World Championship debutant Sophie Weißenberg started the heptathlon in Eugene with a personal best time over 100 m hurdles, but there was a setback in the high jump. In the men’s marathon there was a double for Ethiopia and two medals for Uganda in the 10,000 m. An American cheered in the hammer throw. The events at a glance.
Heptathlon: Dampener for Weißenberg in the high jump
The 24-year-old heptathlete Sophie Weißenberg from Leverkusen is starting at a World Championship for the first time. In the first discipline, the 100 m hurdles, she improved her personal best from 13.56 to 13.51 seconds. In the high jump, where a personal best of 1.85 m is noted for her, she jumped only 1.74 m. With 1,952 points, the German dropped back to 13th place. After two disciplines, Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium (2,264) is clearly in the lead.
Marathon: Ethiopian Tola wins gold in world championship record time
The men’s marathon race ended on Sunday with an Ethiopian double: Tamirat Tola won in a world record time (2:05:36 hours) ahead of Mosinet Geremew (2:06:44). Bashir Abdi from Belgium (2:06:48) won bronze, the German starter Tom Gröschel finished more than eight minutes behind (2:14:57 hours) in 43rd place.
10,000 m: gold and bronze for Uganda – silver goes to Kenya
After a tactical race, the strong runners from Africa delivered an exciting finish over 10,000 m. In 27:27.43 minutes, defending champion and world record holder Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei from Uganda had a wafer-thin lead over Kenyan Stanley Waithaka Mburu (27:27.90 min.) and his Ugandan compatriot Jacob Kiplimo (27:27.97 min. ). Surprisingly, Olympic champion Selemon Barega (Ethiopia) only finished fifth.
Hammer throw: American Andersen WINS clearly
The hammer throw final was a clear affair: Brooke Andersen from the USA won gold with the winning distance of 78.96 m in the absence of the injured world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk from Poland. She was almost three and a half meters ahead of Camryn Rogers, who at 75, 52m silver for Canada. Andersen’s teammate Janee Kassanavoid (74.86 m) secured third place. DLV thrower Samantha Borutta from Leverkusen was eliminated in the qualification.
400 m heats: World Cup favorites sprint to the semifinals
In the heats over 400 m, the favorites for the world title left nothing to be desired: the year’s best Michael Norman from the USA (45.37 seconds), London Olympic champion Kirani James from Grenada (45.29 seconds) or the South African world record holder and Rio Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk (45.18 seconds) – they all safely qualified for the semi-finals on Thursday (4.15 a.m. CEST/live on the first and on sportschau.de).
Jamaican Stephanie Ann McPherson ran the fastest lead time in the women’s race (50.15 seconds). Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas (51.10 seconds) and Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic (50.76 seconds) also sprinted into the semifinals on Thursday (3:45 a.m. CEST).
100 m of women as the highlight of the third day of competition
On the third day of competition there are still four finals on the program – in the shot put (3.30 a.m.) and over 110 m hurdles for men (4.30 a.m.) there are no DLV athletes at the start. In the women’s pole vault (2.10 a.m.) World Cup debutant Jacqueline Ochere is there – and over 100 m Gina Lückenkemper tries to sprint for a place in the final (4.50 a.m.) in the semi-finals (2.30 a.m.).