London: The United States of America (USA) recorded a comprehensive victory on the second day inaugural edition of the IAAF Athletics World Cup here Sunday, winning six of the 17 events to lift the trophy at the first staging of the eight-way multi-nation competition.
Holding a 24-point advantage overnight, the Americans kept extending their margin with Rabat Paul Dedewo running a personal best of 44.48 seconds to win the men’s 400m. Kenny Selmon took the men’s 400m hurdles and Vashti Cunningham leapt to a season’s best of 1.96m to reign in the women’s high jump before their triumph was rounded off in the men’s 4×400.
World Champion Sam Kendricks contributed to USA’s strong start to the day, winning the pole vault with a 5.83m clearance. USA finished with 219 points while the second place went to Poland with 162 points. The third place was jointy taken by Great Britain and Northern Ireland with 155 points each.
“I’ve been very clear that I want new things to be tried,” IAAF president Sebastian Coe said. “It has been a great event with so much competition and I hope the athletes will take it further from here.”