Yarisley Silva vaulted 4.58 meters at the 2015 Diamond League in Shanghai on May 17, securing third place behind Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou (4.73m WL, NR) and Ekaterini Stefanidi (4.58m) of Greece.
The Cuban failed once at 4.38m, but then passed 4.48m without major complications, yet needed three attempts to clear the 4.58m that secured the third position. She later attempted 4.63m but this proved elusive.
The 4.73 meters of Kiriakopoulou constitute a new outdoor record for Greece. This is also the best result so far of this season and sets her up as one of the most consistent athletes of 2015. She previously broke the Greek national record during the winter season with a jump of 4.80m in February.
In other results, noteworthy is the 14:14.32 time of Ethiopian Almaz Ayana in the 5,000 meters, the third-fastest of all time behind Tirunesh Dibaba (14:11.15) and Mesereth Defar (14:12.88).
Colombia’s Catherine Ibargüen leapt 14.85m to win the triple jump and extend her unbeaten run with 23 consecutive wins. She was joined on the podium in Shanghai by two great jumpers: Olha Saladukha (14.62m) and Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan (14.38m). The latter had been absent from the track until recently following her pregnancy.
Speaking of comebacks, Russia’s Alekxandr Menkov returned victorious from injury with a leap of 8.27m to take first place in the long jump. In the javelin, his compatriot Mariya Abakumova, mother of twins, only managed eighth place with a throw of 60.66m. The low-profile event saw the Europeans distanced from the top three, with Christina Obergföll coming in sixth with 62.08m. The winner was China’s Huihui Lu with 64.08m, followed by Sunette Viljoen (63.60m) and Kimberley Mickle (63.60m).
In the 110-meter hurdles, the event of the host country’s star, Liu Xiang, the victory and four points went to David Oliver of the U.S. with a time of 13.17 seconds, ahead of Orlando Ortega and Arries Merrit who accompanied him on the podium with times of 13.19 and 13.25 respectively.
The next Diamond League meeting of this discipline will be held in the U.S. city of Eugene.
