Sean Ingle's night one report
After his facile pole vault qualification, Armand Duplantis spoke to the BBC, and he’s aiming high: “It’s not so fun, honestly, but it’s something you just got to get used to. It’s a waiting game. You have to just be patient, and you have to trust in yourself and be confident, you’re jumping. be ready to wait about an hour, hour and a half in between the jumps and whatnot.
Yeah, really good, actually. I felt really calm and just like, I didn’t really have to push it too hard. I was just like relaxing and it felt really nice, good. Yeah, like, where I wanted to be to try to give it a a really good go at a, you know, maybe something really hard, like a 6.30 for the final.”
Ryan Crouser, shot put gold medallist, also spoke to the BBC: “Uh, since last September, uh I just had this ongoing elbow injury, and so really proud to just of the kind of way I endeavoured through this season and kept working when there was a lot. So yeah, I’m just happy to be here, happy to compete.
It wasn’t the competition I think that everyone thought it would be. But when you have qualifying in the morning, finals, same day, it’s always challenging, and it’s just a battle who can work with those conditions the best. So really proud at opening my season here, it’s a walk away with a gold.”
Confirmed: pole vault finalists
The men’s pole vault finalists will be:
1 Emmanouil Karalis GRE 5.75
2 Sam Kendricks USA 5.75
3 Armand Duplantis SWE 5.75
4 Sondre Mogens Guttormsen NOR 5.75
5 Kurtis Marschall AUS 5.75
6 Bo Kanda Lita baehre GER 5.75
7 Renaud Lavillenie FRA 5.75
8 Ersu Şaşma TUR 5.75
9 Ben Broeders BEL 5.70
10 Hussain Asim Al hizam KSA 5.70
11= Matěj Šcerba CZE 5.55
11 = Ernest John Obiena PHI 5.55
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Team USA win the 4x400m mixed relay
The Dutch team are running well, but Team USA are blazing away. Toby Harries goes well for Team GB, before fading. Femke Bol is the last lap for the Dutch. Can she do it, in her usual style? Alexis Holmes is the leader for the USA on the last leg. Can Bol do it? No, Holmes takes it, Bol’s run takes it for the Dutch ahead of the Belgians, Poland fourth. Nobody had an answer to the United States, with Britain in fifth. The biggest smiles? The Belgians.
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Here goes the mixed 4x400, with Team GB’s team of Lewis Davey, Emily Newnham, Tony Harries and Nicole Yeargin hoping to grab a medal.
USA's Ryan Crouser wins men's shot put gold
High drama in the field: Tommy Walsh launches a big one in the shot put, and goes into silver with 21.94. Crouser clings on by 5cm. Fabbri follows up, and it is big, also 21.94 but he’s second on count-back. Here goes Crouser with his fifth attempt. and it’s huge, beyond 22m. He knows it, too. That is massive.
The final round: Uziel Munoz of Mexico celebrates a huge throw, and he’s thrown 21.97, which puts him in silver. Walsh can’t respond with a big enough throw and will miss out on medals on count-back. Neither can Fabbri. Muniz takes silver. Crouser takes the gold with a mighty 22.34, to win his third world championship.
Chebet was just too good, and Battocletti ran a blinder in a truly elite final.
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet wins the women's 10,000m
Into the final lap. the bell sounds as runners are lapped. Tsegay goes, Chebet running well. We wait for the kick, and Chebet goes, with Battocletti giving vain chase, Tsegay coming in third. The Olympic champion, the world record holder, wins it.
Into the closing stages of the 10,000m, and it’s that same group of five, Battocletti among the African runners, with Tsegay starting the kick, and Battocletti staying with what is now a group of four. Taye has gone from the group.
Into the fourth round of the shot put now, with Crouser, Fabbri and Walsh still in the podium positions.
Ngetich and Chebet, the Kenyans, are pacing each other, with two Ethiopians in Gudaf Tsegay and Ejgayehu Taye in the group of five, with Battocletti biding her time.
The 10,000m has taken shape as they go past the 10-minute mark as Kenya’s pair of Agnes Jebet Ngetich and Beatrice Chebet set the pace. The European champion, Nadia Battocletti, is in fifth. sat off, watching and waiting. Can she find a finishing kick? There’s a 12-runner group taking control, and that group soon splits into six.
