The heaviest gold in Lasickene
Only four athletes arrived in Doha for the third consecutive gold world championships. These are hammer thrower Pavel Faydek, runner Daphne Schippers, triple jump specialist Christian Taylor and high jumper Maria Lasickene. Taylor has already coped with his task, having won the day before. Following him, a Russian athlete came out to prove her superiority.
The final of the women's high jumps started from a ridiculous bar of 1.84 m - this result was considered a world record 60 years ago, when it was still customary to jump with “scissors”. But Lasitskene, an extra practice before serious heights was just needed - in September she took a step back and noticeably did not jump to the usual two-meter mark.
The Russian woman held a warm-up successfully, and reached a height of 1.96 m without a single mistake, as did the Ukrainian Yulia Levchenko with the American Vashti Cunningham. Three more athletes - Belarusian Karina Demidik, Polish Kamila Litsvinko and Yaroslav Maguchih from Ukraine - also continued the fight, but did not claim to be in first place because of the knocked down bars.
The trio of leaders remained the same and at an altitude of 1.98 m. But it was already noticeable that Levchenko and Cunningham had almost no reserves, while Lasickene conquered the bar with a large margin. The Russian woman confirmed her class at the two-meter mark, taking it on the first try.
But it was too early to celebrate the victory - Cunningham also had one approach for a successful jump, although she had never climbed to such a height before. Moreover, from the third attempt, Levchenko and Maguchih coped. For the first time in 12 years, four girls went on to fight for the World Cup medals at a height of two meters.
The #WorldAthleticsChamps high jump is on 🔥
Four women over 2.00m.
Who's going to get their hands on the precious? 🥇🥈🥉 pic.twitter.com/ADhl6hnOVS
The round at an altitude of 2.02 m began with a mistake by Levchenko. Next came the turn of Lasicki, and again she flew over the bar with a solid margin. Cunningham tried to answer, but she first saw a red flag in front of her. The Russian athlete finally came out on a clean first place, but was not left alone. Suddenly, 18-year-old Maguchih also took a height of 2.02 m, breaking the junior world record. After such a turn of events, Cunningham and Levchenko calmed down and finished the competition. The bronze medal went to the American.
World U20 record in the high jump!
Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 clears 2.02m. The battle for gold between her and Mariya Lasitskene is still on. # WorldAthleticsChampspic.twitter.com / f3jWGnfIlq
The bar rose another two centimeters higher. Lasickene didn't seem to notice this - for the eighth time in a row she left the bar intact. Maguchih it was pointless to try to overtake her because of past unsuccessful attempts, but she still tried to impose a struggle. And again, the Ukrainian woman performed a miracle - on the third attempt, she took a height of 2.04 m. Only once in history did two athletes perform so well at the World Cup, and this happened 32 years ago, when Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova set a world record.
Maguchih still calmed down on this. Silver and the title of the youngest medalist in technical disciplines were enough for her. She wrapped herself in the Ukrainian flag and took off her number. Her refusal made Lasickene the first three-time world champion in history. The Russian woman remained in the sector to try to conquer 2.08 m, but she no longer wanted to compete with herself. She already had no one to take the gold medal from.
A #WorldAthleticsChamps competition for the ages!
High jump queen Mariya Lasitskene reigns supreme and clears 2.04m for gold 👑 pic.twitter.com/Jc02Swj0wR
Shubenkov in the game
Before Lasickene entered the sector, qualifying competitions were held with other Russian athletes. Sergey Shubenkov confidently began his performance at the World Cup, reaching the semifinals in the 110 meters hurdles. He ran the distance in 13.27 s. This is his third result of the season and the best in September competitions. At the same time, it was noticeable that Shubenkov did not give all his best and only tried to be the best in his race. Apparently, he managed to return to optimal shape after an injury.
Other favorites in the barrier sprint went further after Shubenkov. Among them were Jamaican Omar MacLeod, Spaniard Orlando Ortega and American Grant Holloway. Another representative of the United States, the owner of the second result of the season, Daniel Roberts was disqualified for having shot down someone else's barrier.
In women's 400-meter races, none of the Russians repeated Shubenkov’s path. The greatest hopes were associated with Pauline Miller, who this season got close to the top 20 in the world. However, in her race she took fourth place and could not pass the time with a result of 51.96 s. Ksenia Aksyonova ran another three hundredths of a second more slowly. Alena Mamina did not run out of 52 seconds and was the last in her race.
Ethiopian holiday
One of the main topics of dissatisfaction at the Doha World Cup was the empty stands in many competitions. Some competitions were held in silence unusual for such competitions. But if it was time to play medals in a long run, Ethiopian fans provided noise support. For their loyalty, they were fully rewarded on the fourth day of the tournament.
