European champion Zharnel Hughes dazzled with a 100/200m double at the British Championships in Manchester on Sunday (9).
In torrential rain, Hughes splashed through a waterlogged track in the 100m on the first day of the championships in 10.03 before returning to the track on Sunday to zoom to victory in the 200m in a super-fast albeit slightly wind-aided 19.77 (+2.3) before the rain and thunder arrived again.
“I train in these conditions sometimes in Jamaica - but I am soaked here. These conditions are the worst ever,” said Hughes after the 100m.
Hughes recently moved to second on the European all-time list with a British 100m record of 9.83 in New York and in all conditions, his 200m time today has only been surpassed by Pietro Mennea (19.72) and Ramil Guliyev (19.76) from a European standpoint.
The conditions on the first evening were such that the women’s 100m final was delayed by almost half-an-hour but Dina Asher-Smith returned to the track undeterred, winning comfortably in 11.06.
A clash with Daryll Neita - who leads the British lists at 100m (10.97) and 200m (22.23) this year - didn’t materialise this weekend with the European 100m bronze medallist opting solely for the 200m at the British Championships.
And Neita was much more fortuitous with the conditions as well, winning the 200m in a wind-legal championship record of 22.25, just 0.02 shy of her recently set lifetime best.
European indoor and outdoor champion Keely Hodgkinson eased away from Jemma Reekie for victory in the 800m - 1:58.26 to 1:58.93 - but there was an upset in the 1500m with Laura Muir losing out in a sprint finish to Katie Snowden - 4:09.86 to 4:10.24.
Fellow European indoor champion Jazmin Sawyers was also among the winners in Manchester, recording a wind-aided 6.86m and a wind-legal 6.77m to win the long jump title and Molly Caudery cleared a big lifetime best of 4.71m to win the pole vault title from Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw who cleared 4.61m on the comeback trail from injury.
Weber nears 90 metres at the German Championships, 20.02 for Hartmann
At the German Championships in Kassel, Julian Weber produced the third longest throw of his career to win the javelin title.
The European champion launched the javelin out to 88.72m to confirm his status as one of the leading contenders for gold at next month’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
“The throw to 88.72m was quite good but I can still improve the rhythm on the run-up. Now I want to train hard again before the World Championships and then continue to win medals,” said Weber.
Fellow European champion Gina Luckenkemper, who won a dramatic 100m final in Munich and was part of her country’s gold medal-winning team in the 4x100m, also produced another highlight with victory in the 100m in 11.03.
“I just texted my coach saying the run felt way too easy for 11.03 seconds. Today's races were all very, very good across the board. I was able to push so much better and more aggressively than was the case a few weeks ago,” said Luckenkemper.
The breakthrough performance of the weekend came from Joshua Hartmann who smashed the German record with victory in the 200m.
Hartmann shattered his previous lifetime best of 20.33 with 20.02 to take ownership of the national record which had previously stood at 20.20 since 2005.
“Sure, I'm very happy, but I'm not shocked. I'm very tired right now. It's been a tough week and a tough day. I'm looking forward to a competition-free weekend. The task now is to consolidate this performance,” he said.
Manuel Sanders won the 400m in 45.07 - the fastest time by a German since 2004 - and Joshua Abuaku edged out Constantin Preis in a thrilling 400m hurdles final with both athletes credited with an identical time of 48.45.
Malaika Mihambo jumped 6.93m twice for victory in the long jump and European discus silver medallist Kristin Pudenz threw 65.97m for victory over Shanice Craft (64.05m).
Elsewhere around Europe…
At the Slovenian Championships in Velenje, world champion Kristjan Ceh broke the 70 metre-barrier in the discus again with 70.54m and Tina Sutej cleared 4.73m in the pole vault.
Olympic and European long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou highlighted the Greek Championships in Volos, reaching out to a European lead of 8.38m in the sixth round.
European silver medallist Luca Kozak sped to a 12.72 clocking in the 100m hurdles at the Hungarian Championships in Budapest, beating Anna Toth (12.84) and Grete Kerekes (12.93).
Anita Marton won the shot put title with 18.40m and Bence Halasz threw 77.52m in the hammer.
At the Austrian Championships in Bregenz, Olympic bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger won the discus with 68.35m and Susanne Gogl-Walli won the 200m in 23.22 and the 400m in 51.79.
There were fast albeit wind assisted times in the sprints at the Cypriot Championships in Strovolos. Olivia Fotopoulou equalled the national record in the 100m with 11.25 before winning the 200m in a wind-aided 23.09.
Former European indoor 60m champion Milan Trajkovic won the 110m hurdles in 13.38 and Natalia Christofi won the 100m hurdles in a wind-aided 12.86.
European champion Filip Mihaljevic highlighted the Croatian Championships in Karlovac with victory in the shot put with 21.41m.
Daniela Stanciu cleared 1.94m in the high jump at the Romanian Championships in Craiova while European indoor silver medallist Claudia Bobocea won the 800m (2:01.20) and 1500m (4:11.10).
Andrian Mardare highlighted the Moldovan Championships in Chisinau with victory in the javelin with 83.04m.