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DOMINANT SHOWS: (Clockwise from top): Usain Bolt faces little challenge while anchoring Jamaica to the 4x100M relay gold at the World Championships in Beijing on Saturday.
Decathlete Ashton Eaton delivered the first world record of the 15th World Championships in athletics on Saturday but the loudest of cheers were still reserved for Usain Bolt and also the Chinese relay team.
Bolt spearheaded Jamaica to another eye-catching win in the 4x100M relay, completing his third triple-gold haul in World Championships after Berlin 2009 and Moscow 2013. On the penultimate night of the championships, Mo Farah also made it a triple-double in global meets with triumph in the men’s 5000M, rising above the troubles that had dogged him to the Chinese capital.
Bolt’s 11th gold medal in four World Championships arrived after the Jamaican ran hard and fast to anchor the relay quartet to a world-leading time of 37.36 seconds. The performance delivered a crushing defeat on the United States quartet featuring Justin Gatlin but the Americans were shattered further when they were disqualified for exchange zone violation.
The Chinese, who finished third in 38.01, were elevated to silver position in a sensational result, after they had smashed the Asian record with a 37.92 in the semifinals earlier in the day. The Bird’s Nest exploded in joy as the results were flashed on the screen, with thousands singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to their star Su Bingtian.
The triumph for the Jamaicans – also featuring Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nick Ashmeade -- avenged their defeat to the US at the World Relays in May and Bolt said the Americans had cracked under pressure. “It is called pressure, they won the World Relays and the pressure was on them. I told you I am coming back here and I have kept my word,” said Bolt, whose gold medal tally in global meets now stands at an imposing 17, including six Olympic gold medals.
The Jamaicans, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, also clobbered the field in the women’s 4x100 relay, winning the gold in a championship record of 41.07 seconds.
Eaton was poised for a top score after his first-day efforts and he maintained the momentum to set up a strong finale in decathlon. The Olympic and world champion had to run better than 4:18.25 in the final event, the 1500M, to break the world record and he just about made it, with a 4:17.52 to raise his record from 9036 to 9045 points.
“At the beginning, I was feeling quite down but I decided to be with the people standing by me and who believe in me. So I told myself, ‘let’s enjoy this event and go for it,” he said.
Eaton’s performances read 10.23 (100M), 7.88 (long jump), 14.52 (shot put), 2.01 (high jump), 45.00 (400M), 13.69 (110M hurdles), 43.34 (discus), 5.20 (pole vault), 63.63 (javelin) and 4:17.52 (1500M).
Eaton received a bonus of 100000 dollars for the world record. Farah unleashed his killer sprint finish to take the 5000M gold. His Kenyan and Ethiopian rivals played into his hands by not pushing the pace and it suited the Briton fine as he romped home in the straight, clocking 13:50.38. It was his fifth World Championship gold medal and the third in 5000M, the most by any athlete. Farah, who had earlier won the 10000M, claimed a double for the third time in a row, after the Olympics in 2012 and the World Championships in 2013.
European champion Marina Arzamasova dashed Kenyan Eunice Sum’s hopes of defending her title in the women’s 800M. The 27-year-old from Belarus picked up her country’s first gold medal of these championships with a calculated run, wresting the lead from Sum with 200 metres to go and staying strong to win in 1:58.03.
The women’s high jump seemed set for an epic contest when six athletes cleared 1.99 for the first time. But the journey ended quickly at 2.01 metres with Russia’s Maria Kuchina taking the gold on a countback from Blanka Vlasic and Anna Chicherova.
Results: Men: 5000M: Mo Farah (Great Britain) 13:50.38, 1; Caleb Ndiku (Kenya) 13:51.75, 2; Hagos Gebrhiwet (Ethiopia) 13:51.86, 3.
Decathlon: Ashton Eaton (United States) 9045 points (World record. Old: 9039, Eaton) 1; Damian Warner (Canada) 8695, 2; Rico Freimuth (Germany) 8561, 3.
4x100M relay: Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain Bolt) 37.36 seconds, 1; China 38.01 seconds, 2; Canada 38.13, 3.
Women: 800M: Marina Arzamasova (Belarus) 1:58.03, 1; Melissa Bishop (Canada) 1:58.12, 2; Eunice Sum (Kenya) 1:58.18, 3.
High jump: Maria Kuchina (Russia) 2.01 metres, 1; Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) 2.01, 2; Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.01, 3.