Among the participants in the 5000-meter final, three brothers from Norway stood out - Philip, Henrik and Jacob Ingebrigtsen. Together they lurked in a group of favorites from Ethiopia, Kenya and the United States, trying to create the most comfortable conditions for the youngest and most gifted of the Jacob brothers. But he too much believed in his strength on the last lap.
His jerk did not end with anything good and only helped to accelerate to two Ethiopians - Muktar Edris and Selemon Barege. Edris ultimately defended the title of champion in the 5000 meter race, which he won in the farewell race of Mo Fara, and Barege became the silver medalist. The bronze went to Canadian Mohamed Ahmed, who won a second against another Ethiopian Telahun Bekele.
Absolute scenes in the #WorldAthleticsChamps 5000m final.
The 2017 world champion becomes the 2019 world champion.
Muktar Edris wins 🥇 for Ethiopia 🇪🇹 in 12: 58.85. pic.twitter.com/CZtBKnueHL
Low flight disc
Men's discus throwing competitions have become a rare example of when in the final the results were worse than in the qualification. The winner was the leader of the season Daniel Stol from Sweden, who sent the projectile at 67.59 meters. Two days earlier, he managed to throw the disc 29 centimeters further.
Such relief was not taken advantage of by Stoly's main rival this season, Jamaican Fedrick Dakrs. Although he won the first medal in discus throwing for his country, the chances of gold were pretty high. Another historical medal for his country is Lucas Weissheidinger - before him, none of the Austrians also rose to the podium in this discipline. The last world champion from Lithuania Andrius Gudgius finished the competition in last place.
Daniel Stahl wins #WorldAthleticsChamps discus gold 🇸🇪
The strong Swede launches the implement to 67.59m 💪 pic.twitter.com/FaklVfu7Iv
History for Uganda
This year, women's 800-meter run missed one clear favorite. World champion Caster Semenia lost the fight for the right to compete with women and was forced to miss the competition in Doha. A place at the highest step of the podium was available to a number of athletes who had not dreamed of before.
The Americans tried to present their claims - at once three athletes from the USA entered the final race. But Raven Rogers and Aji Wilson did not have such a great finishing spurt as the representative of Uganda Halima Nakaayi. Until now, a little-known athlete whose country did not win two-lap women's medals celebrated one of the most unexpected victories in these competitions. The Americans, instead of winning the double, were content with silver and bronze.
#WorldAthleticsChamps Gold for Uganda! 🇺🇬
Halimah Nakaayi outsprints everyone over the final 100m to win the 800m title in a Ugandan record 1: 58.04. pic.twitter.com/TRW0EywToF
Revenge Chepcoech
One of the most dramatic moments of the last World Cup was the finals in the women's 3000m hurdles. Iron favorite Beatrice Chepcoech from Kenya suddenly forgot about the existence of a water trap and began to run along a smooth path almost immediately after the start. Belatedly, she realized her mistake and returned to fulfill the race condition, and in the end missed the right medal.
In Doha, Chepkoech already did not make such gifts to rivals. She broke away early from the peloton and, without the slightest hint of fatigue, worked the entire distance alone, clearly demonstrating what a man who had been waiting for his rightful gold for two years was capable of. Kenya won the competition record - the first in this tournament, except for the world achievements of the Americans in the mixed relay, in which the competition had not previously been held. Silver was taken by the previous world champion Emma Coburn from the USA, and the German bronze girl Geza-Felicitas Krause returned four years later.
The world record holder becomes the world champion.
Beatrice Chepkoech 🇰🇪 wins 3000m steeplechase 🥇 in a #WorldAthleticsChamps record 8: 57.84. pic.twitter.com/qv9DbmRC4p
Happiness for Qatar
The fourth day of the World Cup closed with a men's 400m hurdles. The whole intrigue in this discipline was built around the confrontation between the Norwegian Karsten Warholm and the American Rai Benjamin. This year they staged the first ever competition in which both ran out of 47 seconds. The World Cup was a great place to repeat this.
It was not possible for them to run so fast in Doha, but all the same, gold was played between them. As a result, Varholm remained undefeated and became a two-time world champion. Benjamin, as befits the applicant, became the silver medalist.
The local public had their particular interest in this race. One of the contenders for bronze was Abderrahman Samba, a Saudi-born descendant of the Mauritanians who eventually began to play for Qatar. Samba pleased his new homeland and brought her the first medal of the home world championship.
He does it again! @Kwarholm 🇳🇴 is a two-time world champion.
What a show 💥 # WorldAthleticsChampspic.twitter.com / j42JleamPe