My defending and my melee have always (for years ...) been very close, less than 1% difference, very slightly more melee.

Today after 24h of event, I noticed my defending bar has 3% more than melee

Would it be possible you forgot to boost melee training ?

My low level chars on Triton, after just 2 days (8 hours of training) have difference of 3-4 levels between melee and defending :D

I can vouch with my warriors on elysium and my warrior on triton that only defending is getting the boost and not melee. I do not know if the others classes are effected though.

I consumed a training scroll yesterday to train 8h overnight. Meanwhile event was closed (before my log back). Result, none of my skills was boosted. Nice ...