It was not only on the pole vault side that performances took off on Saturday August 26 at the Budapest World Athletics Championships. In the absence of Kevin Mayer, forfeited after two events due to Achilles tendon pain, Canadian Pierce Lepage won the decathlon ahead of his compatriot Damian Warner.
Already world record holder for the mile, 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon closed her stratospheric season with a historic double after her victory in the 5,000m. Finally, the American sprinters easily got the better of their Jamaican rivals in the 4 x 100m relay final.
Despite Thibaut Collet’s fine performance in the pole vault (5.90m), the French medal counter remained blocked on this penultimate day of competition.
Americans double down on 4 x 100m relays
And three. After joining the very exclusive club of sprinters who achieved the double at the same edition of the Worlds, Noah Lyles offered himself a third golden charm with the American collective, in the 4 x 100 m final. Despite a witness who often wavered, the Floridian made an explosive last stint (37 s 38) to easily win ahead of Italy (37 s 62), which confirms its Olympic title in Tokyo. Far from their best marks, Jamaica completed the podium in 37 s 76. The Blues, qualified on time on Friday, finished sixth in the final in 38 s 06.
The scenario repeated itself a few minutes later for the women. The Americans flew over the debates of the 4 x 100 m, splitting a new record in the world championship (41 s 03). As since the start of these worlds, the final explanation took place between Sha’Carri Richardson, crowned in the 100m, and Shericka Jackson, world champion in the 200m. Starting too late on the last transition, the Jamaican however did not have the opportunity to compete for the planetary title, settling for second place in 41 s 21. The United Kingdom completed the podium in 41 s 97.
Faith Kipyegon, queen of the world middle distance
How far will Faith Kipyegon go? After winning the 1,500m on Wednesday, her third world title in a row, the Kenyan stepped up to achieve a historic double, winning the 5,000m final. She thus joins Hicham El Guerrouj, legend of Moroccan athletics, in the pantheon of sacred athletes on both distances during the same championship. The “King of the mile” had achieved the double at the 2004 Athens Games, which had never before been achieved for women.
One more challenge on the list of the double Olympic champion, star of Kenyan athletics who intends to “mark the history of [his] sport”. “She’s making our job really difficult right now,” Olympic 1500m runner-up Laura Muir laughed ahead of the championships. Already a world record holder on both distances, the athlete, from a popular family in the Rift Valley, this time had to work hard to win, in 14 min 53 s 88, ahead of the Dutch Sifan Hassan (14:54:11). After an unfortunate fall in the last meters of the 10,000m final, the latter threw her last strength in the last lap of the 5,000m, finished in the sprint. In vain.
First on the finish line, Faith Kipyegon fell into the arms of her compatriots Beatrice Chebet and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, respectively third (14 min 54 s 33) and fourth (14 min 56 s 62). The Ethiopians Ejgayehu Taye, Medina Eisa and Freweyni Hailu were content with runners-up (5th, 6th, 7th).
Long in contact, Gudaf Tsegay, world champion in the 10,000m, also coveted a double. But the Ethiopian exploded in the last lap and finished 11th in this final.
Grenadian Lindon Victor, surprise guest of a Canadian podium in the decathlon
When the cat’s away the mice will play. With reigning world champion Kevin Mayer just retired, the decathletes competed for the top spots in a very open competition. The Canadians drew their card from the game with Pierce Lepage, crowned decathlon world champion in Hungary with 8,909 points, ahead of his compatriot Damian Warner (8,804 points), Olympic champion in Tokyo.
After taking the lead with the first discipline of the day, Pierce Lepage maintained his lead in the general classification. The Grenadian Lindon Victor, author of a stratospheric disc competition (54.97 m, championship record on a decathlon), completes the podium with 8,756 points. On the other hand, the young German nugget Leo Neugebauer will still have to wait before holding his first world award. At the top of day one, the 23-year-old was more brittle over his other five runs and finished fifth.
The Canadians had a great day, with Marco Arop winning the 800m in the 800m (1:44:24). He is ahead of the Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi and the Briton Ben Pattison.
Women’s 4 x 400m relay drafted
Their ticket is cancelled. Destination ? The 4 x 400m world final. The men’s and women’s relays got out of the semi-final trap on Saturday on the Hungarian tartan. Ludvy Vaillant, Loïc Prévot, David Sombé and Téo Andant took second place in their race behind Jamaica, with a time of 3 min 0 s 5. The French 400 meter champion, Téo Andant, notably achieved an excellent last lap of the track to offer the French team the assurance of direct qualification.
The surprise came from India, an emerging athletics nation, seen neck and neck with reigning world champions America in the semi-finals. The Indians set a new Asian record (2 min 59 s 05), ahead of the United Kingdom and Botswana in the race.
The French, in their misfortune, have meanwhile made good fortune. Hampered by Nigeria on the penultimate transition, and fifth in their series (3 min 27 s 50), Amandine Brossier, Louise Maraval, Sounkamba Sylla and Camille Seri were fished out after protest. Although tenth in the series, they will therefore play the final on Sunday, alongside Jamaica, Canada, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Italy. ‘Ireland.
On the other hand, the Americans will not be there. Crowned seven times in the last eight world championships, they were eliminated on Saturday, due to a passing of the baton deemed out of the zone. The final is scheduled for Sunday at 9:35 p.m. for the men and 9:45 p.m. for the women. A last opportunity for the Habs to save the French record, still stuck at zero medals one year from the Paris Games.
