The scandal over the hotel and the fair play runners: the track and field athletics World Cup started in Doha

Before the World Athletics Championships in Doha began, one problem after another began to arise with his organization. The main topic of the first half of the starting day was the mass poisoning of the Norwegian team, which occurred in the official hotel of the Ezdan competition. Athletes who did not fit the local food had to leave.

The rest of the guests, including Russian athletes, were also not happy with the condition of the hotel. According to the journalist Vladas Lasickas, the husband of the high jumper Maria Lasickene, lime is scattered in the rooms, lime is scattered in the corners, many floors are under renovation, and the smell of damp is in the corridors. He noted that the hotel does not match the level of the World Cup.

Athletes also complain about hot weather, which becomes unbearable due to high humidity, and too powerful air conditioners, which make it too cold in the rooms. The organizers managed to create comfortable conditions in the main stadium of Khalifa, but those athletes who will not perform at it were not lucky. There was talk that the organizers would have to cancel the women's marathon and men's run by 50 km, but the drawing of medals would still take place. True, the participants will have to start at midnight local time, when the temperature drops at least a little.

Add to this, the World Cup itself in Qatar is not in great demand among local fans. When the first competitions began in the evening, the entire stands of the stadium were empty. Only closer to the end of the evening session, the gaps were not so noticeable.

First failures

On the starting day of the World Cup, only qualification competitions were held without any medal draws. The Russian team, flying a neutral flag, immediately suffered several losses.

In women's hammer throwing, the level of competition fell sharply when it became known that the invincible Polish girl Anita Vlodarchik starred due to an injury. Although this increased the chances of Elizabeth Tsareva and Sofia Palkina to reach the final, they were beyond the coveted first dozen qualifications. This season, both girls threw a projectile at 72 meters, which was the qualification standard in Doha, but they could not repeat this result.

For the first time in four years, Russian runners were able to take part in the World Cup - none of them were allowed at past competitions. The return took place in the 3000m hurdle race. They were performed by Anna Tropina and Ekaterina Ivonina, to whom the organizers first handed the number with the wrong name. Both girls could not get into the top three in their races and then get to the final in time, although Ivonina tried to show the best personal result of the season for this.

One centimeter was not enough for Dmitry Sorokin to reach the final of the triple jump competition. During the season, he landed several times behind the 17 m mark, but in Doha he stopped at a result of 16.86 m. Alexey Fedorov lost another 15 centimeters.

High levels of Lasickene and Sidorova

But those Russian athletes, with whom the main medal hopes are connected, confidently overcame the qualifications. In pole vaulting, Angelica Sidorova, on the first attempt, took a height of 4.60 m, which gave a pass to the finals. In the same way, another nine athletes conquered the bar from one jump, and on September 29, 17 girls who completed the standard will re-enter the sector right away. Among them, the truth will not be two Russians Alyona Lutkovskaya and Irina Ivanova - they could not jump above 4.35 m.

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Continue to defend the title of two-time world champion Maria Lasicki. Unlike Sidorova, she decided to gradually go to the final standard in high jumps, which was 1.94 m. The 26-year-old athlete only slightly hesitated at a height of 1.89 m, but in all other cases she overcame the bar on the first attempt. On September 30, she will compete for medals with another 11 participants.

Help at a distance

In the run on 5000 meters an episode took place, which may already turn out to be the most memorable at this World Cup. Such a long distance was not easy for the runner from Aruba Jonathan Busby - on the last lap he could barely stand from fatigue and heat, but there was no question of ending the race. But he came to the rescue of a colleague of Brim Dabo, representing Guinea-Bissau. He took Busby by the arms and helped cross the finish line. Spectators standing greeted the athletes, one of whom sacrificed his result for the sake of the other.

A great moment of sportsmanship between two athletes at the #WorldAthleticsChamps. pic.twitter.com/n0OPncOstF

Such a touching service, however, turned out to be bearish. Busby was soon disqualified, as the rules of the competition prohibit the use of any physical assistance from other persons. But then the athlete from Aruba, the only representative of his country at this World Cup, managed to enjoy the moment and cross the finish line. For this, he traveled to Doha for 19 hours with three transfers on an airplane. But Dabo nevertheless set a personal record, although he ran a distance five minutes slower than the winner of the race Selemon Baregi from Ethiopia.

Lost shoes

An unusual event also occurred in the next preliminary run of 5000 meters. The first Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo, representing the United States, ran to the finish line. There was nothing surprising in his success, except for one thing - the former representative of Kenya overtook all rivals, speaking in only one sneaker. He lost the second shoe in the course of the race. Because of this, Chelimo earned several corns, but by the end, which will be held on September 30, he will try to recover.

No shoe, no problem. @ Paulchelimo 🇺🇸 leads the 5000m qualifiers in 13: 20.18.

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