Devynne Charlton successfully defends 60mH title in the closest indoor race of all time

World Record (WR) holder Devynne Charlton was not to be denied her second consecutive 60mH title in Nanjing, blazing to the gold medal in arguably the most intense indoor race of all time.

Despite arriving in Nanjing in a sub-par form to her title winning performance in Glasgow last year, the Bahamian hurdling queen proved why she is the WR holder and defending champion, as she blazed to the finish line in a thrilling race of record depth in 7.72s.

She defeated a stacked field in a blanket finish with European champion Ditaji Kambundji dipping for silver in 7.73s and Ackera Nugent getting bronze in 7.74s (Jamaica's first medal in the event in 28 years).

Before this world indoor final, the record number of athletes finishing under 7.80s in a single race was three. In Nanjing the top six all beat that mark and were separated by just 0.04s.

Pia Skrzyszowska was fourth in a Polish record of 7.74s, USA’s Grace Stark was fifth in the same time and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands was sixth in 7.76s.

For context, the time of 7.76s would have been enough to win 15 of the past 20 editions of the World Indoor Championships.

“It was a big deal for me to come here and show up, defend my title,” said Charlton, who was eighth on the list of entries for Nanjing on season's best. “It was a big goal for me. It wasn't looking great, but I trusted the people around me and I was able to pull it off.

“It's definitely super hard to defend a title at an event like this. The women always show up. To come away with a win against these ladies, it's really cool.”

Charlton got a great start and while her rivals tried hard to chase her down, the Bahamian held them off by only hundredths of a second to secure her second successive world indoor title, and her third world indoor medal overall after her silver from 2022.

Switzerland’s Kambundji started as the fastest in the world this year thanks to the 7.67s European indoor record she set to win her European indoor title earlier this month – a time just 0.02s off the world indoor record set by Charlton at last year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

With the conclusion of the indoor season in Nanjing, Charlton will be aiming to have more iconic performances in the outdoor season with the ultimate goal of medalling at the Tokyo World Championships in September.