Tefera, Welteji and Duplantis among winners in Astana

  Samuel Tefera, Diribe Welteji and Mondo Duplantis were among the athletes who got their seasons off to a winning start as the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold kicked off in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Saturday (27). In a season that culminates with the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 in March, two-time world indoor 1500m champion Tefera made his mark in the 3000m, clocking a world-leading PB of 7:33.80 to lead an Ethiopian 1-2 ahead of Getnet Wale at the Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes. Wale and Tefera had distanced themselves from the rest of the field early on, closely following the pacemaker. As the pacemaker dropped out, Olympic 3000m steeplechase fourth-place finisher Wale, who ran 7:24.98 for 3000m in Lievin in 2021, remained to the fore. But Tefera clearly felt comfortable and the former world record-holder made a move with around 500m remaining, easing ahead of his compatriot. It was a lead he wouldn’t relinquish and he picked up his pace over th...