Camryn Rogers (Photo by By filip bossuyt)
The third day of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 was a day of two halves. Favourites in the field added more titles to their tallies, while on the road and track, breakthrough stars had their time to shine.
Mondo Duplantis ensured the day ended on a sensational high as he improved his world pole vault record to 6.30m, while the morning began with a historic run by Alphonce Felix Simbu as he became Tanzania’s first ever global gold medallist, winning the marathon.
Camryn Rogers moved to second on the world all-time list to retain her hammer title, while Geordie Beamish ended Soufiane El Bakkali’s steeplechase streak and Ditaji Kambundji stormed to a 100m hurdles win.
Rogers moved to second on the world all-time list with 80.51m to retain her hammer title.
The 26-year-old Canadian, who claimed the Olympic title in Paris, now sits second behind only Anita Wlodarczyk on that all-time list and Rogers was only 34cm off Wlodarczyk’s championship record with the North American record she achieved in the second round in Tokyo.
She backed it up with three other throws beyond 78 metres.
China’s Zhao Jie and Zhang Jiale secured silver and bronze, respectively, after a thrilling final round. Zhang moved into silver medal position with 77.10m from her final attempt but then Zhao responded with a PB of 77.60m to regain the runner-up spot.
Geordie Beamish used a powerful kick to end Soufiane El Bakkali’s streak of major 3000m steeplechase title wins and gain the first gold of the evening session.
As was the case when he won the world indoor 1500m title last year, Beamish bided his time in a slow and tactical race, then switched into top gear in the closing stages, catching defending champion El Bakkali before the line to win in 8:33.88 – securing a surprise victory for New Zealand.
Morocco’s El Bakkali secured silver this time, clocking 8:33.95, while Kenya’s Edmund Serem claimed bronze in 8:34.56.
Ditaji Kambundji produced a brilliant breakthrough to take the 100m hurdles title.
The Swiss athlete upstaged a series of more heavily fancied rivals to seal a shock gold, shattering the national record in the process. She clocked 12.24, just off Yordanka Donkova’s 27-year-old European record, and held off Nigeria’s world record-holder Tobi Amusan and the USA’s in-form Grace Stark to get her first global gold.
Amusan secured silver in 12.29 and Stark got bronze in 12.34, finishing one place ahead of Olympic champion Masai Russell.
After 26 miles around the streets of Tokyo, the men’s marathon came down to a thrilling sprint finish as Alphonce Felix Simbu pipped Amanal Petros by the narrowest of margins to kick off the third day of competition at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on Monday (15).
In winning by just three hundredths of a second – both athletes crossing the finish line in the Japan National Stadium in 2:09:48 but with Simbu a fraction ahead – the Tanzanian 33-year-old became his nation’s first ever global gold medallist.
He adds this world title to the world marathon bronze he claimed in London in 2017 and his runner-up finishes at the Boston Marathon earlier this year and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Germany’s Petros had led as the race left the roads and entered the stadium, and he was still to the fore as they hit the final straight, but Simbu timed his kick to perfection.
They were followed over the finish line by Italy’s Iliass Aouani, bronze medallist in 2:09:53.
Olympic and world champion Ethan Katzberg made a statement in men’s hammer qualifying during Monday’s morning session. He threw 81.85m from his first attempt – father than his world gold medal-winning mark from Budapest two years ago. Other automatic qualifiers for the final include world leader Bence Halasz, Pawel Fajdek and Rudy Winkler.
Defending champion Femke Bol cruised through the 400m hurdles heats. She’ll be joined in the semifinals by Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell and 2019 world champion Dalilah Muhammad, who plans to retire at the end of the season.
Defending champion Winfred Yavi, Faith Cherotich and Peruth Chemutai won their heats to lead the list of qualifiers for the steeplechase final.
Defending champion Katie Moon and her fellow global gold medallists Marie-Julie Bonnin and Sandi Morris were among the 14 athletes to qualify for the pole vault final. They won’t be joined by 2024 world indoor champion Molly Caudery or world bronze medallist Wilma Murto, however, as Caudery was taken from the track in a wheelchair and did not start, and Murto was unable to record a mark.
During the evening session, the three fastest 400m hurdlers of all time – Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin and Alison dos Santos – all safely progressed from the heats. Abderrahman Samba went quickest in the first round, running 48.03. Benjamin and Matheus Lima both clocked 48.15, while Tyri Donovan ran a PB of 48.26 to also progress.
The heats shook things up in the 110m hurdles. World leader Cordell Tinch finished third in his heat, while Grant Holloway fought to finish fourth in his own, clinching the final automatic qualifying place from that heat. They will be joined in the semifinals by hope Rachid Muratake, Just Kwaou-Mathey and Ja’Kobe Tharp.
Miltiadis Tentoglou’s title defence also remains alive after he leapt 8.17m in long jump qualification. Tajay Gayle went farthest with 8.28m to also secure his spot in the final.
