Beijing Steeplechase
We had to have a big sit down after the supreme quality on display on Day 5 of the World Championships. Fortunately, the place we sat down was at our desk and in front of a computer, which leads us nicely to the fifth edition of the Beijing Wrap. BOOM!
Clothes show
Despite what anyone tells you about high-profile casualties in the men’s triple jump, sprint hurdles and the women’s 800m, what really defined the morning session was clothing choices.
Exhibit A is Godfrey Khotso Mokoena. The South African went about triple jump qualification wearing a single glove, just like weirdo king of pop Michael Jackson. Mokoena wasn’t hitting moonwalk territory with his best effort of 16.78m, but it was good enough to book a place in the final. All you need is glove. Ahem.
Exhibit B is Abdullah Al-Qwabani. The Yemeni athlete took on the 5000m without the aid of his spikes. We’ve moralised on the decision to compete barefoot in the past, and we could easily use Al-Qwabani – who posted the slowest time of all the runners – as an example to act like a nark. HOWEVER, the lad is only 16-years-old and ran a personal best 16:02.55, so we say bravo.
The lane game
Lane five is a great lane to be in. A beautiful lane. Bang in the middle. If you could pick a lane, lane five would be it. Happiness is being drawn in lane five. Ask anyone and they’ll agree. Anyone. Actually, don’t ask Veronica Campbell-Brown.
The Jamaican decided half way through her 200m heat that lane five is in fact a total jackass and that she literally couldn’t stand running in it for another millisecond. So she moved to lane six to see out the rest of the race there. We never liked lane five either.
N.B. VCB was not DQd because she did not compromise the performance of Margaret Adeoye, who ran in lane six and finished in third to progress to the semis.
King Julius
There are so many reasons why Julius Yego’s javelin win was special. The Kenyan, who learned to throw by studying past greats on YouTube, unleashed a monster 92.72m effort in the third round that blew away the competition. It was just 8cm short of the championship record, the longest throw in 14 years, and gifted Kenya a first world champs gold medal outside of track events. All rise.
All in
Wayde van Niekerk ran the race of his life to get the gold in the 400m. The South African held off Olympic champ Kirani James and world champ LaShawn Merritt to win in 43.48, which makes him the fourth fastest one-lapper of all time.
He ran his absolute heart out, so much so that he collapsed shortly after the finish and had to be stretchered off the track, South African flag half-draped around his victorious neck. We wish the world champion a speedy recovery.
Superlative Wednesday
That 400m final was the fastest race ever: the first time that the top three have all finished inside 44-seconds. It wasn’t the only event where the top scores were more top than the tops that had come before.
The men’s javelin final, led out by Yego's earth-shattering throw, saw five men go over 87m for the first time ever. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the stadium, the women’s pole vault final was also producing a cracker. With the crowd geed up thanks to the presence of China's Ling Li, the whole field raised their game. Twelve went over at 4.60m – the first time ever – and then seven cleared 4.70m – the first time ever.
Ultimately, the contest was won by Yarisley Silva with a 4.90m clearance that only two other athletes in history can hold a candle to. It sent the large Cuban contingent watching on into raptures. With good reason: Silva's win meant world champs pole vault gold returned to Cuba for, you guessed it, the first time ever.