NEW YORK : Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed the sprint double at the U.S. Track and Field Championships on Sunday, winning the women’s 200 metres in 21.69 seconds, while world champion Noah Lyles pulled up with a leg cramp during the men’s final.
Jefferson-Wooden, who swept the 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo last year, missed her personal best by one hundredth of a second with a dominant run at Icahn Stadium.
Cambrea Sturgis finished second in 22.22 seconds, with Camryn Dickson third in 22.58.
“Going up to the line, I just told myself, ‘Just let each phase of the race come to you. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just go out there and when the gun goes off, let it rip’,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “And that’s what I did.”
The men’s 200m final was overshadowed when Lyles, who won the 100m title earlier in the championships, slowed dramatically in the closing stages with a leg cramp, prompting concern from spectators.
Lyles later said he was fine and attributed the problem to the heavy workload he had taken on during the meet.
Garrett Kaalund claimed the national title in 20.04 seconds, ahead of Brandon Hicklin (20.29) and Maximilian Thomas, who was two thousandths of a second further back.
With no Olympic Games or World Championships on this year’s calendar, the U.S. Championships did not serve as a qualifying event for a major global competition for the first time since 2018.
Attendance at the New York meet, the first national championships held in the city’s five boroughs in more than 30 years, built steadily through the weekend before a full house attended Sunday’s final session.
Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who gave birth earlier this month, and Rai Benjamin were among the notable absentees.
Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell won the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.94 seconds, while Christopher Robinson took the men’s title in a season-best 47.61.
Nia Akins edged Addy Wiley to win the women’s 800m in 1:59.25, denying Wiley a first national title a day after she lost the 1,500m by four hundredths of a second to Nikki Hiltz.
Seventeen-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus continued his impressive breakthrough season by winning the men’s 800m in 1:43.48, finishing more than a second ahead of Wes Ferguson.
Cordell Tinch captured the men’s 110m hurdles title in 13.00 seconds, beating Bradley Franklin by just four thousandths of a second.
Valarie Sion claimed her eighth consecutive U.S. women’s discus title with a throw of 69.54 metres, while Jordan Geist secured the men’s shot put crown with a final-round effort of 22.32 metres.
In the women’s long jump, Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall was initially declared the winner after her final attempt, but the jump was later ruled a foul following a protest, handing victory to Alyssa Jones with a leap of 6.96 metres. Monae’ Nichols finished second with 6.92 metres, while Davis-Woodhall was relegated to third.
