Big PBs for Levell and Moore in 200m
National champions Bryan Levell and Ashanti Moore both ran big personal best times as they won their respective 200m races at Tuesday’s Istvan Gyulai Memorial at the National Athletic Center in Budapest, Hungary.
Levell ran a mouthwatering 19.69 seconds (-0.4m/s) to break the meet record 19.88 seconds set by American Erriyon Knighton in 2022, while Moore ran 22.31 seconds, lowering her previous best 22.40 seconds set last month.
Levell, who got off to moderate start, blasted the corner and came into the straight first, running away from the field, to beat the South African pair of Wayde Van Niekerk, who ran a season’s best 20.07 seconds, and Benjamin Richardson who was third in 20.30 seconds.
Jamaicans Adrian Kerr was sixth in 20.52 seconds and Michael Campbell was seventh in 20.88 seconds.
Levell broke his previous best of 19.97 seconds and became the third fastest Jamaican over the distance, only behind Usain Bolt’s world record 19.19 seconds set in 2009, when Levell was just four years old, and Yohan Blake’s 19.26 seconds. His time is now one place ahead of Olympic and World Champs medalist Warren Weir’s 19.79 seconds.
Moore, who completed her competition schedule before returning home to fine-tune preparations for the World Championships, is tied for 21st in the world and 14th all-time on the Jamaican list along with former Hydel High teammate Brianna Lyston.
She just edged former Nigerian representative Favour Ofili on photo-finish camera as both were credited with the same time with Great Britain’s Daryll Neita third with 22.37 seconds.
The meet is a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.