F. Kerley was the undisputable favourite for the 100 m dash. And he did win. But, boy, did he make it difficult. The tv commentator was shouting "Bracy, Bracy" up to the very last moment. Anyhow, Kerley, who had opened with 9.79 s in the quarter-finals, won with 9.86 s. Bracy 9.88 and Bromley 9.88 s completed a US-only podium with. Defending champion Coleman was sixth with 10.01, very far from his 9.76 s three years ago in Doha. Is that an effect of his two-year ban for a doping offence? Olympic champion M. Jacobs participated only in the heats and then dropped out. The semis turned out to be a hecatomb for known sprinters: Y. Blake, DeGrasse, Su, Cissé but also young talents like Omanyala, African record-holder with 9.77 s, or Tebogo who has the world under-20 record with 9.94 s.
The women's 100 m was dominated by S.A. Fraser-Price, who ran in 10.67 s. S. Jackson announced what was to come with a superb 10.73 s and E. Thompson-Herah had to settle for bronze in 10.81 s completing an all-jamaican podium. D. Asher-Smith was fourth in 10.83 followed by M. Kambundji 10.91 and M.J. TaLou 10.93 s. The heats saw the elimination of A. DelPonte, who is in not great shape this year. Neita, Swoboda, Ahye and Ahouré (now called Ahouré-Demps) exited in the semis in which Strachan was eliminated in 10.98 s. Women's sprint has reached an impressive level and only the haunted 10.49 s record of Flo-Jo impedes us from fully appreciating the progress.
Olympic champion DeGrasse did not show up, at the heats of the 200 m. This turned out to be a prudent move which allowed him to be in top shape for the relay. Kerley, feeling the beginning of an injury was out at the semis. I was keeping an eye open for E. Knighton who ran a 19.77 s in the semis. But reigning champion N. Lyles was ahead of him with and he ran an incredible 19.31 s in the final breaking (at long last) the record of M. Johnson with a split 10.15+9.16. Knighton was beaten by Bednarek in the final 19.77 to 19.80 s completing a US-only podium just as in the 100 m. So Knighton suceeds A. Quiñónez who was third in Doha and was regretably shot to death last year. But he is not the only young talent that shone in the World's. A. Ogando was fifth in the final after having run 19.91 s in the semis and he was preceded by J. Fanbulleh who ran in 19.84 s. Given that Lyles is only 25 tears old I expect the 200 m to be most exciting in the coming years (and, who knows, the world record might change owner).
Having seen how she ran in the 100 m I had no doubt that S. Jackson was going to dominate the 200 m. And she did. After obtaining 21.67 s in the semis she ran a magnificent 21.45 s (11.04+10.45) in the final. Flo-Jo's record trembled but held. Well, it did this time! Fraser was second in 21.81 and Asher-Smith third in 22.02 preventing a jamaican medal sweep. In fact Thompson could do no better that seventh. A. Steiner's performance was rather underwhelming: fifth in 22.26 (but she was going to redeem herself in the relays). With DSD-stars C. Mboma absent (but she did run two weeks later in the Commonwealth Games, obtaining bronze) and B. Masilingi exiting in the semis, Africa was represented by A. Seyni who ran in 21.98 s in the heats and finished fourth in the final. (She had participated both in Doha and Tokyo reaching the semis in both ocacsions with a national record into the bargain but, somehow, she did nor draw my attention).
With S. Gardiner and A. Zambrano (gold and silver in the last World's and Olympîcs) out due to injury, the race was open. Van Niekerk was present hoping to obtain a result better than the one in Tokyo (where he exited in the semis). And indeed he finished fifth with 44.97 s, with intact honour (but one is wondering whether he will manage to return to his pre-injury level). M. Norman did at last grab a major title, winning in 44.29 s. Hudson-Smith was a surprising third in 44.66 s (but 44.38 sin the semis). But, for me, the most important presence was that of K. James who was second in 44.48 s. He is to my eyes the greatest 400 m runner. Since he joined the world elite in 2011 he has accumulated medals of every colour in the World championships and the Olympics.
With S. EidNaser out of the championships for a doping roundabout violation, S. Miller-Uibo was the indisputable favourite. And she did in fact win in a world leading 49.11 s, ahead of M. Paulino 49.60. S. Williams, after barely missing final in Doha and Tokyo, was back with a vengeance obtaining the bronze medal in 49.75 s. It was thus a fully Caribbean podium, the three winners being from Bahamas, Dominican Rep. and Barbados. L. Klaver who had still to realise her full potential did it this time, with high colours: she was fourth in 50.33 s breaking Bol's national record. And one more Dominican athlete did make it to the final F. Cofil, sixth in 50.57 s (50.14 s in the semis) which helps explain the gold medal in the mixed relay.
Women's hurdles were the unique events with two world records (in fact, three, but one non-ratifiable due to over-the-limit wind). One expected one of the reigning world or olympic champions, N. Ali and J. Camacho-Quinn, or the world record holder, K. Harrison, to play the major role. But N. Ali had some serious trouble with a hurdle and was out of the race. (In fact she was disqualified because she pushed down the hurdle in the next lane.
