Great CityGames 2015: Results and Twitter Reaction from Manchester City Centre
The Great CityGames made a triumphant return to the streets of Britain on Saturday as Manchester welcomed some of the world's biggest athletes to its doorstep, including the much-awaited return of Jessica Ennis-Hill.
The British Olympic champion hasn't competed in almost two years and despite failing to win any of Manchester's offerings on Saturday, showed some encouraging signs upon making her track comeback.
There were six British event winners altogether in Manchester's CityGames outing on Saturday, with all major results detailed below.
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| Women's Pole Vault | Yarsiley Silva (CUB) | Melissa Gergel (US) | Katharina Bauer (GER) |
| Men's Long Jump | Greg Rutherford (GB) | Mike Hartfield (US) | Dan Bramble (GB) |
| Women's 150 Metres | Dina Asher-Smith (GB) | Dafne Schippers (NED) | Anyika Onuora (GB) |
| Women's 200-Metre Hurdles | Meghan Beesley (GB) | Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GB) | Yadisleidy Pedroso (ITA) |
| Men's 200-Metre Hurdles | LJ Van Zyl (SA) | Ray Stewart (US) | Felix Sanchez (DOM) |
| Men's 100 Metres | Michael Rodgers (US) | Richard Kilty (BG) | Kim Collins (SKN) |
| Women's 100 Metres | Jessica Young (US) | English Gardner (US) | Ashleigh Nelson (GB) |
| Women's Long Jump | Dafne Schippers (NED) | Funmi Jimoh (US) | Chelsea Hayes (US) |
| Men's 150 Metres | Churandy Martina (NED) | Danny Talbot (GB) | James Ellington (GB) |
| Men's 110-Metre Hurdles | Orlando Ortega (CUB) | Aries Merritt (US) | Lawrence Clarke (GB) |
| Women's 100-Metre Hurdles | Tiffany Porter (US) | Lucy Hatton (GB) | Jessica Ennis-Hill (GB) |
| Mixed 2x100-Metres Relay | GB | GB | All Stars |
For more information on Saturday's results and times, check the official CityGames website.
Home favourite Ennis-Hill grabbed a lot of this weekend's headlines, but could only manage third place in the 100-metre hurdles in what was her first competitive race since taking time away to have her son, Reggie, last year.
There will assuredly be major improvements to come from the 29-year-old moving closer to Rio 2016, who fully acknowledged the CityGames as a building block for the training to come, per Athletics Weekly:
“It’s really good to be back. I’m always going to be disappointed because I know I’m capable of running a lot faster but I hit a hurdle and feel like I’m lacking race sharpness. I can build on it now."
Tiffany Porter stormed home in a time of 12.86 seconds secured her the 100-metre hurdles win as a stumble near the finish resulted in Ennis-Hill conceding second to Lucy Hatton.
It was a much more profitable day's work for emerging youngster Dina Asher-Smith, who followed up victory in the 150-metre sprint with mixed 2x100-metre relay success, per the Great Run's official Twitter account:
The 19-year-old will have taken particular satisfaction in beating Holland's Dafne Schippers in the latter event, having finished second to her in the European Indoor Championships two months ago.
Schippers did hit back and show some versatility by claiming gold in the women's long jump, besting the efforts of United States pair Funmi Jimoh and Chelsea Hayes.
Fellow Briton Greg Rutherford followed Asher-Smith's success after marking just over eight metres in the long jump later on Saturday to seal his gold medal, via BBC Sport:
The United States' Mike Hartfield was but six centimetres back to clinch the silver medal while British team-mate Dan Bramble recorded a longest effort of 7.80 metres to leave content with third.
Meghan Beesley had more luck than Ennis-Hill in the women's 200-metres hurdles, just about pipping fellow Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson to the line, per Team GB:
Clipping the very last hurdle prevented Johnson-Thompson from holding out to take top spot, but Beesley is fully deserving of all praise headed in her direction for persevering through any evident fatigue.
In the sprint events, Michael Rodgers and Jessica Young—both of the United States—won the men's and women's 100 metres, respectively, while Martina Churandy claimed victory for the Dutch in the 150 metres.
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