Thanks all for your company – enjoy what’s left of the weekend. Cheerio.
Anyway, the 2019 World Athletics Championships are in the books. They were, unfortunately, a curious mix of sportswashing, empty stands and drug cheats – along with all the usual brilliance. I really, really hope athletics can sort itself out, because it really, really doesn’t need to be this way – and the sport really, really can’t afford for it to be.
That British drop, dearie me. Yousif set off too early, missed the baton and grabbed Harris’ hand, down Harris went and that was that. As it goes, they weren’t on for a medal or getting close, but of course they’ve plenty of professional pride so it’s going to sting.
Another humungous win for USA, who just have such ludicrous strength in depth.
USA win the men's 4x400m in 2:56.59!
Jamaica take silver and Belgium the bronze.
Jamaica close on USA, but the USA pull away down the home straight and suddenly, after the final change, the lead is enormous!
They change again, and USA lead Jamaica ... and GB, who weren’t anywhere near anything, drop the baton.
USA change first, and as the stagger unwinds, they lead by three metres from Jamaica.
BANG! It’s a pretty even break - Jamaica lead, perhaps.
Down they go...
The start list:
Great Britain
France
USA
Jamaica
Colombia
Belgium
Italy
Trinidad & Tobago
Down go the lights! Everything I think about right and wrong has been consumed by lasers.
I think there’s a fair chance USA win it.
So, eyes down for the final event of the meet: the men’s 4x400m relay, which gets underway in three minutes or so.
USA win the women's 4x4oom relay!
Poland take the silver and Jamaica the bronze – that’s a massive oversight from Sharika Jackson, who went off far too quickly on the anchor. Great Britain finish fourth.
GB’s Nielsen attacks but Poland hang on ... and pass Jamaica!
USA take the baton and the lead is vast; Sharika Jackson of Jamaica moves into second.
USA are miles in front now, with Poland, GB and Jamaica contesting the minor medals.
USA lead as they break, Poland and GB chasing – but five or six metres down. Jamaica are fourth, but have plenty on the last two legs.
Phyllis Francis of USA looks strong down the back straight, and she storms ahead around the top bend! She hands over a second or two in front...
They’re down ... and they’re away!
The light show is going, and has persuaded me to forget absolutely everything but it. So clever!
The women are out for the 4x4. The start list:
Belgium
Netherlands
Jamaica
Great Britain
Poland
USA
Ukraine
Canada
Anderson Peters wins the men's javelin for Grenada with 86.21m! Not bad for 21 eh?
Kirt of Estonia takes silver and Vetter of Germany takes bronze. It’s worth noting that Peters had two throws longer than anyone else’s which tells you what a great win this is.
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The women’s 4x400m is off in 10 minutes, as we see poor Magnus Kurt diddle his shoulder, falling after release. He should still be good for the silver, which is fair consolation.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters still leads the javelin into the fifth round - he actually extended it by 20cm in round four.
Keni Harrison says she’s pleased an American won, and she’s pleased to get her first medal at a major championships. It must be odd to be the world record holder but not have anything to show for it, so well done her.
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That’s our final individual race of the championships. The 4x4s to come.
Ali got quicker through the competition, whereas Williams ran slower than in her semi. It would’ve taken something special to beat Ali here, though Williams’ PB is 0.02 quicker than her winning time.
Nia Ali of USA wins the women's 100m hurdles in 12.34s!
Harrison takes second in 12.46s and Williams third in 12.47s! What a run from Ali! She gave birth to a son in June 2018 – with Andre De Grasse, noch – and here she is!
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...and Williams fades as Harrison passes her too!
Williams gets out well but Nia Ali closes...
They’re stretching on the line ... and they’re down...
Back to the hurdles, Williams will win if she gets a better start than in the semi. Harrison can beat her if she runs well, but the form isn’t with her.
Malaika Mihambu of Germany wins the women's long jump!
Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine takes silver and Brume of Nigeria bronze. That wasn’t close or even close to close.