Following this A. Zagré was given a second chance. She had to run alone and was looking as if she was going to make it till she hit a hurdle and her chances evaporated). Meanwhile T. Amusan surprised everybody with a 12.12 s world record in the semis. (Amusan is far from being unknown in the high-hurdle discipline. She was just outside the medals in both Doha and Tokyo). In the final everybody was expecting a clash between Amusan and the other favourites. That was not to be. Amusan dominated the race in an amazing style, one of the best I have even seen, with another world-record time of 12.06 s, a record that cannot be ratified due to a wind speed of 2.5 m/s. Camacho-Quinn had to settle for third behind B. Anderson, while Harrison hit the seventh and eighth hurdles and was out of the race.
C. Sember was first european with 12.50 s in the semis, Visser mising the final with 12.66 s (the same time as M. Jenneke who is back at elite level). Olympic bronze M. Tapper was out in the semis as well as A. Vargas whom I am following over the years.
Men's high hurdles offered a unique final with just five runners. Olympic champion H. Parchment got injured and did not show up. Then S. Brathwaite and D. Allen were disqualified for false start (I will come back, in a future post, to the case of Allen's disqualification). Pozzi, Trajkovic, Martinot-Lagarde and Zhoya were out at the semis, and so A. Martínez, bronze medal in 13.17 s was the first european. There were two americans ahead of him: G. Holloway 13.03 and T. Cunningham 13.08 s.
Before the women's 400 m hurdles final some stupid tv commentator (I have resisted the use of this adjective till now but there are limits to everything) said that to his opinion, if McLaughlin was not in her best form, Bol might beat her. I cannot believe anybody who works in sports can emit such utter nonsense. All the more so since Bol is not in her 2021 form and finished second in 52.23 s (i.e. 0.20 s more than in Tokyo). Anyhow, the race was unfortunately not as spectacular as the Doha or Tokyo ones, Muhammad being somewhat diminished and probably feeling some disconfort (which would prevent her from participating in the relay). Saying that McLaughlin has dominated the race is an understatement. But still it is impressive to see the ease with which she passes the hurdles using either leg for this. Her time 50.68 s sounds incredible given that Muhammad's 52.16 s record in Doha was heralded as revolutionary. Muhammad, for whom I have developped a great respect over the years, was third in 53.13 s. After missing Tokyo, S. Little was back finishing fourth while in the fifth place I discovered a new talent B. Wilson. (And here one can see the effect of the US Trials, Wilson having run in 53.08 during the trials and managing only 53.72 in the semis, followed by 54.02 s in the final). G. Woodruff was finalist, just as in Tokyo, with a 53.69 s area record. After the race there was incessant speculation as to the real value of McLaughlin over a flat 400 m, her personal best being 50.07 s. The answer was going to be provided in the relay.
Three years ago, in Doha, all five major low-hurdlers were present in the same race. Alas that was the only occasion and a tad too early for A. Dos Santos who was only 19 years old. Warholm won that race, with Benjamin (who did not run for Antigua any more having transfered his allegiance to the US) second, Samba third and McMaster fourth. Dos Santos was seventh in that race. Unfortunateky Samba (who has since changed his name to Alsalek) was absent from Eugene due to injuries, and MacMaster had to withdraw after the heats (but he won the Commonwealth Games two weeks later). This left the final with just three medal contenders and everybody was speculating on the relative positions. Well, to tell the truth, the race was somewhat underwhelming. Dos Santos has progressed to a level that I will not be astonished if, barring an injury, he goes for Warholm's record. What he is technically doing, passing the first three hurdles in 12 strides have never be attempted before, most hurdlers struggling with the 13-stride rhythm. He won easily in 46.29 s, with Benjamin second in 46.89 s. Warholm was into the race up to 300 m and then he let go, finishing seventh. His hamstring tweak combined with the fact that he hasn't run a single race this year took their toll. W. Happio was a nice surprise: he finished fourth in 47.41 s. Has France found the successor of Diagana? Time will tell.
How is it possible to have the three fastest women in the world in the same relay team and still lose? Well, Jamaica went ahead and did just that. The problem was the first relay exchange between Nelson and Thompson. The time lost at that exchange could not be retrieved, despite a fantastic anchor by Jackson with a 9.66 s split. I think that choosing Nelson instead of Wilson, who has more experience, was a serious mistake. Moreover in the semis Nelson anchored the relay and did not have to pass the baton. Anyhow the US team, with two 200 m specialists (Prandini and Steiner), won 41.14 to 41.18 s for Jamaica, Steiner running a 9.86 split (to be compared to Thompson's 10.10 one). Spain was the surprise team finishing fifth while the british team could do no better than sixth following a hamstring injury of Asher-Smith (who still managed to pass the baton. And just a puzzle for you my readers: how come both the US and the UK obtained a world leading performance, as one can read in the official results?
Just like in last year's report on the Olympics, I will present the 4x400 m together with the middle distance events, despite having presented the 400 m in this article. Don't ask me why, I just decided to cut my report in this way.
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