But his front-running personal best of 7:33.24 was still one of five world bests set on a thoroughly chilly evening at the Městský Stadion in what was the 60^th Golden Spike meeting.

The men’s javelin stadium record was better than your average, given that it was set by home thrower and world record holder Jan Zelezny at 94.64 metres.

But Germany’s 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter, whose best of 97.76m puts him second on the all-time list behind Zelezny’s world record of 98.48m, got very close to it with a first round effort of 94.20m, the seventh farthest in history that comfortably tops this year’s world list.

Two teenage British 800m runners produced outstanding victories as 19-year-old European Athletics indoor 800 metres champion Keely Hodgkinson set a European under-20 record of 1:58.89 and then Max Burgin, who turns 19 tomorrow, front-ran clear of a world class field to clock 1:44.14 - the fastest in the world so far this year and also a European under-20 record.

That time also took Burgin comfortably inside the Olympic qualifying time of 1:45.20, something he bettered with 1:44.75 last year, but unfortunately at a time when the qualifying window was closed due to the pandemic.

It was the first time Hodgkinson, who moved clear of the field around the final bend and drew away down the home straight, had beaten two minutes outdoors - her previous best was 2:01.73 - and also bettered the world under-20 indoor record of 1:59.03 she set earlier this year.

There was a world lead too in the men’s 10,000m, where Uganda’s 20-year-old Jacob Kiplimo, the world half marathon champion, clocked 26:33.93, with Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew second in 27:07.49.

And Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale also found himself holding the world lead placard for the cameras after winning the 3,000m steeplechase in 8:09.47, with second-placed Britain’s Phil Norman earning the Olympic qualification time in 8:20.12, the fastest by a European this season.

Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States, who tops this year’s world 100m rankings with a best of 10.72 and recently added times of 10.74 and 10.80 on the same day, looked a predictably dominant winner over 200m as she clocked 22.35, not far off her best of 22.00, with Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria second in 22.59.

Richardson said afterwards: "Nothing that I do is a fluke, everything is legit, it comes from hard work and talent and I want to continue to show the world that my bark may be loud, but my bite and my actions are even louder."

Sweden’s pole vault world record Armand Duplantis won without undue stress with a best of 5.90m, with double world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States second on 5.85m.

It was a disappointing night for several towering talents however.

Home javelin world record holder Barbora Spotakova could only manage fourth place with 59.49m behind the winning mark of 66.56m by Germany’s Christin Hussong, while in the women’s hammer Poland’s 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk had to settle for third place with 72.72m in a competition won by her compatriot Malwina Kopron, who reached 74.74.

Olympic and world triple jump champion Christian Taylor of the United States was out of sorts and finished fifth with a best of 16.36m as victory went to the in-form man from Burkina Faso, Hugues Fabrice Zango, who reached 17.20m.

And on the track, Ethiopia’s world 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba failed to finish, dropping out near the end of a race won in 4:04.20 by her compatriot Freweyni Hailu.

Fred Kerley, a member of the victorious United States 4x400m team at the Doha 2019 World Championships, won the 100m in 9.96, close to the personal best of 9.91 he ran last month with a maximum allowable 2.0mps wind at his back in Miami.

His compatriot Justin Gatlin, the 2017 world champion, was second in 10.08, with Canada’s Rio 2016 bronze medallist Andre De Grasse third in 10.17.

British success extended to the women’s 400m hurdles, where Jessie Knight won in a personal best of 54.74 from Ukraine’s Anna Ryzhykova, who clocked 55.09.

All in all it was a fascinating night of athletics, setting up the opening World Athletics Diamond League meeting of the season at Gateshead this Sunday (May 23), when many of Ostrava’s stand-out performers will be involved.