Naser’s stunner

Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser stormed to victory in the women’s 400m with the third fastest time ever at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

The 21-year-old won in 48.14s, almost a full second swifter than her previous best of 49.08. It was the fastest time set by any runner in 34 years.

Rio 2016 champion Shaunae Mille-Uibo of The Bahamas, the pre event favourite, smashed more than half a second off her NACAC Area record of 48.97, clocking 48.37, only to find herself in silver medal position.

Naser, who had also won a bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay, had impressed with her smooth progress in the semi-finals, where she clocked 49.79. Miller-Uibohad topped the qualifiers and looked set to run away with the gold until Naser set a blistering pace in the finals.

When Naser, two lanes inside Miller-Uibo in lane five, moved up level to the Olympic champion around the crown of the top bend it looked as if she was making a bold move to vary the tactics and see if she could bring some pressure to bear upon the favourite.

But as the field hit the straight it became increasingly clear that this was no bold goading, but an inexorable progress towards a first global gold

Shericka Jackson of Jamaica took bronze in 49.47, also with a personal best.

 “This is crazy. I already did the mixed relays and I was just hoping for the best, but now I’m world champion. I’m really short of words to describe how I’m feeling, it’s just crazy. I’m screaming I’m so happy.

“It’s been so tough with all the training and injuries, and getting there has been hard. I didn’t want to chase because I’m so used to chasing all the time, so I had to go out fast, and I just kept going. To cross the line and see that I am world champion in that amazing time, I just couldn’t believe it,” said Naser.

She has now set her mind on on the the world record of 47.60 set in 1985 by Marita Koch of East Germany.

Heptathlon magic for Johnson-Thompson

Katarina Johnson-Thompson dethroned rival Nafi Thiam for the heptathlon gold with the biggest winning margin of victory at a World Championships for 32 years.

The British athlete, who only finished fifth two years ago in London,  set a British record of 6981 points for the gold this time around. She also claimed personal bests across four events to inflict Thiam’s first heptathlon defeat since May 2016.

She held a 96-point advantage over Thiam after the first day. In the long jump the duo started off with average efforts of 6.25m and 6.32m respectively.

In her second attempt Johnson-Thompson soared a massive 6.77m for 1095pts.  In round three, Thiam clawed back some extra points with a 6.40m (975pts) effort. This allowed the British athlete, who had recorded a no-mark at the Beijing in 2015, to open up a 216 point lead.

Gold for Johnson-Thompson was all but assured in the javelin. She opened with a highly satisfactory 42.21m before adding 1.01m on to her lifetime best with a second round 43.93m.

Thiam, meanwhile, heaved a 48.04m throw to close the gap, but it was more than 11 metres down her best.

Leading into the 800m – Johnson-Thompson had one hand on gold holding a comfortable 137 point advantage on the Belgian – which equates to around nine seconds.

More realistically the 800m was all about whether the Briton could better Jessica Ennis-Hill’s British record of 6955pts with a time of around 2:09 required, or even potentially running a 2:06 which would enable the world indoor pentathlon champion to bust through the magical 7000pts barrier.

Johnson-Thompson went out sensibly preferring Austria’s Verena Preiner, who herself was gunning for bronze, to lead. Down the home stretch Johnson-Thompson veered out to lane two forged ahead to the front and took the bell in a time of 63.14 – on track to achieve her twin targets. 

For the remainder of the race, Johnson-Thompson slowly extended her advantage on the field and pushed on down the home straight to the roars of the hugely appreciative fans and sizeable British contingent.

Crossing the line in 2:07.27 for a 0.37 personal best she added 1005 point to her score to erase Ennis Hill’s seven-year-old British record figures.

Thiam bravely completed the task in a season’s best 2:18.93 for 838 points and a final total of 6677 points. Bronze went the way of Preiner, who ran a gusty 2:08.88 (981points), with a seven-discipline total of 6560 points.