Renaud Lavillenie, gold medallist at London 2012, has just cleared the 5.75 height to make the pole vault final. Arnaud Duplantis has nailed every leap, with no fouls.
Scott Lincoln spoke to the BBC ahead of the shot put final: “I’ll go all out in this final, what have I got to lose? This year in particular, I think the medal is anyone’s. There are definitely medals up for grabs, so why not me?”
He’s in sixth place after three throws, with two of 21.00. In gold, Ryan Crouser of the USA is leading on 21.99. Leandro Fabbri is second, on 21.83. Tommy Walsh of New Zealand is in third on 21.58 but has just fouled.
Here goes the women’s 10,000m, the first track final of the meet.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown goes in the last heat for Japan, with home fans biting their nails. He can only finish seventh, as Akani Simbine of South Africa, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of Ghana and Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya go through.
Romell Glave is through as a fastest loser. That first heat was by far the quickest.
Heat six and Zharnel Hughes goes for Team GB, where there’s a false start. And T’Mars McCallum, the American, just 21, is disqualified for being 0.01 ahead of the gun. Seems harsh…no, he’s been restored, clemency, and he thanks the heavens. McCallum struggles in the race itself where Hughes takes second, behind Israel Okon of Nigeria, while Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs is third. McCallum looks to be hurt, and his time of 10.25 is too slow for the fastest losers. Glave is surely headed through.
The shot put final is here. Scott Lincoln is competing for Team GB.
Heat five and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana jogs home in the style of Usain Bolt, to take the win in a slowish time. Andre de Grasse of Canada is in second, and Courtney Lindsey is third.
The fourth heat of the men’s 100m is won by Kenneth Bednarek of the USA, with Jerome Blake in second, and Team GB’s Jeremiah Azu hanging on for third at 10.10. His teammate, Glave, waits on 10.00, and is looking hood for the semis.
Laura Muir spoke to the BBC after her exit from the 1500m: “I don’t know what happened and I think that’s the most upsetting thing. I feel like I’ve had a bit of a disrupted year but I was coming into form really well. I was excited with the shape that I was in so I was definitely aiming to make the final and be competitive in that final. I’m not too sure what went wrong, to be honest, which is the most upsetting thing.
“I did realise something wasn’t quite right with 500 metres to go, I tried to just put it to the back of my mind but it showed in that last 100 metres.”
Here goes Noah Lyles, with Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake behind him, and the Bahamas’ Terence Jones in third. Again, the winning time is 9.95. Lyles has quite the finishing kick.
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The second heat sees Kishane Thompson win with ease at 9.95, his best is 9.75 this year. Adjibi of Canada and Longa of Colombia is third. That wasn’t as fast a heat, so good news for Romell Glave. Plenty of heats to come, though,
Here we go, and it’s more worrying news for Team GB. Romell Glave, the first of three British runners taking part in the men’s 100 metre heat, will have to wait and see if he’s one of the three fastest non-automatic qualifiers. He ran 10.00 dead – a PB, so all not lost.
South Africa’s Gift Leotlela’s 9.87 was hugely impressive, followed by Kayinsola Ajayi of Nigeria, with a PB of 9.88. All PBs. This track is very quick. Shades of 1991. Oblique Seville of Jamaica finishes third.
Next up, the men’s 100m heats. Expect to see plenty of swagger.
Laura Muir OUT of the 1500m
Laura Muir goes in the final 1500m heats, featuring Faith Kipyegon, the world record holder, who sits on the inside lane, in economic style. Muir goes for it, and is in big trouble, she’s all but done, dropping back agonisingly. Sarah Madeleine of France comes in second, and that’s a disaster for Muir. Her running action seemed to fail her and she will take no part in the semi-finals, finishing eighth. Nele WESSEL, the German, makes it through with a PB and is in tears.
Team GB’s Jazmin Sawyers, who failed to make the final in the long jump, spoke to the BBC: “I’m gutted. That’s one of my worst competitions of the year. I feel like so many people put in such hard work to get me here and I just wish I could’ve made their work mean a little more. It’s great to have made it back to the team, but I’m never really here to just make teams. I have bigger goals than that.”
Thibaut Collet, the Frenchman, makes his pole vault of 5.55 to some relief. The qualifying height is a mighty 5.80. So there’s a way to go.
