Tirop Gets Bronze In Womens 10,000 Final, Coleman Cruises To 100m Victory
29th September 2019
The 23-year-old American, who escaped a doping ban earlier this month on a technicality, swept over the finish line in a world-leading personal best of 9.76sec to claim his first major outdoor championship gold medal
- US sprinter Christian Coleman stamped his mark on world sprinting on Saturday with a dominant performance to sweep to the global 100 metres title and suggest the heir to retired Jamaican icon Usain Bolt has arrived
- There were also first world titles for Ethiopia-born naturalised Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan in the 10,000m and DeAnna Price of the United States, who celebrated victory in the women's hammer
- The IAAF's decision to award the championships to Doha came under renewed scrutiny following the marathon carnage, with French decathlon world champion Kevin Mayer adding his voice to the criticism on Saturday
DOHA, Qatar- US
sprinter Christian Coleman stamped his mark on world sprinting on Saturday with
a dominant performance to sweep to the global 100 metres title and suggest the
heir to retired Jamaican icon Usain Bolt has arrived.
The 23-year-old American, who escaped a doping ban earlier
this month on a technicality, swept over the finish line in a world-leading
personal best of 9.76sec to claim his first major outdoor championship gold
medal.
Defending champion Justin Gatlin took silver in 9.89sec at
the age of 37 while Canada's Andre De Grasse claimed bronze in 9.90sec.
It completed a flawless championship campaign for Coleman,
who had been the only man to duck under 10 seconds in both Friday's opening
rounds and Saturday's semi-finals.
Coleman has angrily denied any suggestion he is guilty of
taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Coleman let out a roar of triumph as he crossed the line
before punching the air in jubilation after a performance which makes him the
sixth fastest man in history.
"It is an incredible time, it is a PR for me. I think
the sky's the limit, I think I still have a lot of things I can work on and
improve, I think I can keep dropping my time," the indoor 60 metres world
record holder said.
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Coleman may be just starting to accrue titles but
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce suggested a fourth 100m women's world
crown is on the cards on Sunday.
The 32-year-old two-time Olympic champion timed an
impressive 10.80sec, the fastest women's 100m heat in world championship
history.
There were also first world titles for Ethiopia-born
naturalised Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan in the 10,000m and DeAnna Price
of the United States, who celebrated victory in the women's hammer.
Price, 26, has only one kidney and suffered several serious
injuries down the years.
"I didn't even think I was going to compete this
year," Price said after her win. "I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't
even throw over 70 metres."
- Oldest medal -
Jamaica's Tajay Gayle upset the form book to strike men's
long jump gold, producing the leap of his life to defeat favourite Juan Miguel
Echevarria.
The 23-year-old Gayle launched himself 8.69m with his fourth
attempt while Cuba's Echevarria only managed 8.34m for bronze.
Day two concluded with all eyes on the men's and women's
50km walk races, with organisers nervously monitoring the progress of athletes
chasing medals in sweltering conditions.
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The walks took place 24 hours after a casualty-filled
women's marathon, where 28 of 68 starters failed to finish.
However despite steamy conditions on Qatar's waterfront
course, the two races largely passed off without the sort of scenes that dogged
the marathon, where several exhausted athletes were taken away from the course
on stretchers.
The men's race was won by Yusuke Suzuki, who became the
first Japanese athlete to win the 50km men's race.
Suzuki's pillar was almost outshone by Portugal's silver
medallist Joao Vieira who at 43 became the oldest male athlete to win a medal
at the world championships. Canada's Evan Dunfee took bronze.
The women's race saw a Chinese 1-2 with Liang Rui taking
gold in 4hr 23min 26sec and Li Maocuo the silver.
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Italy's Eleonora Giorgi took the bronze -- defending
champion Ines Henriques failed to finish.
The IAAF's decision to award the championships to Doha came
under renewed scrutiny following the marathon carnage, with French decathlon
world champion Kevin Mayer adding his voice to the criticism on Saturday.
"Clearly by organising the championship here, they (the
IAAF) didn't put the athletes first, they've mostly put them in jeopardy,"
said Mayer.
"Even if people aren't saying it out loud, it's obvious
it's a catastrophe."