Golden Gong

China’s Gong Lijiao successfully defended her title in the shot put to become the fourth woman to collect back-to-back world championship victories in the event.

With wins in 12 of her 13 competitions this year, she was clearly the woman to beat in Doha, and set out to show just that from the opening round where she shook off the rust with a 19.07m heave to take the lead.

She extended it to 19.42m in the second before putting it out of reach for good with a 19.55m effort in the fourth.

“I have a saying that there is nothing better you can stick with than your dreams.This title will help me increase my self-confidence in future competitions,” said Lijiao.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the world indoor silver medallist from Jamaica, took silver again here with a 19.47m effort.

Further back, Germany’s Christina Schwanitz reached 19.17m in the fifth round to wrestle bronze away from USA’s Maggie Ewen, who was forced to settle for fourth with 18.93m. 

Anita Marton, Hungary’s world indoor champion, finished fifth with 18.86m.

Mayer withdraws, new champion crowned

German’s Niklas Kaul becoming the youngest world decathlon champion in history. The 21-yearold benefited from the withdrawal of defending champion Kevin Mayer.

The French champion withdrew from the competition after failing to clear a height in the pole vault. With Mayer out, Kaul came out on top, having progressed steadily through the field after each of the 10 events, starting off in 20th place after the 100m, ending the first day in 11th place and then breaking into the top three following a monster 79.05m throw in the javelin.

A dominant 4:15.70 run in the 1500m sealed his fate as Kaul won with a score of 8691, his third personal best of the season.

Mayer’s hopes of retaining the gold was paid put by a knee injury that he failed to shake off

Kaul, is now just the second man in history to win world U18, U20 and senior combined events titles – after Mayer.

He won the gold with a personal best of 8691 points, ahead of Estonian Marcel Uibo, who also amassed a personal best of 8604 points. Canadian Damian Warner finished third with a 8529 total.

“Decathlon is really difficult, so it is always a pleasure when you can finish it. I cannot really describe this feeling. I still can’t comprehend it. I never believed that such a thing could be possible.

“My fellow German decathletes Kai and Tim kept encouraging me. Before the 1500m I was so scared and excited. I was scared I might ruin it all,” said Kaul.

No surprises in women’s 1500m semis

All the main contenders advanced to Saturday’s women’s 1500m final in a pair of contrasting semi-finals.

In the first semi-final of the women’s 1500m, the field the field went through 800m at a crawl (2:28.24) but world leader Sifan Hassan, who is seeking the unusual 1500m and 10,000m double in Doha, successfully maneuvered herself from the back of the field at the bell to power around the last lap to top spot in 4:14.69.

US champion Shelby Houlihan (4:14.91). Morocco’s Rababe Arafi in 4:14.94 pipped defending champion Faith Kipyegon in fourth. Ireland’s Ciara Mageean (4:15.73) shaded the fifth and final automatic qualification place by 0.24 from Great Britain’s Sarah McDonald.

In the second semi-final, with the pace-setting efforts of 800m fourth place finisher Winnie Nanyondo of Uganda and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, the top seven progress to the medal race.

Former champion Jenny Simpson, took top spot in a swift 4:00.99. She was followed by Gabriela Debues-Stafford, just 0.05 adrift with the Canadian’s training partner and European champion Laura Muir in third. Tsegay was fourth (4:01.12) with Kenya’s Winny Chebet taking the fifth and final automatic spot (4:01.14). Nanyondo grabbed a place on time in 4:01.30 with American Nikki Hiltz carving almost two seconds from her PB in 4:01.52 taking the final time slot.

Favourites move on from men’s 1500m opening round

Just 0.15 separated the first seven finishers in a close first heat. European champion Jakob Ingebrigsten edged the scramble for one of six automatic qualification positions for Friday’s semi-finals in 3:37.67. He was followed by Alexis Miellet of France and Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz, who were credited with the same time (3:37.69). Great Britain’s Jake Wightman, Marcin Lewandowski of Poland and Amos Bartelsmeyer also enjoyed the sanctuary of the finish line to advance.

