Four memorable moments from IAAF Continental Cup

Team Americas proved too good for their rivals. All images: IAAF Twitter

Ostrava, September 11: Various innovations and changes in format resulted in two entertaining days of action at the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Continental Cup Ostrava 2018, but ultimately the teams from Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific could not compete with the might of the Americas as they won 18 of the 37 events on their way to lifting the trophy.

Having held a slight lead at the end of the first day, the Americas extended their advantage on day two and eventually won with 262 points. Defending champions Europe finished second with 233 points with Asia-Pacific taking third place (188) ahead of Africa (142).

Competition records were broken in four events and another one was equalled during the two-day event, along with several national records.

Beyond the record-breaking performances, there were many other memorable moments, close finishes, notable achievements and riveting battles, four of which are highlighted below.

Caterine Ibarguen's double

Caterine Ibarguen proved great value for the Americas team. Having won the triple jump 24 hours earlier, the Colombian was back on track for the long jump.

A second-round leap of 6.76M saw her advance to the fourth round. She then improved to 6.85M to earn her spot in the final round alongside Brooke Stratton of Asia-Pacific. Ibarguen saved her best for last and sailed out to a national record of 6.93Mto clinch gold

Mixed 4x400M triumph

A baton blunder proved costly for early leaders Europe in the mixed 4x400M, but even so, Americas would have been hard to beat over the final two legs.

Having won the triple jump earlier in the day, Christian Taylor handed over to Luguelin Santos before Stephenie-Ann McPherson put them in the lead with Shaunae Miller-Uibo anchoring the squad to victory.

Samba's 400M hurdles win

Abderrahman Samba concluded a sensational season with another dominant victory, his ninth in as many finals this year, clocking 47.37.

The effort also saw the 23-year-old rising star from Qatar equalling the competition record set by Edwin Moses in Rome 37 years ago.

Semenya dominates 800M

World and Olympic champion Caster Semenya wasted no time in racing to the front of the 800M, covering the first lap in 55.93. The South African, who had finished second in the 400m in a national record of 49.62, showed hardly any signed of fatigue as she crossed the line in 1:54.77 to narrowly miss out on Ana Quirot's competition record of 1:54.44.

(Source: IAAF)