The world-class weekend in numbers: twin defeat, WLs and Usain Bolt’s 400m

image

Just the hat-trick of UK titles and a world lead for Bleasdale this weekend

0 – The number of victories that the Borlee brothers recorded in front of their home crowd at the Flanders indoor meeting in Gent. Pavel Maslak of the Czech Republic beat Kevin by 0.14 in the 300m, while twin Jonathan lost out to Ireland’s Brian Gregan by 0.10 in the 400m.

1 – The amount of attempts needed by Holly Bleasdale to secure a hat-trick of UK indoor pole vault titles. A first time clearance of 4.35m secured gold. She went on to register a world-leading mark of 4.77m in Sheffield, some 0.57 clear of silver medallist Katie Byres.

6 – The number of successive wins Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie has recorded during an unbeaten indoor campaign this winter. The French athlete’s latest win, with a 5.85m clearance, came at the Samsung Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk.

9 – The position in his all-time list of 400m times recorded by Usain Bolt, who made his seasonal debut in the low-key Camperdown Classic in Kingston. The Jamaican won his heat in 46.74, much slower than his lifetime best for the one-lap distance, a 45.28 recorded in 2007.

13 – The staggering improvement in centimetres made by American Jeremy Taiwo, 23, in the high jump at the Boise State Team Classic in Idaho. Taiwo cleared 2.25m to register a world best for that event in a heptathlon. He went on to win the competition with 6156pts, which was world-leading until…

6341 – The amount of points accrued in the heptathlon by Eelco Sintnicolaas at the Dutch Championships, to climb to an impressive 11th on the all-time list for the event. The mark, set in his hometown of Apeldoorn, was also a national record.