Day six of the World Athletics Championships began Wednesday with the women’s javelin throw qualification round, where no competitors were able to hit the minimum mark of 65.20 meters.
Kara Winger was the only American to qualify for Friday’s finals with her second throw that went 61.30 meters.
In the women’s discus finals, Valarie Allman added a bronze medal to the American medal pile-up, now totaling 19 medals (six gold, five silver, eight bronze) — the most of any country.
Bin Feng of China got gold with a new personal best throw of 69.12 and Sanda Perkovic of Croatia grabbed the silver on her second throw of 68.45 meters.
Round one of the women’s 5,000 meter qualifications came around where usual suspects, two-time Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and this year’s 10,000 meter World Champion Letesenbet Gidey, both qualified for the semifinals among 13 others.
“I want to get my body sharp,” Hassan said. “I need to be more focused and dig deep in the final.”
Two of those 13 competitors were American Karissa Schweizer and Emily Infeld, who both qualified with season best times of 14:53.69 and 15:00.98.
Schwiezer stuck with the lead pack of Kenyans and Ehtiopans for a grueling last three laps, making her the first American to finish (fifth) just before Infeld (sixth).
“I am very confident with where my speed and my strength are just to be able to run the last three laps like that,” Schweizer said. “I am excited for the final.”
In the concluding event, the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, Norah Jeruto got Kazakhstan’s first medal of these championships — a gold in a new championship record of 8:53.02.
Ethiopians Werkuha Getachew (silver) and Mekides Abebe (bronze) followed.
In the men’s 800 meter qualifying round, Jonah Koech was the lone American to earn an automatic qualifying spot in the semifinals. After a review, he was disqualified for jostling during the race, leaving no Americans advancing to the semifinals.
The semifinal of the women’s 400 meter hurdles was dominated by world record holder Sydney McLaughlin whose time of 53.28 was more than two seconds faster than anyone else in her heat.
Americans Dalilah Muhammad, Shamier Little and Britton Wilson all qualified for Friday’s final at 7:50 p.m. PT.
“I felt it was a good day to get faster,” McLaughlin said. “I can’t wait to have my teammates join me in the final. I just want to be free, give all I have and leave it all on the track.”
The women’s 400 meters semi finals was highlighted by the top two competitors in the world — Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas.
“I am taking everything step by step,” Miller-Uibo said. “I anticipate it to be a very competitive and very quick race in the finals so I am looking forward to it.”
On the men’s side of the 400 meter semi finals, Olympic champion Michael Norman led the way with a 44.30, clocking in the fastest time between the three heats. Champion Allison won his heat, making that two Americans in the finals on Friday at 7:35 p.m. PT.
“The race was pretty good. I felt like I kind of fell asleep in the last 50 meters,” Norman said. “But I was kind of dominating the race.”
Day seven starts with the men’s javelin throw qualifications at and ends with back-to-back women’s and men’s 200 meter finals at 7:35 and 7:50 p.m. Thursday.