The third 1500m heat sees Japan’s Kimura set off at a rate, to real noise from the home crowd. Ethiopia’s Hailu takes up the pace and the Japanese fans fear for Kimura, who drops back through the pack and won’t be qualifying. It’s a battle for the top sixth, and Ireland’s Sophie O’Sullivan, daughter of the legendary Sonia, falls over the line, and makes it. She just edges out Guerrero. There’s tears for those down the field but O’Sullivan makes a heart shape in pride at making it through.
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The second 1500m heat sees Nelly Chepchirchir sail away. Huge applause for the 22-year-old from the Kenyan contingent. Team GB’s Revee Walcott-Nolan holds on to sixth, just about, with Australia’s Linden Hall in third, and the USA’s Emily Mackay back in fifth. They all struggled with the pace of the winner.
Women's Long Jump finalists
The 12 women’s long jump finalists will be:
Tara Davis-Woodhall USA 6.88
Hilary Kpatcha FRA 6.85
Agate de Sousa POR 6.81
Marthe Koala BUR 6.76
Claire Bryant USA 6.72
Natalia Linares COL 6.66
Pauline Hondema NED 6.66
Quanesha Burks USA 6.63
Malaika Mihambo GER 6.63
Chantel Malone IVB 6.62
Maja Åskag SWE 6.61
Esraa Owis EGY 6.60
So then, the women’s 1500m heats, the semi-final being Sunday. There’s four heats. The first receives huge noise from the crowd. It’s a bunfight for the six qualifiers. Jessica Hull of Australia is the heat winner. She beats Sinclaire Johnson of the USA into second, but the bad news for Team GB is Erin Wallace falling short in eighth.
It’s Duplantis time, as he clears 5.55 with some ease. He’s just getting warmed up.
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Some quotes, via the BBC, from Daryll Neita, winner of her heat: “Just to come here and execute like that in my first race, after what has been a season, is showing myself that it’s all about trusting and believing. I’ll let the running do the talking for the rest of these World Championships.
“When I came out here, I just had goosebumps because this place holds such special memories for me and my career. I feel good and I’m just going to head back, recover and get ready for tomorrow.”
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The final heat of the 100m for women. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce needs no introduction, as the Ivorian Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith, another veteran, wins and the legend comes in second. Liranyi Alonso takes third for the Dom Rep, as they call it in the travel industry.
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The long jump cut-off is 6.58, and we are down to the wire for a few jumpers. Last orders has been called, pretty much. Jazmin Sawyers won’t be one of them, her best jump of 6.54 is followed by a final jump of three that sees her fall back in the pit. A shake of the head.
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The sixth heat of the women’s 100m sees Team GB’s Amy Hunt finish second after being slow from the blocks. Dosso of Italy wins it, Kayla White of the USA is third.
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The long jump continues to be a grind. Only Hilary Kpatcha and Murthe Koala of Burkina Faso have made the 6.75 required. It’s a countback to top 12. With a jump of 6.32, Larissa Iapichino will not be one of them, she’s a Diamond League winner.
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The fifth heat sees Team GB’s Daryll Neita run a beauty, her season’s best, beating the USA’s Twanisha Terry into second. It’s a photo for third, Liberia’s Thelma Davies taking it after an anxious wait.
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The fourth heat sees Julien Alfred, the Olympic champion, storm home in 10.93, the day’s fastest time. Kora of Switzerland took second, though there was no contest with Alfred.
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The third heat sees Shericka Jackson of Jamaica storm to the front, only for Sha’Carri Richardson to come to beat her at the line. Torrie Lewis came third to set an Australian record. Big smiles from her.
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Jefferson-Wooden sounds confident enough: “on to the semi-finals and then on to the final.”
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Now for the women’s 100m heats. The first sees the US’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden win in a time of 10.99. That looked easy for the Olympic bronze medallist. Dina Asher-Smith goes in the second heat. Three to go through, and Asher-Smith makes it, second behind Tina Clayton, the young Jamaican.
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The women’s long jump was going ahead while those steeplechases were taking place. Tara Davis-Woodhall, the Olympic champion, makes it with her first jump, of 6.88m. It’s 6.75 to qualify, and the others are having their struggles.
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Two fallers in the third heat, and Ethiopia’s Girma is one of them. He goes back into the race steadily but is sat off the back. Spain’s Daniel Arce smashes into the barrier and can’t go on, he’s hurt his knee. Michalski of the US takes up the pace and Girma gets himself in position despite his fall. He lands second behind El Bakkali, the favourite, looking for five golds in five years.
