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World AthleticsEugene (USA)On a day when the focus was on putting women in the spotlight, three of the all-time greats of female athletics turned in truly stirring performances to light up Hayward Field at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Monday (18).Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon and Belgium’s Nafi Thiam all maintained their global dominance with golden performances, while in the men’s high jump final Mutaz Essa Barshim won his third straight world title by soaring over a world lead of 2.37m.There was no bigger favourite at these championships than Rojas, but if the Olympic champion and world record-holder felt the pressure of defending her world title in Eugene, she sure didn’t show it. Rousing the crowd in her typical effervescent style, Rojas set off down the runway for her second attempt and hopped, skipped and jumped her way to gold with a 15.47m effort, the second longest in World Championships history. Rojas knew at that point gold was assured, but the 26-year-old still had bigger ambitions.On the final attempt she jumped 15.39m – officially – though her expression on exiting the pit told the story about how much distance she’d given away on the board. Not that it mattered, with Rojas jumping to her feet and saluting the crowd, dancing as she went to retrieve her nation’s flag – something she’ll likely be doing many more times in the years ahead.“I wanted a longer jump, but I am happy to return to this beautiful stadium, to see the crowd,” said Rojas. “I came with the goal to get closer to my world record. The wind affected my run-up, I tried to adjust, but the most important thing was to win the medal and stay consistent over 15 metres.”Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts took silver with 14.89m while USA’s Tori Franklin claimed bronze with 14.72m.There was an equally peerless performance in the women’s 1500m, where Kipyegon cemented her place as the greatest 1500m runner of all time – winning her fourth global 1500m title and setting a high bar for future generations to follow.But she was made to work for it, with a breathless, lung-bursting pace churned out from the gun by chief rival Gudaf Tsegay, the Ethiopian blasting the opening lap in 58.82, and hitting 800m in 2:03.18.If her rivals wanted to stay with Tsegay, then they’d have to go to a dark place. In addition to Kipyegon, only Britain’s Laura Muir and Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha were willing to gamble and stick with it. For Muir it paid off. For Meshesha it didn’t, and the Ethiopian fell to pieces on the final lap, finishing 13th.With a lap to run up front it was down to three, and down the back straight Kipyegon could wait no longer. She powered to the lead and kicked away, hitting the line in 3:52.96 ahead of Tsegay (3:54.52) and Muir (3:55.28). It was the 10th fastest time in history and the second fastest ever in the US, behind the 3:52.59 she ran on the same track in May.“The Ethiopians controlled the race and I knew they were planning something special but for me, I was well prepared,” said Kipyegon, who said she is targeting a PB at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco next month. “Everybody was expecting something special from me. Everybody was like, ‘Faith, we believe in Faith,’ so it was a ral pressure. But I managed it.”Thiam’s victory in the heptathlon went down to the wire, and that was due to an inspired effort by Dutch rival Anouk Vetter. Thiam had come into the day with a 61-point advantage over Vetter, which she extended with a 6.59m long jump (to Vetter’s 6.52m), but the Dutchwoman claimed the lead in the javelin with a 58.29m throw to Thiam’s 53.01m. Given there were two seconds’ differences between their 800m PBs – the gap between them equating to 1.3 seconds over 800m – the stage was set for a thrilling finale.Vetter tried to keep Thiam in her sights through the opening lap but the Belgian put broad daylight between them down the back straight, with Thiam producing an inspired kick through the final 200m to hit the line in 2:13.00, a two-second PB. That left her on 6947 points, with Vetter taking second with 6867 and USA’s Anna Hall – who raised the roof by leading the 800m home in 2:06.67 – taking bronze with 6755. Poland’s Adrianna Sulek was fourth with a national record of 6672.
