sprinters will return to the Albuquerque Convention Center on Sunday for the semi-finals and finals. Field events dominated the opening day finals.
High jump world champion Jesse Williams won his event with a clearance of 2.29m, while Jenn Suhr won the women’s pole vault with a vault of 4.67m.
Christian Taylor, Claye’s former training partner and teammate at the University of Florida, was the surprise winner of the triple jump at the outdoor World Championships in South Korea last year, where Claye captured bronze. On Saturday, Taylor settled for silver with a leap of 17.21.
Claye, whose previous 2012 best was 17.39m, was due to be back in action on Sunday seeking another national title — and another spot on the team for next month’s indoor world championships in Istanbul — in the long jump.
Not since Mike Conley achieved the feat in 1986 has the same man won both the triple and long jumps at the US indoor nationals.
“A lot of other jumpers don’t look at it the way I do, but training for both jumps actually helps me,” Claye said. “A big thing is you don’t put stress on one single muscle group all the time.”
Given Albuquerque’s nearly mile-high altitude, Bernard Lagat’s 7:47.54 win in the men’s 3,000 meters, over Lopez Lomong (7:51.75) and Galen Rupp (7:57.36) was impressive. Lagat did it with a 56-second final 400m.
However, the altitude appeared to be a factor in a relatively slow women’s 3,000m, won by Jennifer Simpson in 9:19.15 over Jackie Areson (9:20.61) and Sara Hall (9:21.87).
Despite the time, it was another solid victory for Simpson, who stepped down from the 3,000m steeplechase to win the 1,500m world title in Daegu.
She was to seek a double on Sunday in the women’s 1,500m.
Other notable qualifiers for Sunday’s finals were Sanya Richards-Ross, with a 51.33 semi-final in the women’s 400m, and Frankie Wright in the men’s 400m at 46.26.
