doubles

The Americans won both the 100m and 200m at the Ultimate Championship that saw elite athletes win $150,000 each.

Americans Kenneth Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden have claimed the sprint double to close off an action-packed weekend in Budapest that saw elite track and field athletes crowned inaugural Ultimate Champions and pocket $150,000 in prize money.

Bednarek stormed to victory in a 19.52s world lead – the season’s best performance globally – ahead of Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana (19.76s) and American Courtney Lindsey (19.79s) as Jamaican sprint legend and Ultimate Champion ambassador Usain Bolt gave his nod of approval from the stands on Sunday.

A day earlier, Bednarek finally emerged from the shadow of compatriot sprinter Noah Lyles to claim the 100m crown in 9.85s and edge out world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica (9.90s) and USA’s Ronnie Baker (9.93s).

It was a repeat of the Tokyo World Championship double for Jefferson-Wooden, whose 21.47s world lead time made her the third-fastest woman in 200m history as she eased past compatriots Gabrielle Thomas, the Olympic champion (21.77s) and Kayla White (21.93s).

In the 100m, Jefferson-Wooden’s time of 10.62s held off Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (10.74s) and compatriot Sha’Carri Richardson (10.76s), who clinched her world title in the same stadium three years ago.

Earlier on Sunday, Jasmine Jones opened the final day of competition with a shakeup in the women’s 400m hurdles.

The American clocked 52.45s to edge out Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova (52.68s) and compatriot, world leader, and favourite Anna Cockrell (53.09s), who settled for third after an almost unbeaten season. Teammate Dalilah Muhammad graciously retired from track and field with a fourth-place season’s best of 53.11s.

Reigning javelin king Rumesh Pathirage launched a monstrous 91.09m final throw for the win to continue his unbeaten streak this season.

The Sri Lankan’s throw proved too much for Grenada’s Anderson Peters (86.18m) and third-place Julian Weber of Germany (85.89m), while world champion Keshorn Walcott was disappointed with yet another fourth-place finish (82.41m).

Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi literally soared to new heights with a 2.37m clearance that amazed the crowd – and himself – well after USA’s JuVaughn Harrison jumped 2.30m for second in the men’s high jump and Mexico’s Erick Portillo cleared 2.26m for third.

Josh Kerr of Great Britain kept the 1500m win predictable (3:29.35) after Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati (1:41.91) flipped the script on 800m world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi (1:42.44), who settled for third behind Canada’s Marco Arop (1:42.28) in a stunning finish.

Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw dominated to claim the women’s 5,000m (14:30.36) while Saly Sarr of Senegal (15.06m) stole the triple jump spotlight from world leader Thea Lafond (14.47m) after the Dominican failed to perform in the Hungarian capital.

Crowd favourite Mondo Duplantis opened the show on Friday with a casual 6.20m jump to reign supreme in the men’s pole vault, although close friend and rival Emmanouil Karalis of Greece continued to close the gap between world number one and two with 6.15m for second.

Over on the women’s side, it was an emotional win for USA’s Sandi Morris when she cleared 4.90m for her first global outdoor title.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen shifted gears to dominate the men’s 5,000m in a comeback like never before (12:59.24), leaving USA’s Cole Hocker (13:00.05) and Parker Wolfe (13:00.13) in his trail.

The Americans predictably dominated the hurdles as Masai Russell clocked 12.22s in the women’s 100m hurdles to cap off an unbeaten season while Diamond League champion Ja’Kobe Tharp dazzled with 12.94s in the men’s 110m hurdles.

Other predictable wins came from Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men’s long jump (8.35m), Switzerland’s Audrey Werro in the women’s 800m (1:55.88), Brazil’s Alison dos Santos in the men’s 400m hurdles (45.98s), Dominican Marileidy Paulino in the women’s 400m (49.07s) and male counterpart Collen Kebinatshipi with a 43.39s Botswana national record.

A cozy, unbothered Yaroslava Mahuchikh rested in her sleeping bag in between jumps that saw her add another high jump title to her collection at 1.99m ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia.

Meanwhile, the women’s javelin saw a clash of old and new as Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi set a national record (68.92m) en route to reclaiming the throne, while Chinese teen sensation Yan Ziyi retired hurt but claimed her first silver of the season with 68.05m.

Larissa Iapichino of Italy claimed the long jump crown (6.90m) just hours after her grandmother died, while Germany’s Merlin Hummel claimed a shock win in the men’s hammer throw after world and Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg simply could not perform on the day.

Seoirse Comerford owns the Comerford bar in Doonbeg. He described the tournament as “unbelievable”.