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Here comes Bekh-Romanchuk ... her last go to snaffle the gold from Mihambu...
Thinking about those two men’s finals we’ve seen, Cheruiyot did exactly what he wanted to do and it worked; Cheptegei did too, except it didn’t have quite the desired effect on the rest, and he won anyway. Brilliant from both.
Mikhambo is still miles ahead in the women’s long jump, where Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine has just moved into second place.
We’ve got the final of the women’s 100m hurdles coming up in 15.
Joshua Cheptegei wins the men's 10,000m for Uganda in 26:48.36!
That was a brilliant run! He didn’t want Kejelcha on his shoulder, but when that happened anyway, he ran a brilliant line on the curve, forcing his man to go around him and he couldn’t! So it’s bronze for Ethiopia, and Kipruto of Kenya takes bronze.
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Cheptegei holds it down, and it’s down to him and Kejelcha! Kejelcha tries, but he can’t get around Cheptegei!
Cheptegei puts it in and Kejelcha of Ethiopia, who’s been so quiet, is on his shoulder at the bell! This is so fast, and Cheptegei can’t let Kejelcha past!
Cheptegei takes it up; surely he’s going to attack? Mande has been dropped, but Kwemoi, who looked spent, is back! We’ve 800m to go!
Kwizera of Burundi moves to the front, but Kipruto is having no such thing, so back he goes, Three laps to go...
8000m gone, and Ahmed and Lomong are struggling - the leaders are going to drop them unless the pace eases, winding up for the finish.
Kwemoi, Kipruto and Cheptegei swap the lead - there are five behind them.
We nipped off to see not much in the javelin, but it’s still the two Kenyans who lead from Cheptegei and suddenly it’s not so relaxing anymore. The main group is stretching out.
They’re running at roughly 27 minute pace, and Kipruto still leads – but only nominally.
Kipruto and Kwemoi move to the front, and the pace is still pretty hectic at 4400m. It’s impossible to know what’s going to happen because all of the leading bunch look like they’ve got plenty left.
It’s slowed again now, Cheptegei in front. He looks happy.
Back in the 10,000m Kipruto of Kenya has decided that they’re not suffering enough, so he goes to the front and injects some calming pace.
Kurt of Estonia has taken the lead in the javelin with 83.95m, but Peters of Grenada immediately betters it with 86.69m.
Cheptegei looks extremely chilled – or chill as we have to say these days. I’m not sure if Mande is setting the pace for him, or is doing his own thing.
The first lap is a quick one, Mande then Cheptegei at the front.
Mande of Uganda goes to the front, with Belihu of Ethiopia behind him.
Bang!
The men warm up for the 10,000m, which sounds a bit odd, given how hot it is here in Qatar.
We’re now allowed to see that Mihambo jump, and I can confirm that it was an absolute monster.
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Time’s up! Mihambo charges down the runway and takes it off the set! She lands at 7.30m, and I’d be staggered if that wasn’t enough for gold. She had a little chat with her coach after her previous effort and it did the trick.
Back to Cheruiyot though, that was such a run – a proper unfurling of le smack. He knew he was miles better than the rest and ran a race that was beyond all of them.
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Next we’ve got the final of the men’s javelin, and on the track the men’s 10,000m - that gets going on the hour, and should be a blast. Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia is favourite, but Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda will fancy it too.
Back in the sandpit, Brume still leads; Bekh-Romanchuk is second and Rotaru third, of Ukraine and Romania respectively. Irozuru of Great Britain is third, and Mikhambo is seventh.
Jake Wightman of Great Britain was fifth, and he ran well; perhaps if he’d focused on this, he’d have had enough to snaffle a medal.
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Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya wins the men's 1500m in 3:29.27!
That’s a brilliant run, an absolute deconstruction of the field! He led from gun to tape, and was more than two second ahead of Makhloufi of Algeria, who got silver; Lewandowski of Poland took bronze.
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Cheruiyot pounds round the top bend, and makloufi is second...
Cheruiyot leads by miles at the bell!
