Kishane Thompson and Tia Clayton victorious in Astana

Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson got his indoor season off to a winning start at the Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes – the opening World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2025 – in the Kazakh capital on Saturday.

But there was a slight fright as the 23-year-old grimaced over the line in the 60m and limped momentarily in the aftermath of a final he won in a time of 6.56.

The Olympic 100m silver medallist, denied agonisingly by just 0.005 by Noah Lyles last summer in Paris, had marked himself out as a serious threat to the US sprinter yet again in 2025 with a season-opening 6.48 outdoors back in Jamaica last weekend.

A week on after a 32-hour journey to the Kazakh capital, he was less assured, struggling with his start in the heats and again looking forced in his running but it was still enough to take a deserved win.

In the heats, Thompson was slow out of the blocks but still booked his place in the final comfortably with 6.58. He let out a roar as he was announced to the crowd for the meeting’s finale, so too as he was called to his marks, and then he used his power to take a clear win.

Hopes of a duel with 2021 Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse were denied. The Canadian had always warned that 60m was probably too short a distance for him and he had to make do with fifth place in the final as Oman’s Ali Anwar Baluchi was second to Thompson and Japan’s Shuhei Tada third in 6.60 and 6.62 respectively.

In the women’s 60m final, Jamaica’s Tia Clayton broke the meeting record, clocking 7.18 for a comfortable win while twin sister Tina, a double world U20 champion, who matched her in the opening 20 metres, struggled in the latter stages and had to make do with third. The siblings, like compatriot Thompson coached by Stephen Francis, were separated by Portugal’s Lorene Bazolo.