European champion and Sarah McDonald through in 1500m, while Eilish McColgan and Laura Weightman reach 5000m final

Laura Muir returned to racing for the first time since injuring her calf in London back in July and made sure of safe passage to the semi-final stage of the women’s 1500m at the IAAF World Championships.

The European champion indoors and out was narrowly third in the bunch finish to heat three in 4:07.37, behind Canadian training partner Gabriela Debues-Stafford (4:07.28) and 2017 world silver medallist Jenny Simpson (4:07.27).

“It was quite a good feeling,” said Muir. “I was quite nervous before that race. I’m usually not for the heats but I just thought it’s been so long and it felt good to be out there and I felt like myself and ‘ah’ I can still run, I can still race!’”

There had been plenty of attention surrounding 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan given her involvement with the now banned coach Alberto Salazar, however it did not affect her performance on the track as she ran 4:03.88 to qualify fastest overall from heat one ahead of defending champion Faith Kipyegon’s 4:03.93.

Britain’s Sarah McDonald clocked 4:04.42 in the same race to ensure her progress, though European U23 champion Jemma Reekie exited the competition following her 10th place in heat two with a time of 4:12.51.

McColgan and Weightman make sure of 5000m progress

In the women’s 5000m, the British pair of Eilish McColgan and Laura Weightman ran well to qualify for the final, the latter clocking her second-fastest time for the distance.

In heat one, European silver medallist McColgan set a steady 74-second lap pace up front, passing 1000m in 3:04.73 and 2000m in a similar 6:08.82 before world champion Hellen Obiri then picked up the tempo a little to pass 3000m in 9:09.18.

The Kenyan passed 4000m in 12:05.58, with a lead pack which included the Scot down to six as they chased five automatic places.

As the bell was reached in 14:05.60, it was down to four and Obiri won with a 62-second last 400m in 14:52.13, while McColgan was easing back in fourth in 14:55.79.

In the second heat, Jess Judd set the initial pace but it was a lot slower going than the opening contest, passing 1000m in 3:11.89.

The tempo barely increased as Fantu Worku led through 2000m in 6:16.13 while Lillian Rengeruk was at the front through 3000m in 9:24.40, 15 seconds down on heat one. It suggested that few of the field were going to go through as a fastest loser and a top five place might be necessary.

Both Judd and Weightman were in the pack but Konstanze Klosterhalfen upped the pace significantly through 4000m in 12:19.92 and it was down to eight as Judd dropped off.

European medallist Weightman remained well placed, however, and the group was six-strong at the bell, with the German still ahead on 13:59.32, having run 66 seconds for the penultimate lap.

It was a photo finish up front at the line as a 62-second last circuit gave victory for Tsehay Gemechu over Klosterhalfen (both 15:01.57) and Margaret Kipkemboi (15:01.58).

Rengeruk (15:02.03) and Weightman (15:02.24) took the final automatic place, exactly half a second ahead of Fantu Worku, who got through as a fastest loser but Danish steeplechase finalist Anna Moller missed out by a few seconds in seventh.

Weightman, the Commonwealth bronze medallist who had covered the last 3000m in 8:45 and final 1000m in 2:41, said: “It was a lot faster than I expected and I think I need to be a little bit more patient but overall I’m delighted to make that final and that was a big job today.”

Judd, who had beaten Weightman in the British Championships, found it much tougher and covered the last 1000m 38 seconds slower in finishing 11th in 15:51.48.

“I just had nothing, it was really odd,” she said. “I couldn’t go with it, my arms went dead, my legs went dead, everything went dead and I was just thinking that I’ve got to get there and finish and that was the most painful last five laps I have ever done, it was so hard.”

The slowest of the qualifiers was 15:08.82.

It has been a superb season for @jessjuddxx but she was left disappointed after missing out on the 5000m final in Doha and shared her thoughts with @Jason_AW #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/OR0p1qRgh8

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

Norman makes a shock 400m exit

There was a big surprise in the men’s 400m when world leader and Diamond League champion Michael Norman failed to qualify for the final. The American looked completely out of sorts and finished way back in seventh place in the last semi-final with a time of 45.94.

In his absence, the event is now wide open and Bahamian Steven Gardiner qualified fastest overall with 44.13, 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James second in 44.23, with Fred Kerley clocking 44.25 and Emmanuel Korir 43.37.