Cheruiyot goes away! Will the others let him take gold and fight for the the minor medals?
The others decide to decide: do they allow the Kenyans to run their own race? The first lap is a quickie, 55s I think, and it’s the two out front with a five metre lead. Centrowitz is third, but the gap is increasing now; the plan, it is reckoned, is for a slower third lap, then a sprint finish.
Cheruiyot and Kwemoi, his team-mate, get to the front straight away to control the pace.
Off we go!
Anyone else miss Tom McKean getting boxed and Peter Elliott sneaking a surprise medal?
Mihambo has taken her second jump, though BBC decided what we needed to see was people warming up. She fouled.
The 12 men who’ll give us the 1500m final are on the track: Great Britain has three Scots representing, Josh Kerr, Neil Gourley and Jake Wightman. None of them are getting close to Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot.
I should add, all the competitors get three jumps, the top eight get three more, and then there’s a re-rank after five with whoever leads at that point going last.
We’ve got the final of the men’s 1500m at 5.40pm, but in the meantime, Brume increases her lead to 6.91m. Mihambo, who’s up shortly, needs something and she knows it.
And here she comes, with proper pace down the runway, but leaps from well before the board and ends up with 6.52m. That puts her sixth, behind Ese Brume of Nigeria, who leads with 6.83m; Abigail Irozuru of GB is third with 6.64m.
The women’s long jump final is just about to get going; Germany’s Malaika Mihambo is the favourite.
So our finalists, in semi-final time order:
Williams JAM
Ali USA
Amusan NIG
Harrison USA
Brown JAM
Tapper JAM
Vargas CRC
Visser NED
The medals will be decided at 6.50pm UK time.
Away first time and Janeek Brown leads, but Amusan runs her down! She wins in 12.48 and Brown is second in 12.62; Vargas, of Costa rica is third in 12.65 and she moves into the final too, likewise Visser. poor old Anna Zagre of Belgium fell after clattering the final hurdle, but bounced along the track to snatch fifth spot.
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan is quickest out of these, but this is the weakest of the heats.
They’re pretty much ready for the third semi.
Cindy Ofili, of Great Britain, comes sixth in 12.95 - she lost her balance just after halfway, which cost her.
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Yanique Thompson of Jamaica is third in 12.80, good news for Visser.
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First time away and Megan Tapper of Jamaica gets off very well, but Harrison runs her down and those are the two, Harrison in 12.58 and Tapper in 12.61.
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Right, off we go with the second heat; Kendra Harrison of USA is the quickest in the race, and she’ll fancy herself for a medal at the very least.
While we wait for the second race, I’m going to think about how much I’d like to go to Jamaica, immediately. Not many places can compare when it comes the holiday mix of scenery, culture, people, beaches, food and drink.
Nadine Visser of Netherlands was third in 12.62 - she’ll have to wait and see.
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Williams and Nia Ali cross the line together, Williams just in front - 12.41 versus 12.44.
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Two to qualify by right, then the two fastest losers from the three heats...
Hi friends! We’ve got the semis of the women’s 100m hurdles coming up; the first lot are on the track, and Jamaica’s Danielle Williams, the favourite, is among them.
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On a less uplifting note, the editorial from today’s Observer:
And here’s our report from the midnight marathon, where Callum Hawkins finished fourth:
We’ve got just about half an hour until three heats of semi-finals separate the best women’s hurdlers from the rest. In the meantime, treat yourself to a recap of yesterday evening’s high drama:
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the final day of what’s been a rollercoaster championships in Doha. Yesterday saw Laura Muir declare that a “cloud” hung over an ostensibly stunning 1500m victory by Sifan Hassan, before Dina Asher-Smith stole the headlines once again with a historic third medal in the 4x100 relay – with the men’s team also taking silver.
Today kicks off with the women’s 100m hurdle semi-final before we move on to a series of pulse-racing finals – namely the women’s long jump and 100m hurdles, and the men’s 1500m, javelin and 10,000m. All that, plus a pair of 4x400m relay finals to finish it all off. Stay tuned!
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