American beats Kishane Thompson, Trayvon Bromell and reigning champion Jeremiah Azu in Toruń with a fast 6.41.
When it comes to the global sprints scene, there is a new kid on the starting blocks. Jordan Anthony, 21, convincingly beat a world-class line-up in a world-leading time of 6.41 to win gold in the men’s 60m for the United States on the first day of the World Indoor Championships in Toruń.
There was no fairytale final for Jeremiah Azu as the Briton’s world title defence saw him finish narrowly out of the medals in fourth with 6.46. Trayvon Bromell of the United States was also thwarted as the world indoor champion from 10 years ago in Portland didn’t quite manage to pull off a victorious comeback as he finished third in 6.45, the same time as runner-up Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.
Instead the day belonged to Anthony. A long day, too, with heats in the morning and a semi-final in the evening with the final taking place all within an 11-hour period.
Amazingly, he achieved victory in Toruń despite a shock blood clot on the eve of the championships after a drug test went wrong. “I had drug testing, they took blood, but he didn’t stick my vein, he stuck outside,” he explained.
Anthony is certainly a rising force on the sprints scene as he won the NCAA indoor 60m and outdoor 100m titles last year and then the US indoor 60m title earlier this season.
Born in California, he grew up in Tylertown, Mississippi, studying at the University of Kentucky followed by the University of Arkansas. He originally combined athletics with American football, where he played as a wide receiver. But lately he has focused on the No.1 Olympic sport.
On Friday evening in Toruń he looked relaxed at the start and enjoyed a blistering start, drawing away from his rivals in style to win by four hundredths of a second.
For a moment it was unclear who had won the minor medals and even the computerised results struggled to work it out. But Thompson, the Olympic 100m silver medallist, was confirmed in second with Bromell third and Azu fourth as the rest of the field, led by Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon, finished more than a tenth of a second adrift.
Earlier, Azu had improved his Welsh record to 6.45 in a semi-final behind Anthony’s 6.43 to put him No.2 on the UK all-time rankings behind only Dwain Chambers’ 6.42.
Anthony said: “Winning the gold feels great but, to be honest, I feel more excited for the fans than for myself. I am happy to sign autographs and just hang out a bit with them.
“Before the semi-final, I talked to Trayvon Bromell’s coach Antonio. I said to him that Trayvon will set the pace in his race and I will follow him. When I saw he ran 6.42 I was like, ‘okay, right, now I need to run faster’.
“The final was a great race but I still have a lot left in the tank. Most importantly, I did my debut right and I am bringing the gold medal back to the USA.
“I used to play college football and I performed in front of a lot more people but coming out here today made me a bit more excited. This felt easy for me. This proves to me I picked the right sport. I am looking forward to the outdoor season.”