Britain’s Rabah Yousif did not progress despite clocking a season’s best of 45.15 which left him fifth in the third semi-final.

“I am frustrated,” he said. “A bit gutted. I finished this race and I felt like I could have done better.

“I felt as good as anyone in that race and I should have placed in the top three – so leaving with a season’s best is not what I was looking for, to be honest!

“I’ve been doing this week, in week out – I’ve been doing this for a very long time. To not make the final after making the final in 2015, to me that’s a failure.”

Polish thrower claims historic win, while Sophie McKinna smashes PB to secure spot in shot put final

Paweł Fajdek may have drawn a blank from his two Olympic appearances but he is now the greatest world championships competitor in hammer history as he won an unprecedented fourth gold with a dominating performance in Doha on Wednesday.

The Polish thrower led from the off with a mark of 79.34m and then improved to 80.16m in the second round. The third was a mere 79.37m, but he stretched the lead further with an 80.50m fourth round throw. These would prove to be the best four throws of the day as he finished anti-climatically with two no throws.

France’s Quentin Bigot was fourth in London but otherwise has a mediocre championships record, failing to even make the European final in Berlin last year.

He served a doping ban between 2014 and 2016 which kept him from competing in Rio.

He started with a promising 76.34m, then improved to 78.06m to go third before further improving to 78.19m in the fourth round to go second and that ultimately proved sufficient for the silver medal.

European bronze medallist Bence Halász started well with a 78.18m throw to go second initially but then really struggled to have another decent throw but it was enough to win bronze.

It was close though as three other competitors finished within 80 centimetres of him.

A few hours later it became even closer as organisers announced that following an appeal by the Polish team challenging the validity of Halász’s first throw, the jury of appeal “concluded that irregularities in the conduct of the competition” disadvantaged Wojciech Nowicki and it was decided that the world leader and European champion should also be awarded a bronze medal.

News emerging from Doha at 2:24am: Wojciech Nowicki will be awarded a bronze medal in the hammer.

Here is the decision. pic.twitter.com/bpXfmuYgbi

— Steven Mills (@Trackside2019) October 2, 2019

Nowicki had started by recording 76.25m and improved to 76.50m, then 77.42m in the fourth and finally 77.69m in the final round to fall less than half a metre short.

Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan, only 18 and surely a potential future world champion, threw a PB of 77.39m for fifth and a world age record while Elvind Henriksen was sixth with 77.38m.

Britain’s Commonwealth champion Nick Miller started with a solid 75.31m but his next two efforts were no throws, the last one finishing outside the arc when it looked as if might be an improvement when he released it.

Miller’s second throw was subject to an appeal but the jury upheld the decision to call it a foul.

Eighth at the beginning of the third round, he ended up a disappointing 10th.

McKinna’s impressive qualification

Sophie McKinna made a sensational improvement in the women’s shot qualifying to become the first Briton to make the final since the inaugural championships in 1983 when Venissa Head and Judy Oakes occupied 10th and 12th place.

She started with a throw of 17.74m before improving to 18.04m which incidentally would have just got her into the final anyway on countback and 12th best thrower as European champion Pauline Guba also threw 18.04m.

However, in the third round she ensured her place by going well over the 18.40m qualifying mark with a sensational 18.61m.

It was the longest throw ever achieved by any Briton in the world championships and gave her sixth place overall in qualifying and strengthened her hold on fifth place in the UK all-time lists behind Oakes, Head, Myrtle Augee and Meg Ritchie.

.@sophiemac10 speaks with @euancrumley after her PB of 18.61m for the longest throw by a British shot putter in 21 years to make the world championships final – the first Brit to do so since 1983 #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/7vV2CCO95F

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd went furthest overall with a 19.32m while USA’s Maggie Ewen with 19.21m was the only other thrower over 19 metres.

“It wasn’t expected for me to get into the final so I didn’t have any pressure,” said McKinna. “I went there to throw my best and I was lucky enough to produce it when it really counts at the world championships. Now the pressure’s off I can go and enjoy myself in the final.”

Swedish record-holder Fanny Roos, who has thrown 19.06m this summer, only achieved 18.01m and narrowly failed to qualify.

The women’s discus qualifying was less noteworthy with the expected top three easily the best as they mirrored their 2019 world ranking positions.

