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American triple jumper Christian Taylor recovered from two fouls to clinch his fourth title at the World Championships, edging his teammate and long-time rival Will Claye. Taylor committed fouls on his first two attempts and came under pressure early to remain in contention for a spot on the podium. But a jump of 17.42 metres on his third attempt was enough to keep him alive and win the title with 17.92m on his fifth attempt. Claye won silver with a jump of 17.74m. It was the fourth time the pair, who both competed for the University of Florida, held the top two spots at major championships. Hughes Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso clinched bronze with a jump of 17.66m. agencies
Annu Rani enters javelin final
Top Indian woman javelin thrower Annu Rani qualified for the final round by smashing her own national record. The 27-year-old registered a throw of 62.43m, bettering her record of 62.34m. In the process, she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the women’s javelin throw in the World Championships. Annu finished third in Group A and qualified for the finals as the fifth best performer. Only two athletes crossed the automatic qualification mark of 63.50m.
Indian 4x400m mixed relay team finishes 7th
The Indian 4x400m mixed relay team finished seventh in the final with a season’s best effort. The team of Muhammed Anas, VK Vismaya, Jisna Mathew and Tom Nirmal Noah clocked 3 minutes, 15.77 seconds to finish seventh in the field of eight countries. It was a tad slower than the 3:15.71 clocked by the Indian team while winning gold in the Asian Games last year. The US took the gold in world record timing of 3:09.34. Jamaica (3:11.78) and Bahrain (3:11.82) secured silver and bronze, respectively.
Gold is gold
Russian pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova said her victory on Sunday had not been overshadowed by the absence of her country’s flag and the scandal surrounding its athletics federation. The 28-year-old Russian pipped Sandi Morris by vaulting 4.95 metres with her third and final attempt, leaving the American with a silver medal for her third successive major championship after clearing 4.90. Greek Ekaterini Stefanidi, the title-holder and Olympics champion, finished with the bronze. Sidorova said she felt slightly uncomfortable seeing the silver and bronze medallists celebrate with their flags but was too caught up in her own emotions to be bothered. “All that is not too comfortable but I was so happy,” she said. “I was just so happy that I didn’t really think about it... Gold is gold.”
Organisers blame late starts, working week for empty stadium
The embarrassingly low attendance was blamed on late start times and a blockade of the country by other nations in the region by the event’s organisers. Athletes, pundits and global TV audiences have widely criticised the poor turnout at the Khalifa Stadium over the first three days of competition. The 48,000-capacity venue was barely half full for the men’s 100 metres final on Saturday. But on Sunday, when the women’s 100 metres headlined the action, it was almost completely empty. The local organising committee said in a statement that attendances on Friday and Saturday were “solid” but were “down on our expectations” on Sunday, which they said “coincided with the start of the working week.
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