Eugene, July 17: It was an inspirational night – or should we say it was a Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price kind of night – at the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22 at Hayward Field on Sunday. Even the American Shot Putter Ryan Crouser would not grudge the limelight for the Jamaican mother as she won her fifth 100m title in the World Championships.
An awesome set of finalists lined up at the start, each of them having dipped in under 10.96 seconds in the semifinals. Each meant business. There was five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, Britain’s reigning world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, Switzerland’s world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji and the versatile Shericka Jackson.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price had only the fifth fastest reaction time at the starting blocks but she was quickly in control of her race. And she broke the beam, a good 0.06 seconds ahead of Shericka Jackson who ran a personal best of 10.73 to add world 100m silver to the two 400m bronze medals she won in 2015 and 2019.
“I continue to remind myself that sometimes it’s not because you don’t have the ability but it’s the right time. Today was the right time. Today I was able to come away with the win. I feel blessed to have this talent and to continue to do it at 35, having a baby, still going, and hopefully inspiring women that they can make their own journey,” she said.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price demonstrated that she had not coloured her hair Jamaica’s green and yellow merely to seek attention. She capped her fifth crown with a Championship record to boot. Her 10.67 seconds were three-hundredths of a second faster than Marion Jones’ mark which had stood from 1999.
Taking of such vintage, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price herself won her first global title in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She has lasted so long and claimed 20 medals in Olympic Games and World Championships in a testimony to her talent and will to give that talent such expression at the highest level.
Much as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price deserves the accolades for her feat, the men’s Shot Put final was just as thrilling. American giants Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs pushed one another and kept raising the in what was nothing less than the gladiatorial contest that their battle in the Doha edition had been.
Back in 2019, Kovacs won gold by a mere centimeter. On Sunday, Kovacs took the lead in the opening round with a 22.63m effort while Crouser’s response was 22.21m. However, a 22.71m put on his second try helped the Oregon-born athlete get in front until Kovacs came up with a massive attempt over 22.89m.
For a short while, thoughts of finishing second one more time could have crossed Crouser’s mind but he banished such prospects, braced himself up to get his next put to the 22.94m to get back to gold medal position again. With Kovacs unable to counter that on his last try, Crouser’s dream came true. With Josh Awotunde taking bronze, it was a 1-2-3 sweep by the home side.
Ethiopian Tamirat Tola’s new championship record (2:05:36) in the men’s Marathon meant that Road events would not be bereft of as much attention as Track and Field events on Sunday. Drawing on his experience of winning the 10000m bronze medal in Rio de Janiero, Tola broke free from the leading group with about 10km left to break Abel Kirui’s record set in 2009.
It was an Ethiopian 1-2 in the men’s marathon, with Mosinet Geremew picking up his second successive World Championships silver. But Ethiopia had to deal with disappointment in the men’s 10000m final. With a history of nine gold and 19 medals in the event, it went without a medal here for only the third time in World Championships since 1991.
In a stirring race that boiled down to a pacy final 600m, Ethiopia’s Olympic champion Selemon Barega moved alongside Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei in the front with about 200m left but the World Record holder pressed on to win gold. Kenya’s Stanley Mburu, who had to pick himself up after an early fall, denied Uganda a 1-2.
As he defended the 10000m crown on his return to Hayward Field where he had won the World U20 title eight years ago, Joshua Cheptegei became only the fourth runner with multiple titles in the event after Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele who have four each and Britain’s Mo Farah who won it three times.
The American Grant Fisher finished a creditable fourth in the 10000m but it was truly a Super Sunday for the USA as its athletes picked up a clutch of nine medals, the most by a nation in a single day in World Championships history dating back to 1983. Expectedly, it tops the Oregon22 table after three days with 14 medals, including six gold and four silver.
The results:
Men
10000m: 1. Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) 27:27.43; 2. Stanley Waithaka Mburu (Kenya) 27:28.90; 3. Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) 27:27.97
Marathon: 1. Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) 2:05:36 (New WAC Record. Old: 2:06:54, Abel Kirui, Kenya, Berlin, Aug 22, 2009); 2. Mosinet Geremew (Ethiopia) 2:06:44; 3. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) 2:06:48.
110m Hurdles: 1. Grant Holloway (USA) 13.03 seconds; 2. Trey Cunningham (USA) 13.08; 3. Asier Martinez (Spain) 13.17.
Shot Put: 1. Ryan Crouser (USA) 22.94 (New WAC Record. Old: 22.91, Joe Kovacs, USA, Doha, Oct 5, 2019); 2. Joe Kovacs (USA) 22.89; 3. Josh Awotunde (USA) 22.29.
Women:
100m: 1. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price (Jamaica) 10.67 seconds (New WAC Record. Old: 10.70, Marion Jones, USA, Sevilla, Aug 22, 1999); 2. Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) 10.73; 3. Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) 10.81.
Pole Vault: 1. Katie Nageotte USA) 4.85m; 2. Sandi Morris (USA) 4.85; 3. Nina Kennedy (Australia) 4.80.
Hammer Throw: 1. Brooke Andersen (USA) 78.96m; 2. Camryn Rogers (Canada) 75.52; 3. Janee Kassanavoid (USA) 74.86.
