Davis-Woodhall brightest USATF Tour star at Los Angeles Grand Prix

LOS ANGELES — Reigning Olympic and world long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall exploded to the farthest jump by an American woman in a decade Sunday, a world-leading 7.20/23-7.5 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, the 10^th stop on the 2026 USATF Tour. The World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet at USC's Allyson Felix Track at Loker Stadium also featured wins by Olympic champions Masai Russell and Valarie Sion and a breakthrough in the men's 110 hurdles by Jamal Britt.
 
Davis-Woodhall, who prepped at nearby Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, delighted the hometown crowd by opening the day with a big PB in the 100 hurdles, where she finished second behind Russell in 12.47, more than a quarter-second faster than her previous lifetime best. Russell, who in late May set an American record of 12.14, looked untroubled as she dominated the field in 12.26, easing through the final 10 meters. Grace Stark grabbed third in a season best 12.48.
 
Moving to the long jump runway, Davis-Woodhall made the most of her newfound hurdles speed to pop off the board and hit the sand well past the 7-meter mark. Her opening attempt was the longest by an American woman since Brittney Reese's 7.31/23-11.75 to win the 2016 Olympic Trials. The 27-year-old Davis-Woodhall had three more wind-aided jumps past 7.00, the best of which was 7.25/23-9.5 (wind +3.3) in round three.
 
The 2026 world leader in the women's discus and the reigning Olympic and world champion, Sion had six throws in her series that would have been good enough to win, topped by a 69.15/226-10 in round five. Erika Beistle jumped to second place with her final effort, a 65.02/213-4 throw that pushed her past Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands, the 2025 World Championships silver medalist.
 
American record holder Chase Jackson, who won the World Indoor Championships shot put gold in March, had her seventh 20-meter plus meet of the season with a 20.53/67-4.25 on her first attempt to turn back Canada's two-time World Indoor champ Sarah Mitton. Jackson added an insurance throw of 20.48/67-2.25 in round three, but didn't need it as Mitton ended up second at 20.15/66-1.5. Olympian Adelaide Aquilla nabbed third with a season best 19.34/63-5.5.
 
A matchup between some of the world's premier men's 110 hurdles stars produced a lifetime best of 12.99 by Jamal Britt, who finally broke the magical 13-second barrier after a quartet of 13.07 races this year. Britt surged past another recent sub-13 man, Trey Cunningham, who was second in 13.03, with reigning world champion Cordell Tinch third in 13.15.
 
Twice an Olympic silver medalist in the 200, Kenny Bednarek dropped down to the 100 and showed dazzling speed and power to clock the tenth-fastest all-conditions time ever, a 9.72w that was pushed along by a +2.4 meters per second breeze. His time was the No. 4 all-conditions performance ever by an American and he was followed across the line by five other men who also cracked the 10-second barrier. Christian Coleman, the 2019 world champion, was second in 9.84w.
 
Sha'Carri Richardson powered away from the field in the women's 100 to win her season debut at the distance in 10.99. The 2023 world champion wasn't affected by a light headwind as she beat a season best of 11.08 by Kayla White, with Tamari Davis third in 11.11.
 
Picking up another USATF Tour victory in the men's 800, Brandon Miller used a devastating finishing kick down the home stretch to break the tape in 1:43.94, a season best. Only fifth at the bell in 52.42, Miller hit the accelerator off the final bend to put more than a second between he and 1:42 man Handal Roban of St. Vincent. Former American record holder and 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier got trapped on the rail midway through the race but managed to work his way out to take third in 1:45.41.
 
Another blazing finish didn't quite get the job done in the men's 3000, where Olympic 1500 gold medalist and world 5000 champion Cole Hocker left it a bit late as his 56.04 final lap couldn't catch South Africa's Tshepo Tshite, who won in 7:37.57 with Hocker .2 seconds behind him. Hocker was in seventh with three laps to go and slowly moved through the chase pack before a 13.4 final 100 and 27.2 last 200 almost gave him the win.
 
Running on the track where she trained collegiately, Anna Cockrell out legged training partner and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad to take the women's 400 hurdles in 53.43. Muhammad challenged Cockrell down the stretch, finishing as the runner-up in 53.65.
 
Other action on the oval saw Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Aaliyah Butler dip under 50 seconds with a 49.90 to comfortably win the women's 400, while Gabbi Jennings had a season best of 9:11.72 to win the women's 3000 steeplechase by more than 11 seconds. On the heels of an impressive win at the Lone Star Grand Prix in Texas last week, Chris Bailey again gapped the field in the men's 400 to win by more than a half-second in 44.57.
 
In the women's 1500, Emily Mackay took the lead with just over a lap to go and held on to win in 3:59.26. Britain's Katie Snowden claimed second in 4:00.97. Nigeria's Favour Ofili battled a string headwind in the women's 200 to win by .43 seconds in 22.45.
 
Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, the Olympic bronze medalist at Paris, took the lead with his opening salvo in the men's shot put and never relinquished it, ending up with a best of 21.94/71-11.75 on his sixth attempt to beat Jordan Geist and three-time Olympic silver medalist and this year's world leader, Joe Kovacs. Geist and Kovacs both had bests of 21.76/71-4.75, but Geist had the farthest second-best throw to earn runner-up honors.
 
Saturday at Long Beach, 2022 women's hammer world champion Brooke Andersen handed Canada's reigning Olympic and world champion Camryn Rogers her first defeat since June 3, 2025. Andersen unleashed a 79.09/259-5 season best in round five to take the lead from 2019 world champion and American record holder DeAnna Price, who had topped the standings with a season best 77.16/253-2 in the second round. Price improved to 77.71/254-11, another season best in the fifth round but couldn't surpass Andersen. Rogers ended up fourth at 76.50/251-0 in what turned out to be the deepest quality competition ever, with seventh place requiring a 74.99/246-0 effort.
 
The men's competition wasn't too shabby, either, as France's Yann Chaussinand took the world lead with a national record of 82.44/270-6 to edge Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine, who garnered a lifetime best of 82.38/270-3 for second. American record holder Rudy Winkler had his third 80m+ meet of the year, placing third at 80.43/263-10, and Canada's Rowan Hamilton also earned a PB with his 78.67/258-1 in fourth.