Ethiopia’s World Indoor champion Samuel Tefera, who appeared set fair for a qualification spot for all but the final few metres, finished seventh in 3:37.82. He then had a nervous wait but found a route to the semi-final on time. George Manangoi of Kenya, brother of 2017 world champion, Elijah, was not so fortunate as he exited the competition at the first round stage in tenth (3:38.39). Spain’s Adel Mechaal in eighth, who finished one place outside of the medals at the London World Championships, is also eliminated.

Diamond League Trophy winner and world number Timothy Cheruiyot eased into the semi-finals by taking an incident-packed second semi-final in 3:36.82. While the Kenyan opted to sensibly run from the front, Ethiopia’s Teddese Lemi tumbled to the ground with a little under a lap to go after veering in front of Filip Ingebrigtsen. While Lemi’s hopes of qualification crumbled, the Norwegian, who won world bronze in 2017, progressed in fourth (3:37.44). Josh Kerr of Great Britain (3:37.09), America’s Ben Blankenship, former world indoor champion Abdelaati Iguider of Morocco will also take their place in the semis. Kenyan Kumari Taki missed out in ninth.

Just under 0.75 separated the top nine men in a frantic third heat of the men’s 1500m. Former world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti was fastest qualifier to the semi-finals, winning the close fought battle in 3:36.16 – with the 2012 Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria just 0.02 behind in second. Two-time 2019 Diamond League winner Ronald Musagala of Uganda needed to get a wiggle on to qualify in sixth (3:36.54) while 3:28 1500m performer Ronald Kwemoi of Kenya squeezed through on time.

Stage set for mammoth men’s shot put showdown

With a record-breaking eight men over 22m this year the qualification distance of 20.90m in the men’s shot was likely to prove meat and drink for the leading throwers, and so it proved. Twelve men surpassed the distance and a giving a hint of the fireworks we are likely see in that final defending champion Tom Walsh led the qualifiers with a mighty heave of 21.92m. Brazil’s Darlan Romani (21.69m) also impressed in group A. Olympic champion Ryan Crouser topped the qualifiers in Group B, firing the 7.26kg metal ball out to 21.67m.

There was also a memorable moment for Serbian champion Armin Sinancevic who added 77cm on to his personal best to advance with 21.51m.

Two members of the 22-metre club will not feature in the final. Out-of-sorts European champion Michal Haratyk could only muster 20.52m and Bob Bertemes missed the opportunity to become the first athlete from Luxembourg to qualify for a World Championships final with a lowly 19.40m.

Favourites through in women’s triple jump

The Diamond League Trophy winner Shanieka Ricketts offered further evidence of her potential to figure prominently in Saturday’s final by topping the qualifiers in the triple jump preliminaries. The Jamaican, who this season has advanced her personal best by 32cm, bound out to 14.42m with her first round effort. Three world champions were among the four other women to snag the automatic qualification distance of 14.30m – as Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas (14.32m) – taking off some 43cm behind the board – Olha Saladuka of Ukraine (14.32m) and Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen (14.31m) progressed. US champion Kenturah Orji also achieved the required mark of 14.30m to the centimetre.

The surprise casualty was Cuba’s Lladagmis Povea. The Diamond League third place finisher, who this season boasts a PB of 14.77m, struggled to find her rhythm and will take no part in the final, mustering a modest best of 14.08m for 15^th best.

Ortega elevated to bronze

Following Wednesday’s men’s 110m hurdles a decision was made to award Orlanda Ortega a bronze medal. Ortega was in silver medal position when he was impeded by the disqualified Omar McLeod during the final and crossed the line fifth. Following an appeal the Spaniard is awarded bronze. The original bronze medallists Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France will retain his medal.

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