American takes World Championships gold in Eugene as key rivals DNS and DQ, whereas brutal 1500m semi-finals see a number of upsets

Grant Holloway successfully defended his world 110m hurdles title although the race was overshadowed by the absence of two of his biggest rivals.

Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaica did not start after running into a hurdle in warm-up and injuring himself, while US team-mate and another of the favourites, Devon Allen, false started by one thousandth of a second.

This meant Holloway had empty lanes on either side himself but he kept his focus and sped to victory in 13.03 (1.2) as fellow American Trey Cunningham was second in 13.08 and Asier Martinez of Spain third in 13.17.

Allen, a former University of Oregon wide receiver who signed with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year, produced the third-fastest time in the history of the event in June. After being told of his DQ he argued with officials briefly before calmly leaving the track as boos rang around Hayward Field.

“I don’t think Devon false started,” said Holloway. “I’m on his side but technology suggested otherwise. I advised to him that he make a protest. It’s athletics. Excuse my language, but s*** happens.”

Allen said: “We are so close to the crowd and the fans in the stands are just so loud. I just got distracted.

“Track and field is so difficult because you train the whole year for one competition that lasts 13 seconds. Your identity is based on one competition which is frustrating. It happens and I’ll learn from it and not react as fast next time.”

When Holloway was asked if this represented redemption following his defeat in the Olympics at the hands of Parchment, he said: “Not at all. The past is the past. My hat goes off to Hansle. He won the Olympic title and here I defended my world title.”

Runner-up Cunningham, meanwhile, tried not to get distracted by the false start interruption, explaining: “It’s the same 10 hurdles that I’ve been running for 10-plus years now. It’s the same distance and it’s about your lane and if I have to get it done, I’ll get it down.”

Joshua Zeller is one of the rising stars of British athletics and the 21-year-old finished a fine fifth in the final in 13.33.

Joshua Zeller not surprisingly pretty pleased after his fine 5th place in the World Champs 110m hurdles final. ? #Oregon22 pic.twitter.com/9pzAHActfM

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 18, 2022

There was disappointment, though, for fellow Brits Andy Pozzi, who came sixth in his semi-final in 13.35 (2.5) and David King, who was also sixth in his semi in 13.51 (0.3).

Upsets in men’s 1500m semi-finals

There was drama in the 1500m heats with a number of big names like Olli Hoare and Samuel Tefera of Ethiopia knocked out.

A stacked first semi-final was won by Britain’s Josh Kerr in 3:36.92 ahead of Mario Garcia of Spain and Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway. World champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya and Ignacio Fontes of Spain followed with Neil Gourley, in sixth, just outside the top five automatic places as he fell to the track at the finish.

Gourley later revealed he had tested positive for Covid six days earlier and missed a few days of training. He still beat world indoor champion Tefera and top Aussie Hoare, though.

Abel Kipsang of Kenya won the second semi-final from Mo Katir of Spain, Jake Wightman of Britain, Tedesse Lemi of Ethiopia and Stewart McSweyn of Australia.

Neil Gourley narrowly fails to make the 1500m final after a tough week as he tested positive for Covid last Monday. #Oregon22 pic.twitter.com/3VJ1PzcBmq

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 18, 2022

One-lap hurdles favourites proceed

The big guns of the 400m hurdles – Olympic medallists Karsten Warholm (48.00), Rai Benjamin (48.44) and Alison dos Santos (47.85) – won their respective semi-finals, although Britain’s Alastair Chalmers was sixth in Benjamin’s heat in 50.54 and will now fly home to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.