Caudery wins pole vault at Diamond League in Doha
GB's Molly Caudery wins pole vault in Doha
- Published
Britain's Molly Caudery began her 2025 outdoor season with victory in the pole vault at the Diamond League meeting in Doha.
The 25-year-old cleared 4.75m in warm and windy conditions at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar to finish top of the standings.
Neither Roberta Bruni of Italy nor USA's Katie Moon could clear the height as they finished second and third with vaults of 4.63m.
"I absolutely have a lot of fire in me and that's a good thing ahead of the new season," said Caudery.
She won the World Indoor title last year to become Britain's first world champion in the discipline.
However, Caudery failed to make the final of the event at last summer's Olympic Games in Paris.
In the 1500m, Scotland's Jemma Reekie finished a credible third with a time of four minutes 7.33 seconds as Nelly Chepchirchir strode clear in 4:05.00, ahead of Kenyan team-mate Susan Ejore.
Elsewhere, Amy Hunt finished third in the 100m in a time of 11.03 as she took .09 seconds off her personal best.
The race was won by Tia Clayton, who outshone two-time Olympic 100m champion and Jamaican compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
The 38-year-old Fraser-Pryce was competing on the Diamond League circuit for the first time in three years, but could only finish fourth as Clayton, 20, won easily in a world-leading time of 10.92.
Clayton's twin sister Tina was second in 11.02, while Fraser-Pryce, competing in possibly her final season, clocked a season's best 11.05 for fourth.
Reigning men's Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo produced a lacklustre performance for success in his signature event as he was almost caught on the line by Courtney Lindsey.
Botswana's Tebogo ran a smooth bend but seemed to lack fluency in the home straight and glanced to his right at Lindsey as he crossed the line in a modest 20.10, one hundredth of a second ahead of the American.
In the men's 800m, Tshepiso Masalela chased down Wycliffe Kinyamal to clock 1:43.11, the fastest time in the world this year.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Okoye finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 65.01m, while fellow Briton Laviai Nielsen finished seventh in the 400m with a time of 52.02.
Is Tebogo 'disrespectful' for crossing finish line in this way?