Yaime Perez led the way with a 67.78m throw from Cuban compatriot Denia Caballero in second (65.86m) and world and Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic third best with 65.20m

Seven achieved the automatic qualifying distance of 63.00m and the final spot in the final was achieved by a 62.25m.

After choosing athletics over NFL, American thrives on world stage in Doha as he captures 110m hurdles title

Grant Holloway could have chosen a career in the NFL but instead decided to stick with athletics. It proved a wise decision because on Wednesday night in the Khalifa Stadium the American took the world 110m hurdles title in 13.10 from Sergey Shubenkov of Russia and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France.

Holloway, 21, is a super talent who has a wind-assisted long jump best of 8.32m to his name plus a 43.74 relay split in the 4x400m. With seven US national collegiate titles under his belt and a sprint hurdles best of 12.98, his speed and strength caught the eye of NFL scouts and he was offered a lucrative career in American Football. But he declined their advances and stuck with track and field instead.

“I sat down with parents and asked if I wanted to be NFL or Olympian and my heart was to be an Olympian,” he explained. “American Football is very unforgiving on the body. Do you want to walk at 30? Or be in a wheelchair at 35?”

American Football’s loss is athletics’ gain. “This is what I dreamed of,” he continued. “I dreamed on holding up the American flag and this is the major first one for me.”

Shubenkov, the 2015 world champion who competes as an authorised neutral athlete, ran 13.15 and Martinot-Lagarde clocked 13.18 in third in a race that also saw Omar McLeod, the world and Olympic champion, veering into the lane of Orlando Ortega with disastrous consequences.

McLeod was disqualified and Ortega, the Diamond League champion, wound up fifth after having his charge for the finish impeded. Jamaica’s McLeod later apologised and suggested he should have stopped running mid-race with hindsight.

Was Holloway aware of this? “No, not at all,” he said. “My goal was to get out and stay out and that was exactly what I did. I watched the replay and there was a lot of stuff going on but I was focused on my barriers and composed my nerves and I’m now world champion… for the first time,” he added purposefully, clearly suggesting he plans to win more.

“As a hurdler you’re trained to stay in your space and focus on your own lane. When you look around at other athletes, that’s when you lose your focus. Those barriers don’t care about your body. They’re there to slow you down.”

After an eventful world sprint hurdles final, Grant Holloway emerged with gold from Sergey Shubenkov and Pascal Martino-Lagarde. #WorldAthleticsChampionships pic.twitter.com/AasCywL8sh

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

Shubenkov, who has had an injury-hit 2019, agreed: “Running in lane nine helped me a lot so I didn’t see any of these things happening. It was like I was at the party but got kicked out at the start and missed all the action.”

During a busy year, Holloway has raced 42 times on the track in individual events and relays. But he lost form this summer to place only sixth in the Paris Diamond League and runner-up at the US Championships. “I couldn’t have done this without my inner circle,” the Mike Holloway (no relation) coached athlete said. “When times got rough they stayed with me. My parents… and I have awesome best friends and girlfriend, who kept me calm. They love me as a human being and not a track star. I ran crappy at USAs and in Paris and yet my inner circle stayed with me.”

As for Martinot-Lagarde, the European champion said fourth place in France is called “the chocolate medal” and, looking ahead to Tokyo next year, he did not want a repeat of the fourth place he finished in during the Rio Olympics “Chocolate medals are tough to digest!” he joked.

In the semi-finals three hours earlier Britain’s Andy Pozzi was disappointed to finish fifth in 13.60. “It was just messy from start to finish,” he said. “I felt like I had a lot of speed but the timing was just never there and obviously in the hurdles that makes things incredibly difficult.

“I hit hurdle two hard and five hard. Every time I pushed and tried to use my speed the timing was out and huge, huge mistakes. My timing and rhythm just isn’t back up to competition levels. My injury has kind of interrupted that this season.”

A dejected Andy Pozzi talks to AW about his semi-final exit in the 110m hurdles. #WorldAthleticsChampionships pic.twitter.com/uruAWtEKFT

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

In the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals, American duo Sydney McLaughlin (53.81) and Dalilah Muhammad (53.91) looked great ahead of one of the most anticipated finals of the championships. But it was the end of the road for Jessica Turner, who finished seventh in 55.87 in McLaughlin’s race, and Meghan Beesley, who was eighth in world record-holder Muhammad’s semi in 56.89. “I just had no zip in my legs,” said Beesley.

