Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji sped to a succession of records on her home track at the CITIUS Meeting in Bern, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, on Friday (4) evening.
The recently crowned European U23 100m hurdles champion initially equalled the European U23 record of 12.51 in the heats before taking full ownership of the record with a sparkling 12.47 clocking for victory in the final, also a European-leading time and a Swiss record.
"It was a magical day. I knew that I had fast times in my legs," said Kambundji, who was born in the Swiss capital. "But I did not expect such times as these, even if the sensations were very good during the warm-up. I am particularly satisfied to have been able to stay calm between these two races”.
Since 2010, only one European has run faster over the distance, Belarus' Alina Talay running 12'.41 in 2018..
The European U23 record of 12.51 was previously held by Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska who was in a lane alongside her Swiss rival and while she had to relinquish her record, Skrzyszowska’s third-place finish in a season’s best of 12.59 marked a return to form for the Pole who is still on the comeback trail from a hamstring injury.
Two-time European indoor 60m hurdles champion Nadine Visser from the Netherlands and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin were third and fourth respectively in 12.65 and 12.67, . Lavin is now just 0.02 shy of the Irish record held by former world indoor champion Derval O’Rourke in 2010.
Serbia’s Elzan Bibic also won the 1500m in a national record of 3:34.20 ahead of Switzerland’s Tom Elmer in 3:34.50.
Bibic took just over half-a-second off the previous 40-year-old mark of 3:34.85 set by Dragan Zdravkovic in 1983, in the summer after he won the European indoor title over the same distance.
British athletes also fared well in one of the final major one-day events before the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Imani Lansiquot won the 100m in 11.06 ahead of New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.13) and European 200m champion Mujinga Kambundji (11.15) and Laviai Nielsen won the 400m in 50.83 to equal her lifetime best, finishing ahead of teammate and 400m hurdles specialist Jessie Knight in 51.75.