One word told the story as Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran his way into world reckoning in Alabama on Saturday.
'Unbelievable,' said the 2013 European junior champion about his stunning time of 19.95 for the 200m.
This is where his performance takes him:
*It is the best by a European this year.
*It the fourth quickest in the world.
*It puts him second in the all-time British rankings - John Regis ran both 19.87A and 19.94.
*And he is now the eighth best European.
Competing for Louisiana State University (LSU) at the Southeastern Conference, Mitchell-Blake, 22, beat Americans Renard Howell (20.15) and Arman Hall (20.34) in an amazing day which began with him running the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay where LSU broke the meeting record (38.33). He then won the 100m (10.16), an hour before the 200m.
@WurldOfBlake goes 19.95 (+0.4) Destroys the Field Over 200m #SECTF @lsabre @TnFjunkie @gabyandersengz @AtoBoldonhttps://t.co/HRHJBDaqnN
— ★Sports Enthusiast★ (@JustSportsTweet) May 14, 2016
'Not many guys go 19 (seconds). It is nice to know you are in a category like that. The work is not done. We still have great things ahead,' said Mitchell-Blake, speaking to lsusports.net.
It was in Rieti three years ago that Mitchell-Blake won the European junior 200m title in 20.62, a personal best which he improved only earlier this month in Tuscaloosa to 20.31 before this performance.
The consistency level of Ivana Spanovic has been outstanding over the past three years, with six major championship medals, but the Serbian long jumper has never started a season in the way she did in Shanghai on Saturday.
At the IAAF Diamond League, Spanovic won with 6.95m, a meeting record with her opening effort as she beat Canada’s Christabel Nettey (6.75m) and Tianna Bartoletta, of the USA (also 6.75m).
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Spanovic, the European indoor champion, then jumped 6.82m, 6.64m, 6.88m and 6.75m for an impressive series.
Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perkovic will be going for her fourth consecutive European title in Amsterdam in just over seven weeks and what form she is in too.
With a throw of 70.88m, Perkovic delivered a Diamond League record, close to her personal best of 71.08m which brought her European gold and a national record in Zurich two years ago.
[VIDEO src='1279020' align='right']
Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko, another European champion, won the high jump in Shanghai in a non-Diamond League event with 2.28m, and Germany’s Thomas Röhler took the javelin with his opening throw of 85.71m to beat Czech Republic pair Jakub Vadlejech (84.77m) and Vitezslav Vesely (83.81m).
Behind Perkovic on the European Athletics rankings are German pair Julia Fischer (66.59m) and Nadine Müller (65.42m) after their one-two in Wiesbaden on Sunday where teammate Shanice Craft (64.42m) was third to secure fifth spot on the list.
The men’s discus was also a fine competition as Martin Wierig beat fellow German Daniel Jasinski on countback, with them both achieving 67.16m, the third best by Europeans in 2016, and in the under-23 category, Norway’s Sven Martin Skagestad broke the national age group record (65.20m).
It was a good weekend for German athletes as former world hammer champion Betty Heidler is now second in the European rankings after her 74.14m in Frankisch-Crumbach.
At the International meeting in Montgeron, two French European silver medallists produced their best performances of the season. In the 100m hurdles, Cindy Billaud’s time of 13.09 moved her to sixth on this year’s rankings and Melina Robert-Michon took her year’s best from 62.05m to 62.38m.
Multiple long jump gold medallist Greg Rutherford completed his summer preparations in the USA with a 8.36m (+2.8) and 8.24m (+0.9) in Phoenix while in Slupsk, Poland’s Konrad Bukowiecki, the world’s leading junior shot putter, cleared 20.15m with the senior implement.
And a few days after confirming that he will compete in both the 20km and 50km at the Olympics in Rio, Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez, the world and European 20km champion, won the 10,000m in 40:25.86 at the Spanish University Championships in Murcia on Saturday.
There are 83 events across Europe this week. For full information, go to http://www.european-athletics.org/calendar