Justin Gatlin to miss Prefontaine Classic

By Nick ZaccardiMay 24, 2018, 8:36 AM EDT

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World 100m champion Justin Gatlin withdrew from Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic and a showdown with Christian Coleman.

It would have been the Americans’ first head-to-head since they went one-two in the 2017 World Championships 100m, relegating Usain Bolt to bronze in the Jamaican’s last individual race.

But Gatlin’s agent said the 36-year-old will miss the Diamond League meet in Eugene, Ore., due to right hamstring tightness picked up at a meet in Japan last weekend, according to Reuters.

Coleman, who twice broke the indoor 60m world record in the winter, also altered his Pre Classic plans.

Organizers announced Wednesday that Coleman would run the 100m and the 200m in a 90-minute span, but his management agency later tweeted he would race solely the 100m to be prudent in his first individual race meet of the outdoor season.

Gatlin and Coleman were scheduled to go head-to-head in a 100m in Shanghai on May 12, but Coleman withdrew ahead of that meet for precautionary reasons.

Gatlin went on to finish seventh in Shanghai in 10.20 seconds, his slowest professional 100m result in years, if not ever. Granted, it was raining in Shanghai and Gatlin ran into a slight headwind. Gatlin followed that effort by winning at a smaller meet in Osaka in 10.06 seconds into a headwind on Sunday.

The fastest man in the world in 2018 is American Ronnie Baker, who clocked 9.97 on April 21. Baker is in the Pre Classic 100m field with Coleman but nobody else who has broken 9.96 seconds in their careers.

Gatlin and Coleman are the world’s premier sprinters this season following the retirement of Usain Bolt, Wayde van Niekerk‘s torn ACL and Andre De Grasse‘s slow return from a summer 2017 right hamstring strain.

Gatlin and Coleman could face off at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines in one month.

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Shoma Uno leads Ilia Malinin at figure skating worlds; Japan wins first pairs’ title

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 9:24 AM EDT

Defending champion Shoma Uno of Japan bettered American Ilia Malinin in the world figure skating championships short program.

Malinin, 18, plans one of, if not the most difficult free skate in history on Saturday in a bid to overtake Uno to become the youngest world champion in 25 years.

Uno, who has reportedly dealt with an ankle injury, skated clean Thursday save doubling the back end of a planned quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination. He totaled 104.63 points, overtaking Malinin by 4.25 on home ice in Saitama.

“I was able to do better jumps compared to my practice in my short program today, and even if I am not in my best condition, I want to focus on other details other than my jumps as well,” Uno said, according to the International Skating Union.

Malinin, who this season landed the first quadruple Axel in competition, had a clean short after struggling with the program all autumn. He landed a quadruple Lutz-triple toe combo, a quad toe and a triple Axel. Uno beat him on artistic component scores.

“I was really in the moment,” said Malinin, who plans a record-tying six quads in Saturday’s free skate after attempting five at previous competitions this season. “I was really feeling my performance out there.”

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule

The quad Axel is not allowed in the short program, but expect Malinin to include it in the free, and he likely needs it to beat Uno.

Malinin has been a force in skating, starting with his breakout silver-medal finish at the January 2022 U.S. Championships. He was left off last year’s Olympic team due to his inexperience, then won the world junior title last spring.

He entered these senior worlds ranked second in the field behind Uno, yet outside the top 15 in the world in the short program this season. After a comfortable win at January’s national championships, he can become the youngest men’s world champion since Russian Alexei Yagudin in 1998.

Two-time U.S. Olympian Jason Brown placed sixth with a clean short in his first full international competition since last year’s Olympics.

The third American, Andrew Torgashev, fell on his opening quad toe loop and ended up 22nd in his worlds debut.

Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen has not skated this season, going back to Yale, and is not expected to return to competition. Silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan has been out with left leg and ankle bone injuries. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retired.

Earlier Thursday, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Japan’s first pairs’ world title, dethroning Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who last year became the first Americans to win a pairs’ world title since 1979.

2023 World Figure Skating Championships results

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 7:51 AM EDT

2023 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, top 10 and notable results …

Women (Short Program)
1. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 79.24
2. Lee Hae-In (KOR) — 73.62
3. Mai Mihara (JPN) — 73.46
4. Isabeau Levito (USA) — 73.03
5. Loena Hendrickx (BEL) — 71.94
6. Niina Petrokina (EST) — 68.00
7. Nicole Schott (GER) — 67.29
8. Bradie Tennell (USA) — 66.45
9. Ekaterina Kurakova (POL) — 65.69
10. Amber Glenn (USA) — 65.52

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Broadcast Schedule

Men (Short Program)
1. Shoma Uno (JPN) — 104.63
2. Ilia Malinin (USA) — 100.38
3. Cha Jun-Hwan (KOR) — 99.64
4. Keegan Messing (CAN) — 98.75
5. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) — 95.56
6. Jason Brown (USA) — 94.17
7. Kazuki Tomono (JPN) — 92.68
8. Daniel Grassl (ITA) — 86.50
9. Lukas Britschgi (SUI) — 86.18
10. Vladimir Litvintsev (AZE) — 82.71
17. Sota Yamamoto (JPN) — 75.48
22. Andrew Torgashev (USA) — 71.41

Pairs
Gold: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) — 222.16
Silver: Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA) — 217.48
Bronze: Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) — 208.08
4. Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) — 199.97
5. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe (USA) — 194.73
6. Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) — 193.00
7. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) — 190.67
8. Anastasia Golubova/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) — 189.47
9. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (GER) — 184.60
10. Alisa Efimova/Ruben Blommaert (GER) — 184.46
12. Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) — 175.59

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