Sallsabillah and Mulyono take Gold in Chamonix

Rajiah Sallsabillah and Rahmad Adi Mulyono won their first gold medals last weekend at the Chamonix Speed World Cup.

Sallsabillah was the most consistent athlete in the competition, with every run under 7 seconds. On her way to her first gold medal, she beat Jimin Jeong, Emma Hunt and Shaoqin Zhang in the final.

On his way to the gold, Adi Mulyono beat Raharjati Nursamsa in the Semi-final by 0.01 seconds as both raced in under 5 seconds. He then beat Olympian Rishat Khaibullin in the big Final race.

How it Happened

The women’s qualifiers were the second fastest ever after Villars last week, with women needing a time under 7.4 seconds. Natalia Kalucka led the way with the fastest time of 6.72. The top 5 all ran both races in under 7 seconds.

In the final, Desak Made Rita Kusma Dewi false-started in her first run, ending her competition. Slips from Aleksandra and Natalia Kalucka in the quarter-finals meant neither progressed to the semi-final stage, leaving the final wide open. Emma Hunt would lose out to Rajiah Sallsabillah in the fastest race of the finals. Hunt's run of 6.97s needed to be faster to progress to the semi-finals, losing to Sallsabillah as she ran 6.77s, 0.01s off her PR.

Victoire Andrier from France would profit most from all the slips, ending up in the final after a PB of 7.23 in the quarter-final and a clean run against Nural Iqamah, who fell, much to the delight of the home crowd. Sallsabillah would beat Andrier comfortably in the final as nerves took hold. Andrier hesitated and slipped early on her run; she would have to settle for her second silver medal since Villars in 2018.

Men’s qualification broke the record for the fastest qualification, with athletes needing to run under 5.27 seconds. Incredible since 5.25s was a new World Record just over 2 years ago. Eric Noya Cardona missed the final in 17th place despite setting a new Spanish record of 5.28 seconds. We saw the European and Italian records broken twice, first by Ludovico Fossali in 5.18 seconds and then by Matteo Zurloni in 5.14 seconds. Pierre Rebreyend would set a new French Record on his second run of 5.181s. Leonardo Veddriq ran his 7th race under 5 seconds in 4.98 in his second run. Going under 5 seconds is starting to look comfortable for him.

The men’s final was shocked by World Record holder Veddriq’s false start on the first run. The chaos continued when Watson, second fastest in qualification, slipped and stubbled just before the final section, which led to him losing to Long. The new European Record holder Zurloni would also slip and fall, as would Rebreyend.

The quarter-finals would be equally as chaotic, with slips from Peng Wu and Long meaning they would miss the semi-finals. Jun Yasukawa from Japan would reach the final 4 alongside Olympian Khaibullin, Adi Mulyono and Nursamsa.

In the semi-finals, we saw the first-ever sub-5 race with Adi Mulyono and Nursamsa going below 5 seconds. Adi Mulyono would take the win with a time of 4.97 to Nursamsa’s 4.98, both PRs. In the final, Adi Mulyono beat Rishat in a fast race, 5.01 to Khaibullin's 5.05. Khaibullin's silver was his first medal as well. Nursamsa would have to settle for bronze, beating Yasukawa comfortably.

Results

Men

1. Rahmad Adi Mulyono
2. Rishat Khaibullin
3. Rasharjati Nursamsa
4. Jun Yasukawa

Women

1. Rajiah Sallsabillah
2. Victoire Andrier
3. Nural Iqamah
4. Shaoquin Zhang