Emil Agyekum won the 400m hurdles in the second fastest time of his career on home soil at the Goldenes Oval in Dresden, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, on Sunday (1) afternoon.
The German, who finished sixth in the 400m hurdles at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships before anchoring Germany to bronze in the 4x400m, stopped the clock at 48.36 - a time only surpassed by Karsten Warholm among European exponents in 2025 - for an auspicious season’s debut at his specialist event.
Great Britain’s Alistair Chalmers only just missed his lifetime best in second with 48.61 with Türkiye’s former world and European U20 champion Berke Akcam (48.72) and Czechia’s Vit Muller (48.75) third and fourth respectively in a high quality all-European race.
A new addition to his country’s 4x400m team, Belgium’s Daniel Segers broke the 45 second-barrier in the individual 400m for the first time with 44.95 while Jana Lakner took her lifetime best all the way down from 53.13 to 51.77 to win the women’s 400m on home soil ahead of teammate and European indoor U20 record-holder Johanna Martin who was given an identical time.
There was also a high quality men’s 1500m which produced lifetime bests for the top three finishers. The French duo of Pierrik Jocteur-Monrozier and Flavien Szot finished first and second respectively in 3:33.15 and 3:33.72 with Brit Archie Davis third in 3:34.95.
Other track highlights included Italy’s Eseosa Desalu winning the 200m in 20.21 and 42-year-old Lorene Bazolo from Portugal sprinting to victory in the 100m in 11.34 ahead of Germany’s Rebekka Haase - the anchor leg runner for their bronze medal-winning 4x100m team at the 2024 Olympics - in 11.37.
Jackson fells Ogunleye in the sixth round
In a high quality shot put, world champion Chase Jackson defeated home favourite and reigning Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye in the sixth round.
In her first outdoor competition of the year, Ogunleye moved into the lead with 19.67m on her penultimate attempt but her American rival supplanted Ogunleye on her final attempt with a clutch effort of 19.73m, shooting Jackson up from fourth to first.
Maggie Ewen finished third with 19.50m with multiple continental medallist Fanny Roos from Sweden fourth with 19.49m.
European champion Malaika Mihambo also had to settle for second place in the long jump. Her one valid effort of 6.66m in the third round proved insufficient to dislodge European bronze medallist Agate de Sousa from Portugal who took the lead in the second round with 6.73m.
It was a successful afternoon for the American contingent in Dresden. Two-time Olympic champion Valarie Allman won the discus courtesy of a first round throw of 67.84m ahead of European silver medallist Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands (65.57m) and Chris Nilsen cleared 5.92m in the pole vault.
1.97m for Onnen, 14.45m for Joyeux in Essen
Imke Onnen broke her six-year-old lifetime best in the high jump at the Tag der Überflieger, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Essen, Germany on Sunday (1).
On the second of this two-day jumps-only event, Onnen added one centimetre to her lifetime best with a 1.97m clearance - the qualifying height for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo - before taking three attempts at 2.00m.
Caroline Joyeux provided the breakthrough performance of the meeting. She sailed beyond the 14 metre-barrier for the first time in her career in the sixth round of the triple jump, landing at a brilliant 14.45m - a lifetime best by 53 centimetres - for victory over the very experienced Bulgarian Gabriela Petrova with 14.37m.
Other highlights across the weekend included Portugal’s Gerson Balde winning the long jump with 8.20m and Belgium’s Ben Broeders clearing 5.75m for a clear victory in the pole vault.