Levins and Nettey set Canadian records in Eugene
Feature photo: Cam Levins (right) in the Olympic 10,000m at London 2012
Canadians competing at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon broke two national athletics records on Friday night.
The meet also doubles as an IAAF Diamond League event, and although the 10,000-metre wasn’t technically in a ‘Diamond Race’ (more on this below), London 2012 Olympian Cam Levins obliterated the national record against a star-studded field that included Olympic champion and the Canadian’s training partner, Mo Farah of Great Britain.
While Farah won in a world leading time of 26:50.97 in the 25-lap race, Levins finished fourth behind the Brit and two Kenyan runners in 27:07.51, bettering the old Canadian record by more than 16 seconds. Levins, 26, had previously run 27:27.96 in 2012, when he was flirting with Simon Bairu’s record of 27:23.63 set in 2010.
The other record of the night – in a Diamond Race – came from long jumper Christabel Nettey. She matched her best indoor long jump distance from February, this time duplicating that leap outdoors at 6.99 metres. That was good enough for second place in Eugene and two points, bringing her season total to three and second overall in the series after two Diamond League meets.
Christabel Nettey at 2013 IAAF World Championships (Dmitry Rozhkov/Creative Commons).
Winner of each Diamond Race event gets four points, second place gets two and third nets a single. Nettey won a point previously in Doha, Qatar.
Tania Bartoletta of the United States won the event on Friday with a leap of 7.11m, while Lorraine Ugen of Great Britain was third (6.89m).
Another recent Canadian record breaker will take to Hayward Field in Oregon on Saturday, Liz Gleadle in women’s javelin.