Meghan Beesley tells @Jason_AW she just didn’t have any zip in her legs as she exited the 400m hurdles semis in Doha. #WorldAthleticsChampionships pic.twitter.com/qQBokvhSRm

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

Briton produces personal bests to put herself in pole position ahead of Nafissatou Thiam, while Damian Warner leads the way in decathlon

Katarina Johnson-Thompson made a flying to start to her world championships heptathlon campaign, finishing day one in charge with a 96-point lead over defending champion and chief rival Nafissatou Thiam thanks to a range of impressive performances over the opening four events.

The Briton produced big personal bests in the 100m hurdles and the shot put, a championship high jump best and clocked a season’s best 200m on her way to a total of 4138 points, with Thiam sitting on 4042 and American Kendell Williams adrift in third on 3855 with three events to go.

The Commonwealth champion clearly surprised herself in the day’s first event, wearing a look of almost disbelief when taking two tenths of a second from her PB in clocking 13.09 (+0.6 m/sec) in heat two of the 100m hurdles, the same race in which Thiam clocked a season’s best 13.36.

Williams wrote her name into the history books by running 12.58 (0.4), the fastest ever time recorded for 100m hurdles in the world championships heptathlon.

When it came to the high jump, Johnson-Thompson and Thiam could barely have been more evenly matched. Both entered the competition at 1.83m and made virtually identical progress. When they reached 1.95m, Johnson-Thompson went over at the first time of asking, while Thiam needed a second attempt.

When the Olympic champion failed at each of her efforts at clearing 1.98m, it left the door slightly ajar for her opponent, though Johnson-Thompson was ultimately unable to land a successful jump at the height either.

It was in the shot, however, where a big move was made. The throws is usually the major difference between the two but Johnson-Thompson has closed the gap.

Thiam threw furthest of all the competitors with a best of 15.22m, but that was some way short of her 15.52m PB, while Johnson-Thompson picked the perfect time to destroy her personal best.

She was hardly enthused by her first two efforts of 12.33m and then 12.38m but a third-round 13.86m consigned her 13.15m to history and meant she topped Group B.

Thiam rounded off her day by opening the 200m with a time of 24.60 which won heat one but was below her best of 24.37.

Johnson-Thompson is the quickest in the field with a personal best of 22.79 and she clocked a season’s best of 23.08 for the fastest time of the night.

4138 is 104 points up on her personal best score at this stage, while it’s the fourth-best opening day score in history, one point better than Thiam’s best ever day one tally.

“I am really happy about my season bests and my performance today,” said the world indoor pentathlon champion. “I never think of these things like where I am after the first day. I know I am in a good shape, I am where I needed to be and the way I competed.

“Gold – why not? I am in shape and position to do it but you never know what can happen on day two. But I have worked hard on my second day, so anything is possible.”

.@JohnsonThompson on her shot put PB: "I've never seen a below 14m throw celebrated so much by my team & me!" Had it been coming in training? "No! I'm not going to lie. But my training parter Kevin is a third-round specialist, so maybe it's an element of that in training." pic.twitter.com/vrtorWp1KF

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

Warner leads the way after decathlon day one

Damian Warner leads the decathlon at the end of day one from fellow Canadian Pierce LePage, with world record-holder Kevin Mayer of France in third.

Warner, the Gotzis champion this year and winner of two world championship minor medals in the past, scored 4513 points in the opening five events with Commonwealth silver medallist LePage scoring 4486 and Mayer close behind on 4483 and Lindon Victor of Grenada on 4474.

Warner was quickest in the opening event, the 100m, with 10.35 but Mayer was not far back with 10.50. The best long jump was achieved by LePage with 7.79m as Warner leapt 7.67m and Mayer 7.56m.

The shot was a great event for the world record-holder, though, as he threw 16.82m for the best mark of the competition as Warner threw 15.17m and LaPage only 13.21m.

Maicel Uibo of Estonia made good points in the high jump as he leapt 2.17m – the best mark in the competition by 6cm. Behind, Warner jumped 2.02m and Mayer a season’s best of 1.99m although the Frenchman was holding his knee after the contest.

Finally, in the last event of day one, LePage ran the fastest 400m time with a 47.35 PB as Warner clocked 48.12 and Mayer ran 48.99.

