Anthony Saves Best For Last, Wins Men's 60 Meters; Jackson Wins First World Indoor Title In Shot Put

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Chiara Montesano

INTERVIEWS

On day when Trayvon Bromell ran the world-leading time in the men's 60 meters, it was U.S. champion Jordan Anthony who became world champion on the first day of action at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland. 

Anthony, a first-year pro on his first trip outside of the country, won his first global medal by running 6.43 seconds in his third race of the day. 

Bromell, trying to win a global title 10 years after he first won it in Portland, Oregon in 2016, finished in bronze medal position. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica edged Bromell by a thousandth of a second at the finish line to claim silver, 6.447 to 6.448.

Bromell, however, ran 6.42 for a world leading time in the semifinals. Earlier, he also ran the fastest time in the first round with 6.52 seconds.

Earlier in the week, Anthony said, he had a blood clot in his arm after a drug tester poked him with a needle and missed the vein. He brushed off the mishap. 

"A lot of people thought I was going to come here and wet the bed," Anthony said. "God put this dog in me. I'm always going to release the dog when it's ready to be released. I'm grateful that I was able to represent myself, represent Team USA."

American Chase Jackson hit a towering 20.14 meters (66-1) mark on her fourth attempt to increase her lead and win the gold medal. After a silver and two bronzes in three previous World Indoor finals, it was Jackson's first gold. She has won two gold medals at the outdoor championships (2022 and 2023). 

"I definitely wanted a bigger throw but I'm really proud of what I did out there tonight," Jackson said.

Canadian Sarah Mitton threw 19.78m (64-10.75) on her fourth attempt to move into silver medal position. 

NCAA champion Axelina Johansson, competing for Sweden, broke her own collegiate record and national record in the second round when she threw 19.75m (64-9.75). 

Johansson threw 19.55m (64-1.75) to win the NCAA crown for Nebraska last weekend. 

Ukrainian star Yaroslava Mahuchikh won her second World Indoor gold medal and fourth global gold by clearing 2.01m (6-7). 

The reigning Olympic champion and outdoor world record holder made first-attempt clearances at four bars, including 2.01m, and then missed three tries at 2.06m, which would have matched her indoor best. 

There was a three-way tie for silver. Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, Yulia Levchenko of Ukraine and Angelina Topic of Serbia were all clean through 1.99m (6-6.25). 

U.S. champion Charity Hufnagel finished ninth. 

In the men's heptathlon, U.S. athletes Kyle Garland and Heath Baldwin are in medal contention after the first four events. 

Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, the high-point scorer in the 60 meters and the long jump, has a 38-point lead over Garland and a total of 3,698 points. 

Garland had the best high jump to close out the day and was in the top-three of Friday's four events. 

Baldwin is in third place with 3,510 points. 

Andy Diaz Hernandez of Italy jumped a world-leading distance of 17.47m (57-3.75) on his first attempt and the rest of the competition was a wait to be crowned champion. 

The closest anyone got the rest of the way was Jamaican Jordan Scott, who jumped 17.33m (56-10.25) in the third round. 

Algeria's Yasser Mohammed Triki took bronze with 17.30m. 

Jonathan Seremes of France, the NCAA champion for Texas Tech, finished fifth. 

Russell Robinson of the U.S. was 11th. 

In qualifying on the track, 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus safely advanced through the first round of the men's 800 meters by taking second in his heat in a time of 1:46.24. Sean Dolan also advanced to the semifinal.

In the 1,500 meters, Nikki Hiltz and Gracie Morris made it to the final for the U.S. And Nathan Green made it to the final, but 2025 indoor bronze medalist Luke Houser did not. 

Americans Chris Robinson and Khaleb McCrae and Canadian Christopher Morales Williams were three of the four semifinal heat winners of the men's 400. All three will be in the final.

Bailey Lear missed advancing to the final of th women's 400 by one spot. Rosey Effiong was eliminated in the first round. 

Addison Wiley of the U.S. won her heat of the wome's 800 meters and will join Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and other quaifiers in the semifinals. Valery Tobias of the U.S. was disqualified due to "lane infringement. "