Qatar's Barshim tied for 1st place as Gatlin wins at Olympics test event

Qatar's reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim settled for a tie with last year's Japanese title holder Tobe Naoto and Eto Takashi when all of them cleared a height of 2.30m but failed to go three centimetres higher at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo yesterday.

The competition was part of the World Athletics Continental Tour and saw a total 420 athletes compete for honours across 33 disciplines and acted as the final athletic ramp-up event ahead of the Olympic Games in 2021.

One of the most notable winners at the star-studded event was five-time Olympic medallist Justin Gatlin who edged a thrilling men’s 100m final to win by just two-hundredths of a second.

The American sprinter stormed over the line in a time of 10.24, narrowly ahead of Japan’s Tada Shuhei (10.26) and Koike Yuki (10.28). “I had a cramp in the prelims and I had to make sure I stayed hydrated, stretched in between the prelims and the finals,” Gatlin, 39, told reporters after sealing his win. “I just wanted to use the best technique as possible and try to come up with the victory.

“Japan is always a hard trip for me. On top of that the whole bubble and the quarantine [but] it’s going to be awesome. It’s a great stadium, great seating and hopefully the locals will come out and support the Olympics. “

As long as I stay healthy I still think I can rise to the occasion. I have another son... he’s four months now and I want him to experience the Olympic trials and hopefully he’ll be able to see his father at the Olympics.  So that’s one thing that drives me.

Miura Ryuji of Japan became the first athlete to break a national record in the new stadium with a time of 8:17.46 in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, a record that has stood for 18 years.

Kenya’s Joan Chepkemoi, the 2014 Commonwealth bronze medallist, won the women’s event with a record of her own, securing a personal best of 9:39.29.