Yulimar Rojas at Oregon22 (© Getty Images)
Day four brings a well-balanced diet for the most finicky of track and field fans – and isn’t that all of us?
The women’s marathon kicks the day off (if your day starts at 6:15, that is) and the evening session at Hayward Field closes with the men’s 3000m steeplechase and women’s 1500m. One of the expected stars of the show – Yulimar Rojas – starts as overwhelming favourite in the women’s triple jump and the heptathlon, which over its two days tests all of the elements of athletics, comes to a conclusion with the 800m.
Full daily highlights at a glance
How far can Rojas go?
Yulimar Rojas is one of the stars of world athletics. She has probably done enough already to be accorded legend status – certainly, you would get no argument against in her native Venezuela – with world record victories in the Tokyo Olympics and the World indoor championships earlier this year in Belgrade.
Rojas went 15.74m in the Serbian capital, which puts her now in reach of 16 metres, one of the round figure ‘barriers’ which appeal to athletics’ followers. Could it come in Eugene? Maybe that is expecting too much, but she may go a step closer than she is now. Her outdoor season so far has been limited and by the standards she has hit in recent time, a 14.83m in La Nucia and 14.72m to top the qualifiers in Eugene, is a touch mundane.
The triple jump can be a tricky event, but such is the margin between Rojas and her rivals that she would have to be well off form on the day to be defeated.
Can Woo Come Through?
The Tokyo Olympic men’s high jump was acclaimed around the world last year when Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy opted for a tie and shared gold medal rather than going for a winner-take-all jump-off.
Barshim and Tamberi are back in contention this year but, on form at least, are playing second fiddle behind South Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok. Woo led the world indoor list with 2.36m and won the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships. Outdoors, he cleared 2.33m to defeat the co-Olympic champions, among others, in the Doha WDL. He should progress to a world outdoor championships medal in Eugene, and there’s a good chance it will be the gold.
After a handful of jumpers went 2.40m or better in the recent past, culminating with Barshim’s 2.43m, the nearest threat to Javier Sotomayor’s long-standing world record, the overall level of the event has settled back. The plus side is that the competition has tightened as more athletes are clearing the heights at which medals are decided.
Kipyegon the one to beat in the 1500m
There used to be an old joke that the football World Cup was a tournament played every four years among the world’s best nations and won by Germany. There’s a similar inevitability developing around 1500m races in which Faith Kipyegon is involved.
Kipyegon lost to Sifan Hassan in the 1500m at the Doha 2019 World championships but has been the dominant force since. Her ability to take up a position and then deploy her explosive finishing speed makes her a lethal opponent. With Hassan opting out of the 1500m this year the way seems clear for Kipyegon to add Oregon22 gold to her Olympic triumph last year.
Kipyegon beat Gudaf Tsegay decisively at the Prefontaine Classic Wanda Diamond League fixture; Laura Muir, another potential threat, has run well at 800m in recent races but Kipyegon appears to have her measure. Australia’s Jessica Hull is in the medal mix.
But can anyone beat Kipyegon? We’ll see on Monday night, but it’s hard to see it from here.
Len Johnson for World Athletics
