EUGENE, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay and Sweden's Armand Duplantis both shattered world records, clinching the women's 5,000m and men's pole vault titles respectively at the Diamond League Final on Sunday.
World and Olympic champion Duplantis cleared 6.23m on his first try, surpassing his previous best of 6.22m set in February this year. This achievement marks the seventh time he has broken the world record and the second time outdoors.
"The limit is very high, and I hope that I can continue to jump well and keep jumping higher than I did today, but for now I'm not really thinking about anything except enjoying this moment and enjoying what I just did," said Duplantis after the match.
Earlier at the World Championships in Budapest, Duplantis had missed the 6.23m mark in the final but still secured his world champion title for a second year in a row at 6.10m. Obiena became the first male pole vaulter to secure a silver after clearing 6.00m at the World Championships. The two rivals faced off again in Eugene. After Obiena missed three attempts at 6.02m, Duplantis raised the bar to 6.23m.
"I think the format of the Diamond League final is super nice for me to go out and attempt a world record," said the Swede after the race. "It's a lot shorter competition and I think that it's a lot easier to be fresh at that world-record height."
World 10,000m champion Tsegay obliterated the women's 5,000m record, finishing in 14 minutes and 00.21 seconds. "My focus today is the world record," said the 26-year-old, adding that she was happy about shattering the record after missing the title in Budapest due to leg injuries.
In other events, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica defended her women's 200m title, clocking in at 21.57 seconds, just a day after winning the 100m in 10.70 seconds.
Olympic champion Andre De Grasse of Canada completed the men's 200m in a season-best 19.76 seconds.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine clinched victory in the women's high jump with a world-leading mark of 2.03m.
Jamaican Hansle Parchment triumphed in the men's 110m hurdles, setting a world-leading time of 12.93 seconds. ■