The ninth day of the World Athletics Championships entertained throughout. It was filled with six event finals but began with the men’s decathlon, where Olympic champion Damien Warner of Canada led the pack with 3,696 points after the first four disciplines but suffered an apparent hamstring injury that prevented him from finishing the 400 meters — ending his quest for a world championship title.
Ayden Owens-Delerme ended the first half of events as the leader in the decathlon with 4,606 points.
In the women’s 100 meter hurdles, world No. 1 Kendra Harrison cruised through to the finals with a heat-winning time of 12.60 seconds.
“I have been waiting so long for this moment. It’s finally here. I finally got the jitters out,” Harrison said. “This is a pretty special moment. To hear the crowd cheer for me brings a smile to my face.”
The same cannot be said for world No. 2 and former Duck Alaysha Johnson, who had a rough start on the first two hurdles. She chose to walk and push down her hurdles out of obvious frustration the rest of the way through, earning a disqualification.
In the women’s long jump qualification round, 12 competitors made it through to the final, one of which being American Quanesha Burks, who earned an automatic qualifier after she flew 6.86 meters on her first jump.
“To jump 6.86 behind the board, I am ready to do the seven meters plus tomorrow,” Burks said. “I’m excited because all my PBs come from this stadium. So I’m expecting another PB for tomorrow as well.”
The first round of the women’s and men’s 4×400 meter relay began the running events in the evening session and the United States did not disappoint.
Both U.S. 4×400 teams clocked the fastest qualifying time, as the women finished in 3:28.38 and the men in 2:58.96.
The women’s team was headlined by the most decorated American track and field athlete of all time, Allyson Felix, who wasn’t a lock to run in this race.
“They just called me and asked if I am willing to be in and I am here,” Felix said. “I jumped on the plane and here we go.”
Next came the men’s triple jump final where Olympic champion and world No. 1 Pedro Pichardo of Portugal kept up his dominance by leaping 17.95 meters — a world lead.
“This world title was elusive to me,” Pichardo said. “I am thankful to my family and my team for allowing me to achieve this. This title means a lot.”
Italian and former Duck Emanuel Ihemejer Jr. finished his first world championship finals experience in fifth place with a jump of 17.17 meters.
In the men’s 800 meter final, Olympic champion from Kenya Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir continued his reign and captured his first world championship in a season best of 1:43.71.
Djamel Sedjati (silver) got Algeria’s first medal of the championships, and Canadian Marco Arop earned the bronze.
“I was expecting a faster race, but I won and I am very happy for this result,” Kipkurui Korir said. “I want to stay on the podium next year and also in Paris.”
The women’s 5,000 meter final was dominated by Ethiopians Gudaf Tsegay (14:46.29) and Dawit Seyaum (14:47.36), taking the gold and bronze medals. Beatrice Chebet of Kenya got the silver medal in 14:46.75.
After the race, Tsegay dedicated her win to “all of Ethiopia.”
The men’s javelin throw final was a competition for second place as Anderson Peters of Grenada defended his world title with a 90.46 meter throw.
“To defend the title is not an easy task. I had to push myself,” Peters said.
In the women’s 4×100 meter relay, the Americans took the gold medal thanks to a Twanisha Terry anchor leg where she finished four hundredths of a second ahead of the ever-dangerous Shericka Jackson in a world-leading time of 41.14.
“The race was electrifying. You heard the stadium. The stadium went crazy,” Terry said. “We just brought it home.”
The American team included former Oregon student-athlete Jenna Prandini. The Jamaican team, which had former Duck Kemba Nelson, got Oregon’s first medals of these championships.
The final race of the day, the men’s 4×100 meter relay, was taken by team Canada in 37.48, where Andre De Grasse took advantage of a messy handoff between Elijiah Hall and Marvin Bracy and was able to deprive the U.S. of back-to-back world championship titles.
“I was hoping not to get caught. I was tightening up a little bit,” De Grasse said. “We spoke about this moment so many times. It feels good to get it done and we are hoping for more in the future.”
The final day of the World Athletics Championships is not coincidentally the most final-filled day as eight events will crown a world champion starting at 6:15 a.m. in the men’s 35 kilometer race walk.
The rest of the morning session is four of the five remaining disciplines of the decathlon, which concludes with the 1500 meter race at 7:20 p.m.
The evening session’s first final is the men’s pole vault, where Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis looks to prove his No. 1 ranking right at 5:25 p.m. It’ll then move to the women’s long jump final which begins at 5:50 p.m.
The men’s 5,000 meter final will certainly be one to keep eyes on at 6:05 p.m. as Ugandan Joshua Chepetegei looks to make himself a back-to-back-to-back world champion.
The women’s 800 meter final starts at 6:35 p.m., when former Duck Raevyn Rogers will strive to get her first world championship after getting silver in Doha 2019.
We’ll then move on to the women’s 100 meter hurdle finals at 7:00 p.m., and the championships will end with men’s and women’s 4×400 meter finals at 7:35 p.m. and 7:50 p.m.
