Jesse Williams of United States celebrates during the men's high jump final during day six (© Getty Images)
Daegu, Korea – Jesse Williams ended a 20-year-medal drought for the US in the men’s World Championships High Jump with a near faultless display to take the gold medal on Thursday night.
Not since Charles Austin won in Tokyo in 1991, with team-mate Hollis Conway taking the bronze, has an American male had a medal hung round his neck. But a clean sheet all the way up to his winning height of 2.35 meant that 27-year-old Williams always held or shared the lead.
The American was forced to keep jumping when Russian champion Aleksey Dmitrik cleared 2.35 on his second attempt.
The pressure was all on Dmitrik, though, when the bar went to 2.37. If he did not clear, or if Williams cleared on the same attempt, he could not win. The Russian’s second try was close, but close was not good enough for him.
As well as ending a long drought for the USA, Williams’ victory broke a sequence of Russian championship successes which has brought the Olympic (Andrey Silnov), World (Yaroslav Rybakov), World Indoor (Ivan Ukhov) and European championship (Aleksandr Shustov) title in the past three years. Rybakov was unable to defend his title in Daegu through injury.
Williams had led the 2011 World list since clearing 2.37 to win at the US championships in Eugene, Oregon. He has been consistent rather than dominant since, but he was again the best in the world when it mattered most.
It is by far the biggest victory of a career which has been marked by a fourth at the 2002 World Junior Championships and failing to reach the final at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships and again at the 2008 Olympic Games. He was fifth at the Doha 2010 World Indoor Championships. When he struck, he struck gold.
The bronze medal went to Trevor Barry of Bahamas, who cleared 2.32, a personal best, at the first attempt to beat the four others who also cleared that height, Jarsolav Baba, Ukhov, Dimitrios Chondrokoukis (equalling his personal best) and Mutaz Essa Barshim.
Williams, Barry and Baba (who had missed twice at 2.29) got 2.32 at the first attempt, Dmitrik at the second, while the other three needed clutch third-attempt clearances to remain alive.
Zhang Guowei, China’s first finalist since former World record holder Zhu Jianhua in 1983, went out at 2.29.
The first height to test anyone was 2.25, which claimed three victims. Darvin Edwards, who had cleared at St Lucian record of 2.31 to qualify, went out, as did European Team Championships winner Dmytro Dem’yanyuk and Osaka 2007 World champion Donald Thomas.
All 13 finalists attempted the opening height of 2.20. Ten cleared on the first attempt. Edwards, Zhang and Dem’yanyuk needed a second before succeeding.
Len Johnson for the IAAF
