Ryan Crouser in the shot put at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (© Getty Images)
So just to recap, for those who might have missed a terrific third afternoon session of action at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Sunday (17): USA went on a golden rampage in the field events – winning the men’s shot put and women’s pole vault – while another gold for the host nation came in the 110m hurdles and Jamaica, once again, has proven itself to be the all-conquering, utterly unstoppable superpower of women’s sprinting.
Here in Oregon, the only rightful place to start is with that superb men’s shot put, specifically with the greatest ever exponent of the discipline – a man who grew up a two-hour drive from Hayward Field, a guy who was forced to stare defeat in the face in the fifth round, who had to look inside himself and answer with a swift and defiant hell-no.
Ryan Crouser had done just about everything in his career, but the 29-year-old had never won a world title, indoors or out, and in round five it looked like that “curse” – as he called it – was about to continue. His longtime rival Joe Kovacs seized command with a throw of 22.89m. Could Crouser respond? Well, this was a moment he’d spent a lifetime preparing for.
When he was a teenager, his father Mitch used to put sticks in the ground at the end of training sessions, telling his son it was the Olympic final and he simply had to surpass them with this one final throw. All that pressurised practice paid off on Sunday night, with Crouser unleashing a whopping 22.94m throw in the fifth round to seal gold. Kovacs took a well-earned silver, while Josh Awotunde broke new ground in third with a PB of 22.29m to make it a US sweep.
In the women’s 100m, the crack of the starter’s gun unleashed a dazzling 10.6-second blur of green and yellow, the three vests of Jamaican sprinters again rising to the top of the world.
It was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who was again quickest out of the blocks and fastest to the finish, the 35-year-old winning her seventh global 100m title in a championship record of 10.67 (0.8m/s). Shericka Jackson took second in a PB of 10.73 and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah was third with 10.81. Dina Asher-Smith equalled her own British record in fourth with 10.83.
“Today was a fantastic day, I did it for my country again,” said Fraser-Pryce. “I can't even imagine the amount of times I've had setbacks and I've bounced back and I'm here again.”
There was drama, delight and despair in equal measure in the men’s 110m hurdles, where Olympic champion Hansle Parchment withdrew before the final, while world leader Devon Allen was disqualified for a false start, his reaction time of 0.099 illegal by the smallest possible margin.
But amid that heartbreak, Grant Holloway stepped up to become the home crowd’s hero, powering down the track with typically crisp technique to retain his world title in 13.03 (1.2m/s).
“At the start, it was just me, my lane and my space and I was ready for whatever happens,” he said. His US teammate Trey Cunningham finished second with 13.08 while Spain’s Asier Martinez took bronze in a PB of 13.17.
No one was surprised to see US athletes rise above their rivals in the women’s pole vault, but many were surprised by the eventual victor. Olympic champion Katie Nageotte had endured a difficult season, coming in with a season’s best of 4.65m outdoors, but in one giant vault over the bar at 4.85m, a first-time clearance, she showed the permanency of her class, the composure of a champion, to claim her first world outdoor title.
“I knew that each meet I had since starting to feel more myself, I just tried to build on that and tried to block out earlier in the year – the negativity and anxiety – as much as possible,” she said. Morris also cleared 4.85m but on her second attempt so she had to settle for silver, while Australia’s Nina Kennedy cleared 4.80m to take bronze.
At the end of day one in the women’s heptathlon, Nafi Thiam is well on her way to reclaiming the world title she last won in 2017. The two-time Olympic champion put together a solid first day with a big PB of 13.21 in the 100m hurdles, a 1.95m clearance in the high jump, a 15.03m shot put and a 24.39 200m. That leaves her at the top of the standings on 4071 points, which has her on course to beat her PB of 7013 and could well see her threaten the European record of 7032, held by Carolina Kluft.
In second overnight is Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands, who racked up 4010 points on day one after a 13.30-second 100m hurdles, 1.80m high jump, 16.25m shot put and 23.73-second 200m. USA’s Anna Hall sits third with 3991, while reigning world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson is sixth with 3798.
All three Olympic medallists advanced to the men's 400m hurdles final with ease. Rai Benjamin took victory in his semifinal in 48.44, Alison Dos Santos won in 47.85, while Olympic champion Karsten Warholm looked to show no signs of rustiness when powering to victory in an easing-down 48.00.
Kenya's world indoor bronze medallist Abel Kipsang and Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr were the two 1500m semifinal winners, clocking respective times of 3:33.68 and 3:36.92. Among those joining them in the final will be Norway's Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kenya's defending champion Timothy Cheruiyot, but Ethiopia's two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera doesn't advance after finishing ninth in his race.
All the big contenders made it through to the men's discus final. Kristjan Ceh, the most successful discus thrower in the world this year, took one throw - 68.23m - and went straight through. Rising Lithuanian thrower Mykolas Alekna soon followed him with 68.91m. Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson (68.11m) and Australia's Matt Denny (66.98m) also hit automatic qualifiers in that group.
Just four men went through from the second group. The 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius (66.60m) and Austria's Lukas Weisshaidinger (66.51m) got automatic marks. World and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl registered just one valid throw and fortunately for the Swede his 65.95m was ultimately enough to progress. Fedrick Dacres, silver medallist in Doha three years ago, was the other athlete from that group to go through.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
