Jamaica’s Paris Olympic 100m silver medalist Kishane Thompson secured victory at the Astana Indoor Meet Saturday, January 25. His compatriot Tia Clayton, Paris 100m finalist won the women’s edition in a meet record.
Thompson clocked 6.56secs for his win; however, it was not without challenges as he appeared to grimace and limp slightly after crossing the finish line. Despite this, it was a successful start to his indoor season, coming a week after running 6.48 into a 2.1 mps headwind outdoors in Jamaica.
Thompson struggled with his start in the heats, but still qualified comfortably with a time of 6.58. In the final, he used his power to surge ahead, with Ali Anwar Baluchi of Oman coming second and Shuhei Tada of Japan taking third place. Andre De Grasse, the 2021 Olympic 200m champion, finished in fifth place, noting that 60m was probably too short a distance for him.
The women’s 60m final saw Tia Clayton win with a new meeting record of 7.18. Her twin sister, Tina, finished third, with Lorene Bazolo of Portugal taking second place. Both sisters, like Thompson, are coached by Stephen Francis.
In the women’s 60m hurdles, Nia Ali was expected to be a major attraction but had to withdraw from the final due to injury. Yuri Tanaka took the win with a personal best time of 8.05secs followed by Nooralotta Neziri of Finland and Klaudia Wojtunik of Poland.
New U18 3000m Record
In the 3000m, 16-year-old Marta Alemayo from Ethiopia produced a stunning performance, setting a new world U18 best of 8:39.80. She out-kicked her fellow Ethiopian Shito Gumi, who is just 17. Alemayo had to maneuver her way around Gumi and Axumawit Embaye during the race to secure her victory.
Chase Jackson dominated the shot put event, with a second-round throw of 19.13m, establishing a new early world lead for 2025. This was a strong start to the year for Jackson, who failed to qualify for the final of the event at the Paris Olympics.
Alex Haydock Wilson from Britain won the 400m in 46.47, improving his time from a previous run in Luxembourg. Sada Williams of Barbados, also coached in Jamaica by Francis, won the women’s 400m in 53.51.
The men’s long jump saw a close finish, with Lester Lescay winning with 7.91m, just two centimeters ahead of US duo Marquis Dendy and Isaac Grimes. In the women’s high jump, Nagisa Takahashi of Japan won with a clearance of 1.88m. Local favourite, Nadezha Dubovitskaya, finished fourth. The men’s high jump was won by Luis Castro of Puerto Rico with 2.15m. The Astana meet is one of nine Gold-level World Indoor Tour events in 2025. Other cities hosting these events include Boston, New York, Madrid, and Belgrade.