1. El bakkali (Mor)
2. Girma (Eth)
3. Michalski (USA)
4. Querinjean (Lux)
5. Buchholz (Ger)
At the end, San Martin, clearly injured, was helped over the lane by Belgium’s Van de Velde, in an act of great sportsmanship. The steeplechase is brutal.
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The second 3000m steeplechase heat sees a different strategy, and one that looks to catch out Kenneth Rooks of the USA, who is 40 metres off the pace, and will require some kind of Dancing Brave finish to land a place. He’s an Olympic silver medallist, too. Leo Magnusson of Sweden takes them to the bell, and Beamish of New Zealand falls, as Canada’s Desagnes is also taken down. Beamish bravely gets into second place, and Magnusson falls away. It’s a photo for third, fourth and fifth, as Ben Yazde of Morocco takes the race.
Qualifiers
Ben Yazide (Mor)
Beamish (NZ)
Firewu (Ethiopia)
Ruppert (Germany)
Kibiwot (Kenya)
That was some recovery from Beamish. That was a mess of a race and there’s some disappointed faces. Jhinaoui of Tunisia was lying on the track in agony as the computer showed he had finished sixth.
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The first 3000m steeplechase qualifier begins slowly, on what is supposed to be a quick track, which means the second half of the race heats up for a madcap chase to the line. Edmund Serem, the Kenyan teenager, is in fifth. Miura the Japanese hope tries to stay out of trouble and comes third. Serem takes it with a kicking finish when it had looked like he would struggle for fifth.
The qualifiers
1. Serem (Kenya)
2. Wale (Ethiopia)
3. Miura (Japan)
4. Daru (France)
5. Jaziri (Tunisia)
Isaac Updike failed to rabbit, run, and finished eighth. No lucky losers here.
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We’ll begin the Tokyo evening session with the men’s 3000m steeplechase heats; there’s three of them to come. It’s cloudy but very warm as darkness descends. Armand Duplantis is in the house, and warming up for his pole vaulr qualifier. The serial world record holder, the true successor to Sergei Bubka, is perhaps the star of the entire show.
Dunfee and Perez take walking golds
Reuters – Evan Dunfee of Canada and Spanish defending champion Maria Perez prevailed in suffocating Tokyo humidity to win the first gold medals of the 20th World Athletics Championships in the 35-km walks on Saturday.
Dunfee, the pain of the gruelling effort in tough conditions etched on his face, crossed the line at the National Stadium in two hours, 28 minutes and 22 seconds to claim his first global title.
“It is a dream come true,” said Dunfee. “I am turning 35 this year but I just feel like I am getting better and better. I was just patient today. That is part of my game and everyone who knows me knows that I can become better in the second half of the race.”
Caio Bonfim of Brazil won silver in 2:28.55 while Hayato Katsuki took a popular bronze for hosts Japan in 2:29.16.
World record holder Perez, who did the 20-km-35-km double at the last world championships in Budapest two years ago, roared in delight as she hit the tape in 2:39.01 before sinking to her knees on the track and sobbing.
Italian Antonella Palmisano, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion at 20km, took silver more than three minutes behind in 2:42.24, while bronze went to Paula Milena Torres in an Ecuadorian record time of 2:42.44. “I kept fighting throughout the course and this is what race walking is about, to aim to be a better athlete and person,” said Perez. “I feel privileged to beat Antonella. She is my idol.”
The start times of both races were shifted back by half an hour in a bid to mitigate the heat and humidity in the Japanese capital.
Sean Ingle also spoke to one of Team GB’s great medal hopes.
Sean Ingle is our man in Toyko, and the event is taking place under a rather too familiar cloud.
Preamble
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the World Athletics Championship, taking place in Tokyo. We’ll have news from the morning session, and take in the following events:
10.05 Men’s 3000m Steeplechase - Heats
10.30 Women’s Long Jump - Qualification
10.55 Women’s 100m - Heats
11.05 Men’s Pole Vault - Qualification
11.50 Women’s 1500m - Heats
12.35 Men’s 100m - Heats
13.10 Men’s Shot Put - Final
13.30 Women’s 10000m - Final
14.20 4x400m Relay - Final
Join us.
