Friday evening ended in a fishtail for the American public present at Hayward Field. The US men’s 4×100 m relay, composed in particular of Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, had to settle for the silver medal (37”55) behind Canada (37”48) of André de Grasse, the Great Britain (37”83) completing the podium.
The French team, which had been attractive in the semi-finals by winning its race, fell back into its trap with a bad handover between the first two torchbearers, Meba-Mickaël Zeze and Pablo Mateo. After taking eighth and last place in 38”34, the tricolor relay was logically disqualified.
Without the slightest podium in the individual sprint during these Worlds, a first in the history of the competition, the American athletes reacted in a good way by winning the 4x100m final on Saturday in front of the great Jamaican favorites. The shock trio Thompson-Herah, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson was not enough against the enthusiasm of the locals, pushed loudly by the crowd of Hayward Field. Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry therefore offered gold to their country in 41”14.
Jamaica, despite a very good Shericka Jackson in last position, fails in second place (41”18) and Germany takes its first medal of the Worlds with bronze (42”03).
The Americans won the 4x100m in 41”14. (F. Faugère/The Team)
Korir still gold in 800m
After his seventh place at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Gabriel Tual gained a place by finishing sixth in the 800m final of the World Championships in Eugene. The half-founder from Talence (Gironde) played his card thoroughly but got stuck 200 m from the finish. He finished in 1’45”49 in a final won by Kenyan Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir in 1’43″71. Algerian Djamel Sedjati took silver with 1’44″14 and Canadian Marco Arop is 3rd in 1’44″28.
Pichardo reaps
Pedro Pichardo was quick to knock out the triple jump final. By landing at 17.95 m (+ 0.3 m/s) on his first try, the Portuguese had taken a huge step towards the gold medal, a year after that won at the Tokyo Olympics. No opponent has managed to do better, and it is with this best world performance of the year that Pichardo climbs to the top step of the podium, followed by Burkinabé Hugues-Fabrice Zango (17.55m; +1 .4 m/s) and China’s Yaming Zhu (17.31 m: -0.8 m/s).
The only qualified Frenchman, Jean-Marc Pontvianne had a very difficult competition since he bit five of his six attempts. The only measured, at 16.86 m (-0.7 m / s), earned him 8th place.
Tsegay crowned in 5,000m, Hassan still without a podium
Second in the 1,500m on Monday, Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay won the 5,000m on Friday. In a race that started at a very slow pace, the Ethiopians took matters into their own hands after a little discussion at the head of the race between Tsegay, the 10,000m world champion Letesenbet Gidey and Dawit Seyaum. The pace was finally picking up and there were only a handful of them fighting for the win in the last lap, plus the two Kenyans Beatrice Chebet and Margaret Kipkemboi, not forgetting the Dutch Olympic champion Sifan Hassan.
Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay won the 5,000m. (F. Faugère/The Team)
The latter, set back this season, attacked 200 m from the line by sneaking into the rope. Indoor world champion in the 1,500m this winter, Tsegay fought back to win after a controlled straight line in 14’46”29, ahead of Chebet (14’46”75) and Seyaum (14’47 ”36).
Fifth, Gidey was welcomed, once the line was crossed, by a supporter who managed to enter the track with a flag of Tigray (autonomous province of Ethiopia), where she is from. Other spectators also showed their support for Tigray in the hallways of the stadium. Already off the podium in the 10,000m, Hassan ranks sixth in 14’48”12.
Grenadian world champion Anderson Peters retained his javelin title with a throw of 90.54m ahead of Indian Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra (88.13m) and Czech Jakub Vadlejch (88.09m).
Warner retires, Mayer 6th
A dramatic change in the 400m decathlon, the last event of the first day, with the injury of Olympic champion Damian Warner. The Canadian, hit in the left thigh, was then in the lead in the general classification. Olympic vice-champion Kevin Mayer is in 6th position with 4372 points (32 points better than in Tokyo last year).
The Frenchman started his day well with 10”62 (0.8 m/s) in the 100 m, 7.54 m (+1.1 m/s) in the length before an air hole in weight (14 .98m). He recovered with 2.05m and completed his first 400m in a year in 49″40, which he found satisfactory. Puerto Rican Ayden Owens-Delerme, with an excellent 45″07 in the last race of the day, takes the lead with 4606 points.
The two French relays in the 4x400m final
The two French 4x400m relays have qualified for the finals which will take place on Sunday, and their joy must contrast with the Dutch disappointment. Indeed, the French (Sokhna Lacoste, Shana Grebo, Sounkamba Sylla and Amandine Brossier) had finished 4th in their semi-final at first in 3’28”89 behind the United States (with A Felix), the Grande -Britain and the Netherlands. But they benefited from the Batavian disqualification (stick dropped) to move up a rank and be automatically qualified. However, they would have faded anyway.
The men’s relay (Thomas Jordier, Loïc Prévot, Simon Boypa (replacing Ludovic Ouceni initially planned but victim of hamstring discomfort) and Téo Andant) is also in the final, qualified on time after his 4th place in the semi-final in 3’03”13, for a hundredth ahead of the Netherlands, fifth in the other semi-final in 3’03”14.
The French, here Loïc Prévot and Simon Boypa, qualified for the 4x400m final. (F. Faugère/The Team)
The Misadventures of Zagré
The heats of the 100 m hurdles had taken place in the morning in Eugene. Belgian Anne Zagré, 5th in 13”25 of her race, was hampered by the fall of American Nia Ali. After two calls from her Federation, she was allowed to run again in the afternoon, alone, and had to do 13”12 or less to advance to the semi-finals. She was very close to winning her bet but stumbled on the last hurdle, crossing the line on the ground in 14”09. Terrible image that moved Hayward Field. “I was fine, I was rushing to go fast to the line and I forget to pass that last hurdle correctly, she lamented. Running alone was pretty cool…but it wasn’t my day. I will remember these Worlds! »