“If you look at the red double decker buses going up and down the street full of people, we never thought we would have seen the like of that.”

He said the golf course is a big employer and is keeping Doonbeg “alive”.

“Most rural villages in west Clare are all dying a death, young people going away to college, they don’t come back.

“Like there’s over 300 people employed up there at the golf course , it’s a big boost to the local economy. You’ve got big companies in Dublin, like Intel, the golf course is our Intel down here.

“I probably wouldn’t have taken over the bar business other than the golf course being up there.

“We would have had 1,000 plus through the pub on Saturday night and the same Friday night, so there’s a lot of people around the village, which is great to see.”

A large-scale oil spill, believed to be from a tanker struck by the US military, doubled in size between Wednesday and Thursday, endangering two protected areas off Oman and Iran, said Nina Noelle of Greenpeace Germany.

The tanker RIESCO was one of four attacked Tuesday in the Gulf of Oman. A fifth was destroyed in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s Kharg island.

The visible area of pollution measured about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) on Thursday, Noelle said. Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press showed the spill stretching almost 70 kilometers (43 miles) long.

The spill is located between the Musandam protected area on the Omani side, which includes one of the region’s most important seabird breeding islands.

On the Iranian side is the Hara-e Roud-e Gaz Protected Area in Hormozgan province that includes mangrove forests.

“The current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, together with our experience of oil spills since the beginning of the war, unfortunately suggests that an effective response is unlikely,” Noelle said.

Reunited three-time US Open men’s doubles champions Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram knocked out last year’s winners Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos to reach the semi-finals.

Britain’s Salisbury won the title at at Flushing Meadows in New York alongside American Ram in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but they split in 2024 before teaming up again this year.

They won 6-4 6-4 against the second seeds and will face 2024 runners-up Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz from Germany on Thursday.

In the other half of the draw, Briton Henry Patten and Finn Harri Heliovaara saved three match points on their way to a 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 triumph over seventh seeds Manuel Guinard and Guido Andreozzi.

Wimbledon champions and top seeds Patten and Heliovaara spurned four set points in the opening set and had to stave off match points in the second.

They will meet Briton Neal Skupski and American Christian Harrison, who beat Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-3 6-2 in the last quarter-final.

In the women’s doubles, top seeds Katerina Siniakova, from the Czech Republic, and American Taylor Townsend are one victory away from lifting all four Grand Slam titles together after winning 6-0 7-6 (10-8) against Diana Shnaider and Elise Mertens.

They will contest Friday’s final with Americans Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger, who saved three match points and came from 8-2 down in the match tie-break to beat second seeds Luisa Stefani and Gabriella Dabrowski 4-6 6-4 7-6 (10-8).

For once, the 20,000-odd fans on a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium sat quietly engrossed during points.

The sight of the Williams sisters back on court together at the US Open – possibly for the final time – commanded ultimate respect from a chatty crowd known to let their attention wander.

The siblings changed the face of the sport when they emerged as precocious teenagers in the 1990s, going on to dominate the sport with a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 doubles victories as a pair.

Three decades later, the sport remains captivated by them.

Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion, coming out of retirement this summer sparked excitement among those who saw her in their prime and those too young to have witnessed it.

Seven-time major winner Venus has never “evolved away” from the sport – the words chosen by her younger sister when she last played in 2022 – but instead continued her career with the help of sporadic wildcards.

While that has proved controversial in some quarters, there were few objections about the sisters being invited to play once again at Flushing Meadows.

Their planned return at Wimbledon was scuppered by the knee injury which Serena suffered in her singles match there – ironically a defeat by 20-year-old Joint – before they finally reunited at the WTA event in Cincinnati.

The comeback ended in a match tie-break defeat by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and her American partner Peyton Stearns, with the same fate befalling them in New York.

When the Williams sisters last played on Ashe four years ago, they suffered a straight-set defeat by Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round.

It looked like being a similar outcome as they meekly surrendered the first set against Chan and Joint, then batted off four break points in the fifth and seventh games of the second set.

But once Serena upped her level to match her impressive sister, they managed to switch the momentum back in their favour and level the match.

An absorbing contest featuring some sensational points saw the Americans fight back again in the decider, only to falter from a commanding lead in the tie-break.

Overall it was a more than credible performance from the veteran pair. Their solid groundstrokes, sharp movement and never-say-die attitude caused problems for their opponents, who deserve huge credit for staying focused in a partisan environment.

“The atmosphere was surreal,” said Joint.

“It was something we’ve never experienced before, and to play against such legends of the game was super special.”