There's redemption for Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles and another chance for Andrew Hudson in the 200m.
Responsibilities
Only the other day – Day 3 to be precise – we were talking about Fabrice Hugues Zango as the national medal collection of Burkina Faso having won bronze in the triple jump in Doha in 2019, silver in Eugene in 2022 and gold in Budapest. Well, Kimberly Garcia Leon shines a similar wondrousness in Peru. She won her country’s first ever medal at the world championships when she took gold in the women’s 20km walk in Eugene last year. She followed it up with gold in the 35km walk which was making its debut as an event in Eugene. A glorious golden double then. But she was upstaged this year by Maria Perez who emulated her exploits. “These championships have not been as good as I expected,” Garcia Leon fumed. “I wanted to defend my titles from Eugene. I was really upset with fourth place in the 20km but I had to calm down and recover to be ready for this race.” Garcia Leon claimed second place nearly two minutes behind Perez’ winning time of 2:38.40. “The pace was fast and I just did my best,” she added. “To win a medal is always good but I am not that happy with the silver over 35km.” Imagine the fury if she’d come third.
Offbeat
Defeat must have been especially galling for Kimberly Garcia Leon as Maria Perez had been thinking of pulling out of the 35km event due a problem with her hamstrings. “I felt confident about my technique,” Perez explained. “And I wanted to maintain a normal rhythm throughout the race and not to damage my hamstring any more so I really did the last few kilometres easy.” While Perez shares the honour of the 20 and 35km double with Garcia Leon, her fellow Spaniard, Alvaro Martin, became the first man to win both titles. Following his win in the 20km walk on Day 1, the 29-year-old added the 35km on Day 6. From what he was saying to reporters, it’s unlikely that he’ll be doing much walking after his planned celebrations in Budapest.
More share
After Nina Kennedy and Katie Hall shared the gold medal in the women’s pole vault on Day 5, there was more sharing in evidence for the 35km race. Obviously, organisers had planned this long in advance but it was a nice touch to start both races for the men and women at the same time at Heroes' Square in central Budapest. Elianay Pereira from Brazil was the last athlete over the finish line after 3:16.11 – nearly 40 minutes slower than the women’s race winner Maria Perez whose 2:38.40 took her across the finishing line ahead of seven of the 33 men who managed to complete the course.
Safer on foot
The first semi-final of the men’s 200m involving the 100m champion Noah Lyles was postponed to allow the runners time to recollect their thoughts after the buggy taking them from the warm-up area to the main stadium was hit by another vehicle. Lyles won the race in 19.76 seconds to continue his quest to become the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win the sprint double. Andrew Hudson, who had given Lyles a run for his money in the heats on Day 5 finished fifth. But he had been running with blurred vision even after he had been given an eye rinse by the medics after he was hit in the face by flying glass. The Jamaican association protested and the referees allowed the 26-year-old into the final. Before he was informed of the reprieve, a disconsolate Hudson told journalists that he knew he was in bad shape and was being urged not to run. He also explained that waiting for those eye checks meant that he could not go through his usual pre-race warm-ups. "It was my first world championships and I didn't want it to end like that," he said defiantly. "Next time I’ll walk,” was his glum sign-off. But common sense prevailed.
Downs and ups
No, not the name for some pre-race warm-ups. Remember back on Day 1 when Femke Bol fell and dropped the baton just metres from the line as she battled for supremacy with the American Alexis Holmes in the 4X400m mixed relay final? Well, from that nadir to a high. The 23-year-old Dutchwoman won the 400m hurdles in style. A time of 51.70 gave her a first world championships gold. Shamier Little from the United States was just over a second behind to take silver. "You never know what's going to happen at the world championships,” said Bol sagely. “People are going to have the best race of their life. But I hoped I would have one of my best races, and I did.”
