PHILADELPHIA — Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is an Olympic bronze medalist and U.S. champion in the 100m, but on Saturday recorded one of her biggest victories at double the distance by edging Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas.
Jefferson-Wooden ran a personal-best 21.99 seconds at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia, which was also the fastest 200m time ever recorded at storied Franklin Field.
Jefferson-Wooden got a step on Thomas out of the blocks and held that lead throughout. Thomas was runner-up in 22.10.
“Even though I’m primarily a 100m runner, the workouts that we do will prep me for the 200m,” said Jefferson-Wooden, who trains in Central Florida with Olympic 100m silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson, among others.
GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results
Jefferson-Wooden, who got married March 2, plans to race both the 100m and 200m at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships from July 31-Aug. 3. Already accomplished at the 100m, she can make the World Championships team in the 200m for the first time by finishing in the top three.
A 21.99 would have placed fourth at the 2024 Olympic Trials. The only faster women in 2025 are the Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (21.88) and Thomas (21.95).
Grand Slam Track Philadelphia concludes Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock. Jefferson-Wooden and Thomas will duel again, this time in the 100m.
At the last Grand Slam in Miami, Jefferson-Wooden edged Thomas by one point for the short sprints title combining 100m and 200m results. This time, Thomas needs to beat Jefferson-Wooden in the 100m for a shot at the Philadelphia Slam title.
In other races Saturday, Jamaican Ackera Nugent took the 100m hurdles in 12.44 seconds.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdles, dropped down to the 100m hurdles for Philadelphia and placed fifth in 12.70. That’s just off her personal best of 12.65.
“Honestly, it’s always crazy, just getting back into the short hurdles,” she said. “You realize they come up on you so quick. I clipped a few of them, but overall, first (100m hurdles) in about a year, it felt really good. It felt fun. It felt fast.”
McLaughlin-Levrone told her coach she wanted to try the 100m hurdles and flat 100m group at Philadelphia. She liked changing things up after sweeping her primary events of the 400m hurdles and flat 400m at the previous two Grand Slams.
McLaughlin-Levrone expects to race one of the 400m or 400m hurdles at USATF Outdoors in a bid to make the team for September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
On Sunday, McLaughlin-Levrone is slated to race the flat 100m for the first time since 2018 with the same group of 100m hurdles specialists.
“Just shaking out the nerves, coming down to a short distance like this,” she said. “You just don’t know what to expect. Definitely feeling more confident going into tomorrow and excited to take the hurdles away and see what I can do.”
Olympic silver medalist Marco Arop of Canada pulled away from American Josh Hoey to win the 800m in 1:43.38.
Hoey, who ran 1:44.41, tested himself in an outdoor 800m against one of the world’s best in Arop for the first time.
“If you had told me I’d be here running right now last October, I wouldn’t have believed you,” the Pennsylvania native said.
Hoey has been a breakout since missing the Olympic team by one spot.
Over the winter, he ran the second-fastest indoor 800m in history, then won the world indoor title in the event. Then he dealt with a stomach virus two weeks ago, which interrupted his build-up for his Grand Slam debut.
Kenny Bednarek (200m win in 19.95) and Brazilian Alison dos Santos (400m hurdles win in 48.11) each moved to 5-0 in Grand Slam races and are the only undefeated racers on the circuit.