4x100M relay: Jamaica (Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) 41.07 (Meet record. Old: 41.29, Jamaica), 1; United States 41.68, 2; Trinidad and Tobago 42.03, 3.
Bolt spearheaded Jamaica to another eye-catching win in the 4x100M relay, completing his third triple-gold haul in World Championships after Berlin 2009 and Moscow 2013. On the penultimate night of the championships, Mo Farah also made it a triple-double in global meets with triumph in the men’s 5000M, rising above the troubles that had dogged him to the Chinese capital.
Bolt’s 11th gold medal in four World Championships arrived after the Jamaican ran hard and fast to anchor the relay quartet to a world-leading time of 37.36 seconds. The performance delivered a crushing defeat on the United States quartet featuring Justin Gatlin but the Americans were shattered further when they were disqualified for exchange zone violation.
The Chinese, who finished third in 38.01, were elevated to silver position in a sensational result, after they had smashed the Asian record with a 37.92 in the semifinals earlier in the day. The Bird’s Nest exploded in joy as the results were flashed on the screen, with thousands singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to their star Su Bingtian.
The triumph for the Jamaicans – also featuring Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nick Ashmeade -- avenged their defeat to the US at the World Relays in May and Bolt said the Americans had cracked under pressure. “It is called pressure, they won the World Relays and the pressure was on them. I told you I am coming back here and I have kept my word,” said Bolt, whose gold medal tally in global meets now stands at an imposing 17, including six Olympic gold medals.
The Jamaicans, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, also clobbered the field in the women’s 4x100 relay, winning the gold in a championship record of 41.07 seconds.
Eaton was poised for a top score after his first-day efforts and he maintained the momentum to set up a strong finale in decathlon. The Olympic and world champion had to run better than 4:18.25 in the final event, the 1500M, to break the world record and he just about made it, with a 4:17.52 to raise his record from 9036 to 9045 points.
“At the beginning, I was feeling quite down but I decided to be with the people standing by me and who believe in me. So I told myself, ‘let’s enjoy this event and go for it,” he said.
Eaton’s performances read 10.23 (100M), 7.88 (long jump), 14.52 (shot put), 2.01 (high jump), 45.00 (400M), 13.69 (110M hurdles), 43.34 (discus), 5.20 (pole vault), 63.63 (javelin) and 4:17.52 (1500M).
Eaton received a bonus of 100000 dollars for the world record. Farah unleashed his killer sprint finish to take the 5000M gold. His Kenyan and Ethiopian rivals played into his hands by not pushing the pace and it suited the Briton fine as he romped home in the straight, clocking 13:50.38. It was his fifth World Championship gold medal and the third in 5000M, the most by any athlete. Farah, who had earlier won the 10000M, claimed a double for the third time in a row, after the Olympics in 2012 and the World Championships in 2013.
European champion Marina Arzamasova dashed Kenyan Eunice Sum’s hopes of defending her title in the women’s 800M. The 27-year-old from Belarus picked up her country’s first gold medal of these championships with a calculated run, wresting the lead from Sum with 200 metres to go and staying strong to win in 1:58.03.
The women’s high jump seemed set for an epic contest when six athletes cleared 1.99 for the first time. But the journey ended quickly at 2.01 metres with Russia’s Maria Kuchina taking the gold on a countback from Blanka Vlasic and Anna Chicherova.
Results: Men: 5000M: Mo Farah (Great Britain) 13:50.38, 1; Caleb Ndiku (Kenya) 13:51.75, 2; Hagos Gebrhiwet (Ethiopia) 13:51.86, 3.
Decathlon: Ashton Eaton (United States) 9045 points (World record. Old: 9039, Eaton) 1; Damian Warner (Canada) 8695, 2; Rico Freimuth (Germany) 8561, 3.
4x100M relay: Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain Bolt) 37.36 seconds, 1; China 38.01 seconds, 2; Canada 38.13, 3.
Women: 800M: Marina Arzamasova (Belarus) 1:58.03, 1; Melissa Bishop (Canada) 1:58.12, 2; Eunice Sum (Kenya) 1:58.18, 3.
High jump: Maria Kuchina (Russia) 2.01 metres, 1; Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) 2.01, 2; Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.01, 3.
4x100M relay: Jamaica (Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) 41.07 (Meet record. Old: 41.29, Jamaica), 1; United States 41.68, 2; Trinidad and Tobago 42.03, 3.
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