By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza equalled his Personal Best to win the men’s 100m in 9.94 at the 65th Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Tuesday night.
Walaza finished ahead of Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who clocked 9.99. World indoor champion Jordan Anthony was fifth in 10.20.
The 65th Golden Spike is an elite annual track and field athletics meeting held at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava.
It is one of the highest-ranked one-day events globally, categorized as a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.
Meanwhile Noah Lyles took a quarter of a second off the world 150m best, clocking 14.67 at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting.
The Olympic 100m champion and four-time world 200m champion was contesting the distance for the first time, but the rarely run event looked tailor-made for him. Strong enough over 100m and dominant over 200m, Lyles used both parts of his sprinting range to full effect in the Czech city.
Coming off the bend, he was level with South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile, but Lyles then edged in front and pulled clear to win in 14.67, improving the world best of 14.92 set earlier this year by Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson.
Dambile held on to take second in 14.78, also inside the previous world best, while rising Australian talent Gout Gout finished strongly to take third in 14.96.