Commonwealth Games champion Sarah Mitton produced an impressive display to clinch the women’s Shot Put title over world champion Chase Ealey at the World Indoor Tour Madrid 2023 – World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series meeting on Wednesday.
Mitton’s throw of 19.76m was enough to clinch first place and meeting reocrd, while Ealey had to settle for second with a mark of 19.64m. European champion Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands finished third with a season-best 19.25m.
The result is a slight upset for the Canadian over the Ealey, who is the only athlete to throw beyond 20 meters this season and had recently won the US Indoor Championships in Alburquerque.
However, Mitton’s opening throw of 18.97m set the tone for a strong performance, and she further improved to 19.76m in the third round to take the lead in front of Schilder midway through the competition at the Gallur Municipal Sports Complex.
Ealey struggled to find her rhythm, beginning the competition with a foul before registering marks of 18.35m and 18.82m. She then threw 19.52m and 19.64m in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, to improve on her but it was not enough to catch Mitton.
World Indoor champion Auriol Dongmo struggled to find her rhythm and finished fifth with a mark of 19.09m, achieved in the third round. The Portugese athlete fouled on her final three attempts.
Fanny Roos of Sweden finished fourth with a season-best throw of 19.17m while Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica, MarÃa Belén Toimil of Spain and Julia Ritter of Germany finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
