Dominican Republic spoil USA’s mixed 4x400m party, while Fred Kerley lays down an extraordinary marker in Eugene

Dominican Republic sprang a surprise with a brilliant, last-gasp win in the mixed 4x400m relay to conclude an eventful opening day to the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

Just as it looked like the host nation were going to taste victory and with the home crowd on their feet at Hayward Field, Fiordaliza Cofil impressively reeled in American leader Kennedy Simon, while Femke Bol’s superb lap of 48.95 saw her come through to take silver for Netherlands right on the line.

It was the narrowest of wins – the gold medallists clocking 3:09.52 to the Dutch national record of 3:09.90 as USA managed 3:10.16 – but was just the sort of tight, engaging contest that these championships really needed to generate early momentum.

The first huge cheer of Oregon 2022 arrived when Allyson Felix, running in the final major championships of her storied career, took the baton at the first handover in the lead. She was hunted down and overtaken by the next change following a brilliant run of 48.47 from Marileidy Paulino but the home nation had re-established their lead heading into the final lap thanks to Vernon Norwood.

Cofil stuck to her task, though, and took her opportunity as she began to sense Kennedy fading. It might not have been gold, but bronze means Felix has a tally of 19 World Championships medals.

“It was very special to be able to run in front of a home crowd for my last race,” said Felix. “It was so cool. My daughter was in the stands. It was a night I will cherish. I’ve had such good memories. I know it is time and these guys will carry it on into the future. I am at peace stepping into this next stage and have tremendous gratitude for this sport.”

US sprinters looking ominously strong

It doesn’t look like there will be long for Team USA to wait for their first victory celebration if the qualifying heats of the men’s 100m are anything to go by. Olympic silver medallist Fred Kerley laid down an amazing marker as he took advantage of the perfect sprinting conditions to clock 9.79 (0.1) in heat two.

His compatriot Trayvon Bromell also impressed with 9.89 (0.6) in heat three and defending champion Christian Coleman jogged over the line in 10.08 as he secured his safe passage, while Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs progressed after a run of 10.04 (0.2).

There was also a world U20 record of 9.94 (1.1) from Letsile Tebogo as the Botswanan finished fourth-fastest overall, just ahead of Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (9.97), who ran in the same heat as Kerley. There was an early exit, however, for European silver medallist Reece Prescod.

Walkers win the first medals

Kimberly Garcia León achieved a number of firsts on the opening day of competition. Not only did the Peruvian become the first gold medallist of these championships by winning the women’s 20km race walk, she also created history by becoming her nation’s first ever World Championships medallist, let alone their inaugural champion.

To cap off her unforgettable day, León’s winning time of 1:26:58 was also a national record and the second-fastest performance of the year.

Second-placed Katarzyna Zdzieblo (1:27:31) became Poland’s first ever medallist in the event, while China’s Qieyang Shenjie finished third (1:27:56) to win the third World Championships medal of her career.

In the men’s 20km race walk Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi successfully defended his title thanks to a scorching finish in the searing Eugene heat, covering the final km in 3:41 (he clocked 19:10 for the closing 5km) to win in 79:07 by seven seconds from compatriot Koki Ikeda. Sweden’s Perseus Karlström became the first Scandinavian 20km race walk medallist by finishing third in 79:18.

Bradshaw’s exit a big blow for Britain

There was a big blow for the Great Britain team to absorb as Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw opted not to compete in the women’s pole vault qualification “as a precaution” after taking a fall when her pole snapped mid-vault during the warm-up.

“The last jump of the warm-up my pole snapped in half and then I landed kind of in the box,” she said. “It’s a bit of a blur to me as I was rotating and landed quite high on the back of my neck.

“I didn’t land on the floor, but I slid down and did a bit of a number on my back. Initially I had a pain through my wrist from the vibrations of it breaking and then something going on with my hamstring which I was striding [at] 70% okay, but when I tried to up the intensity to over 80% I couldn’t.”

On the track, Tokyo silver medallist Laura Muir and Katy Snowden progressed to the women’s 1500m semi-final but Melissa Courtney-Bryant’s championships are over.

There were mixed fortunes for Britain’s throwers, too, as Commonwealth champion Nick Miller qualified for the fourth World Championships hammer final of his career thanks to a season’s best of 77.13m, while Sophie McKinna, Amelia Strickler and Scott Lincoln made early exits from their respective shot put qualifying competitions.