The men's discus and triple jump provided wonderful theatre with some enthralling late denouements to give the sprinters a run for their money.
Compassion
So considerate are the organisers at the championships that the action on Day 3 started in the evening. That was presumably to give the staff the morning off to recover from the night before and the St Stephen’s Day celebrations. The banks of the Danube were full, full, full of people hailing the foundation of the Hungarian state just over 1,000 years ago and Stephen who emerged as Mr Big after smacking up pagan warlords led by his cousin Koppany. After he was killed in battle or shortly after - the stories differ - Stephen had Koppany’s body sliced - lovingly we hope - into four parts which were then displayed at the gates of the four big forts at the time. This was to charm other would-be overt non-believers that christianity was now the cutting edge way of life in the land.
Silky smooth
Reigning Olympic champion Karsten Warholm cruised into the final of the 400m hurldes. The 27-year-old Norwegian won his semi-final heat in 47.09. As he strolled off seemingly sweatless to talk to reporters, Roshawn Clarke lay sprawled on the track on his back exhausted and exhilarated. The 19-year-old Jamaican had just run an under-20 world record of 47.34 to qualify for his first final at a world championships. “My ambition was to come here, work hard and get into the final," said the precocious teen. "Now I’m there, I want to go all the way for my country.” Good to dream but that Karsten Warholm looks a scream.
Scrape expectations
What an evening. Sha'Carri Richardson barely got into the final of the 100m. The first two from the three semi-finals qualified automatically and the 23-year-old American was one of the two fastest losers. A couple of hours later, she had burned off the favourites Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to claim gold in a championship record time of 10.65 seconds. Richardson's compatriot Grant Holloway broke down in tears on the track when he won his gold in Doha in the 110m hurdles. The then 21-year-old dedicated his win to his parents Stan and Latasha and the rest of what he called an inner circle who kept faith with him after some poor races. Holloway won gold at the world championships in Eugene last year too. After his victory in 12.96 seconds, he went round the track holding up three fingers to denote a triple not seen since in the high hurdles since the American Greg Foster pulled off the feat at the world championships in 1983, 1987 and 1991.
Drama sprints?
The men's discus went all operatic. Sweden's Daniel Stahl took the lead from Kristjan Ceh in the fourth round of throws. The Slovenian slapped down the impertinence with a sixth and final throw of 70.02m. That left Stahl with one last effort. It flew to 71.46m. The 30-year-old called it his best performance in a stadium. Ceh said it was a disappointing end to the event. But he did perk up. "I threw 70 metres. I did my best and I was second in my first world championships. I'm still young - I'm only 24."
Logical progression
No, the review isn't going all drum and bass. But it is apt to allude to LTJ Bukem's seminal album from yesteryear which has inspired so many musicians. Hugues Fabrice Zango, winner of bronze in the triple jump in 2019 and silver in Eugene last year, says his gold medal should serve the same purpose for young athletes in his Burkina Faso homeland. "To get gold is a vindication of all the work that has been done," said the 30-year-old. "When I won the bronze in 2019, I noticed that performances at home started to get better. Now with bronze, silver and gold, the youngsters no longer have the excuse not to get to the top, break the barriers and go for medals." Zango won the country's first gold in the 40-year history of the world championships with his penultimate jump of 17.64m. Up until then it was looking like a Cuban one and two for Lazaro Martinez and Cristian Napoles. They had to settle for silver and bronze respectively. And, most importantly, we had theatre that didn't entail carving up slain warlords.