There was bad news for Britain’s sole representative, as Tim Duckworth was forced to pull out on the day of the competition due to an injury warming up.

“I am absolutely gutted to have withdrawn myself from my first World Championship decathlon,” said Duckworth, who was hoping to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this week. “It was not an easy decision but I did not want to start the competition and not be able to finish.”

Briton lives up to her billing as favourite by winning an historic gold medal in Doha

This will surely be the first of many. Dina Asher-Smith might have to get used to this feeling.

The 23-year-old was carrying a great weight of expectation on her young shoulders in Doha but she promptly met them by commandingly sprinting across the 200m finish line comfortably clear of everyone else and winning the first global title of her career.

Yes, there were high-profile absentees – a variety of reasons meaning that Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers did not line up in the final – but there was still a hugely difficult job to be done and it was done in some style.

As with so many champions, it was not just what Asher-Smith achieved but the manner in which she achieved it that was so impressive. Her response to the half-lap pressure was to run faster than she has ever run before, lowering her own British record by 0.01 to clinch victory in 21.88 (0.9 m/sec) and becoming the country’s first ever senior female world sprint champion.

World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith reflects on her historic performance in Doha this evening #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/5knzA3HL7k

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

The race looked to have been won by the time Sunday’s 100m silver medallist reached the bend and it was America’s Brittany Brown who got closest, running a personal best 22.22 for second, while Swiss Mujinga Kambundji took bronze in 22.51.

Not long after her ascension to the world 200m throne had been completed – Asher-Smith was the only sprinter of these championships to make it to both the 100m and 200m finals – the realisation of her achievement began to dawn and there was an emotional embrace with her parents in the Khalifa Stadium crowd.

The new world champion dedicated her new piece of athletic jewellery, however, to another key figure in her life. It was coach John Blackie who identified something special when he first met a then energetic eight-year-old at Blackheath & Bromley.

“Even when I was little and trying to jump over hurdles and do the long jump he said ‘please watch yourself’. He said we can do some special things,” said Asher-Smith. “When I was eight, nine, 10 I didn’t see what I saw. He’s been careful with my progression to hold me back. This medal is dedicated to his patient intelligence and wisdom since.”

What would that young girl who first stepped on to athletics track make of her achievements and the journey she has been on?

“I think she wouldn’t believe me,” added the triple European champion who will also feature in the 4x100m relay later this week. “I said earlier that weirdly I use my younger self as reference. When I was in the warm-up area I thought back to my first champs in Moscow in 2013 and being literally so scared, holding the relay baton and being so sweaty that I thought it would fall out. I’m never going to be that unprepared and nervous. My young self would not believe me at all.”

What would the young Dina Asher-Smith who first went along to an athletics club make of today? AW’s @euancrumley asks the world 200m champion. #WorldAthleticsChampionships pic.twitter.com/0bUiAUfkb5

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) October 2, 2019

There was still a sense that the current day Dina was having to pinch herself a little, too.

“I don’t think it’s properly sunk in,” she added. “It’s something that, since the last World Championships, John and I knew that I could do it but it’s a different thing actually going and doing it – it means so much.

“I know I was tired and woke up today knowing this was the last individual chance and this was the moment I did all my work for. This is what we knew we could achieve if the season went well and the tiredness just disappeared when I needed it to.

“There’s so many British fans here and I know lots of Brits live in Doha but lots have travelled and for my mum to be here, my dad, John and his wife and my physios it means so much. Normally I’m quite chatty and full of energy but it’s one thing with everyone saying you’re the favourite but it’s a different thing going and doing it.

“You’re only the favourite if you go out and perform how people expect you to and I was really focused on putting together a good race. I dreamt of this but now it’s real.

“It means a lot and I’m really happy but I’m going to enjoy this one and use it as motivation going into the big one (Tokyo Olympics) next year.”

200m FINAL STATS
Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) 21.88 NR       0.138
Brittany Brown (USA) 22.22 PB 0.228
Mujinga Kambundji (SWI) 22.51    0.150
Anglerne Annelus (USA) 22.59      0.199
Dezerea Bryant (USA) 22.63          0.163
Gina Bass (GAM) 22.71             0.162
Ivet Lalova-Colli0 (BUL) 22.77    0.160
Tynia Gaither (BAH) 22.90  0.152