The 26-year-old Nova Scotian shot 20.33m on her sixth and final attempt to triumph at the Canadian Championships in Langley, BC. She had set the previous Canadian mark of 19.58m last May in Hamilton.
I’m thrilled, admitted Mitton. As soon as the weight left my hand, I knew it was a big throw. It’s a remarkable feeling. I was really taken. And when I saw that the weight had landed well past the 20m line, I lost my mind.
Song Jiayuon of China had a throw of 20.20m on May 28. It was until Saturday the best pitch of the season on the planet.
Mitton has therefore been full of confidence less than a month from the next world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Brittany Crew of Mississauga, Ont., finished 2nd with a throw of 16.39m. Grace Tennant of Caistor Centre, Ont., finished 3rd with a throw of 15.79m.
Sydney McLauglin improves her world record
At the United States Championships presented in Eugene, the irresistible Sydney McLaughlin, reigning Olympic champion, improved her world record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 51 s 41/100 which makes her more than ever the great world favorite.
Her rival Dalilah Muhammad, who beat her at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, is absent from the United States Championships due to a hamstring injury. But McLaughlin did not hesitate to send her a message.
And what a message! The 22-year-old ran five hundredths of a second faster than in her final at the Tokyo Games last year, which covered her with Olympic gold ahead of Muhammad.
The latter, as defending champion, will be able to defend her chances on this same track in Eugene, just like Britton Wilson (53.08 s) and Shamier Little (53.92 s), 2nd and 3rd in the Final, far behind McLaughlin.
This sizeable performance closed a day during which the great Allyson Felix, 21 years after her first participation, delivered her last race in her national championships.
She failed to clinch a sesame for the worlds in the 400m, finishing in 6th place (51.24 s) in a final dominated by Talitha Diggs (50.22 s) ahead of Kendall Ellis (50.35 s) and Lynna Irby (50.67 s) who will defend the American colors in three weeks.
Hopes of seeing the 36-year-old seven-time Olympic gold medalist compete in her eighth World Championships have not gone away, however, as she can still make the women’s and mixed 4x400m relay team. , if the coaches decide to select her, before she retires from sport later this year.
World record holder Keni Harrison won the 100m hurdles in 12.34s, best performance of the year, in the absence of reigning world champion Nia Ali, who will be able to defend her chances. at the worlds.
Reigning world champion Noah Lyles clocked the fastest qualifying time (19s 95/100) over 200m and showed that he is recovering well from COVID-19.
Like him, the other favorites made their debut: Erriyon Knighton (20.08s), Christian Coleman (20.13s) and Kenny Bednarek (20.10s) all won their races.
Another qualifier for the semi-finals scheduled for Sunday, Fred Kerley (20.29 s), who flew over the 100m on Friday by achieving the best performance in the world this year in 9.76 s, which made him the 6th sprinter in history, tied with Trayvon Bromell and Coleman.
After his U-turn on the track at the worlds next July, Lyles revealed that he learned, after his victory (19.61 s) in New York on June 12, that he had contracted the coronavirus. He had attributed the chills he felt during the meeting to the fluctuating temperatures that day, and it was only after the race that he realized his muscle aches and fatigue were symptoms of the disease.
For his part, the Italian Olympic champion in the 100m Marcell Jacobs, injured since mid-May, resumed competition with a straight line in 10.12 s in Rieti, Italy.
Jacobs was crowned Italian champion ahead of Ali Chituru (10.16s) a few hours after a first 100m in qualifying (10.17s). He had been absent from the tracks since a stretch, and therefore only ran his third and fourth 100m since his surprise victory in Tokyo last summer.
Jacobs has yet to run the 100m next Thursday in Stockholm. This will be his last race before flying to the worlds in the United States.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca