BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, August 15 —
MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP: Andy Díaz Hernández couldn’t have been more ready. When Pedro Pichardo made the first jump of the day a 58-3¼ (17.76), he came up with a big response, well over the 18m line. Unfortunately, his toe went past the other line. On his second attempt, he stayed within bounds and moved to No. 4 on the all-time list with his world-leading 59-6¾ (18.15), an Italian record less than 6 inches shy of Jonathan Edwards’s 60-¼ (18.29) World Record.
Those marks held up, and the rivals took the top two medals, with Italy’s Andrea Dallavalle bronze at 57-0 (17.37).
Díaz Hernández admitted he has his eyes on Edwards’ WR that has lasted for 31 years. “It was a jump I’ve been looking for for a while, and getting close to the record is really a big achievement for me. I was in perfect condition to break the record, but I didn’t manage it, so that means we still have work to do, but we’re happy because we beat Pichardo, which means a lot to me, it was the revenge I wanted.”
MEN’S JAVELIN: “I was struggling such a lot at the beginning of the competition. I had a problem with my run-up. I wasn’t getting into my rhythm so I couldn’t throw far.” Not good omens for Julian Weber. The German threw a solid 274-7 (83.71) for the lead on his first attempt but hit a rough streak after that. In round 5, teammate Nick Thumm edged into the gold position with a PR 274-10 (83.76).
“Perfect,” is how Weber, the ’22 champion, described his response. It landed at 296-8 (90.43), breaking the meet record Britain’s Steve Backley set 28 years ago.
“I shocked myself with that last throw. I couldn’t believe it. I knew I could throw that far, I knew if I could push really hard into it, I could do that.”
WOMEN’S 400: After the blazing semis produced a bevy of sub-50 performances, the final generated just one more, but it was enough. Lurdes Gloria Manuel went out hard, leading into the final turn, but that’s where Henriette Jæger turned it on. The Norwegian blasted off the turn and left the others behind, clocking a PR 49.04 to win by an even second over Poland’s defending champion Natalia Bukowiecka (50.04). Lieke Klaver (50.15) was 3rd ahead of Manuel.
Jæger, who has been training with the Dutch team recently, added this gold to the one she earned by anchoring the mixed 4×4. “I definitely left it all on the track,” she said.
MEN’S 10,000: In a race that started quite modestly — 1:23.4 for the first of the 25 laps — few expected the 10,000 would be more than a kicker’s race, with French world champion Jimmy Gressier heavily favored on the basis of his usual finish. But Sweden’s Andreas Almgren was otherwise inclined. “I really wanted to go for it,” he said.
He took the lead with a 76.4 lap to 1200. Then it got real, with laps of 65.2, 63.3, 63.8 and so on. He passed 5000 in 14:05.7, with plenty of competitors still hanging on. By 8K he had nearly 10 seconds on Dominic Lobalu of Switzerland and Gressier. He kept pounding, stretching the lead to nearly 20 seconds by the bell.
His 27:23.44 set a meet record, beating Martti Vainio’s 27:30.99 from 1978. His last half took just 13:17.7. “There was such a good atmosphere around this whole stadium, so I thought I might as well go for it, for that record. I really needed that support, as during the last five laps, I felt like I was dying.”
Lobalu got 2nd in 27:42.67, with Gressier 3rd in 28:07.90.
HEPTATHLON: The many Irish fans in the stands were thrilled to see Kate O’Connor make another major podium with her 6751 victory. She didn’t have many points to spare as Netherlands took the other medals, Emma Oosterwegel at 6713 and Sofie Dokter at 6664. First-day leader Adrianna Sułek-Schubert ended up 7th at 6375.
The 25-year-old O’Connor broke the Irish record of 6714 that she set in winning world silver last year. Her triumph comes just 2 weeks after her Commonwealth gold. Noting she is coached by her father, she said, “A few years ago I would never have dreamt this would have happened. It’s been a long two years, there’s been a lot of medals but also the increasing pressure that comes with every competition.”
MEN’S 1500: “Crazy.” That’s what Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands called the 1500 result.
The unheralded Dutchman, winner of two Euro U23 titles in the event, stormed off the final turn to upset what had been looking like a probable British 1-2, sweeping to the finish in 3:35.70 off a 12.6 final 100 (and 26.3/53.5).
Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordås had led through laps at 58.0 and 1:58.5 before the Brits took over. Jake Hayward hit 2:55.6 at 1200 and charged with Jake Wightman down the backstretch. Yet they never shook the pack, and Nillessen led the charge that saw the other medals go to Sweden’s Samuel Pihlström (3:36.16) and Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran (3:36.24).
Said the winner, “This smile won’t go off my face for a long time. This gold medal is just insane. I even surprised myself a little with that sprint finish, to be honest.”
MEN’S 4 x 100: After leading the morning heats with a 38.29, the British made the final look easy. Indeed, it was, given the level of competition. Jeremiah Azu led off, and Louie Hinchliffe handed the long second leg, giving the team a clear lead over the Germans in 2nd. Zharnel Hughes, winner of 200 silver, ran a fine turn and handed off smoothly to 100 winner Romell Glave, who romped to gold in 38.45. Germany (38.64) and Belgium (38.70) took the other medals.
WOMEN’s 4 x 100: Italy led the heats at 42.22 but for the final, the British brought in Dina Asher-Smith on leadoff. She made a huge difference, handing off to Amy Hunt with a clear lead after the first curve. Hunt, the winner of the 100 and 200, blitzed the backstretch in what timers called a 10.10. Then Success Eduan and Imani Lansiquot finished it off, clocking 42.05 to win by over a second, much to the pleasure of the crowd. Switzerland (43.12) and Poland (43.15) got the other medals. Italy struggled to 4th in 43.21.
MEN’S HALF-MARATHON WALK: Spain’s Paul McGrath, who won the 20K bronze in Tokyo last fall, moved to the lead before 10K and held on to win in 1:23:23, an automatic meet record. Italians took the other medals, Francesco Fortunato (1:23:36) and Andrea Cosi (1:23:49). Said McGrath, “It felt very good for the first half of the race, then my hamstring felt a little stiff so I had to control that. I was a bit worried the Italians would catch me up, but I managed to stay in the lead.”
WOMEN’S HALF-MARATHON WALK: The records are still soft in the new walk distances, but it’s worth noting that Spain’s María Pérez broke the World Record of 1:31:39 (held by China’s Jiayu Yang) with her 1:30:06 that won by nearly minute over Italy’s Alexandrina Mihal (1:31:04) and Ukraine’s Lyudmila Olyanovska (1:31:07 NR). Pérez took over the lead after 7K and kept pulling away after that. She later said, “I am very happy, especially as I didn’t expect to break the World Record today. I didn’t know what the World Record was, to be honest.”
MEN’S MARATHON WALK: Massimo Stano won a close one, the Italian setting a European record 2:56:49 to beat Miguel Ángel López by 8 seconds. Already a world and Olympic champion, Stano was not happy with the Birmingham set up, with all four walks going simultaneously. “I don’t see a good future for racewalk. I don’t think it’s right to have four competitions on together. The race course is not very good. I don’t know why, but the sport is not too visible. I guess I can just only walk fast and enjoy people.”
WOMEN’S MARATHON WALK: The longer walk also got a World Record, with Sofia Fiorini of Italy destroying the competition by more than 4 minutes with her 3:15:11. That crushed the WR of 3:24:37 by Paula Milena Torres of Ecuador; the first four were under that today.
Fiorini made it an Italian sweep of the long walk golds. A fan of Massimo Stano’s, she followed his progress during the race. “I asked all the people on the course, ‘Who won, who won?’ They told me it was Massimo so I was super happy about that.”
MORNING QUALIFYING: The women’s long jump produced a pair of 7m+ jumps. Germany’s Malaika Mihambo led with a wind-aided (3.3) leap of 23-3½ (7.10). Portugal’s Agate de Souza had a legal breeze of 1.7 behind her 22-11¾ (7.00), while Larissa Iapichino had a windy 22-9¼ (6.94) in 3rd.
Georgia Hunter Bell won the first heat of the 1500 in 4:08.97, with Portugal’s Patricia Silva taking the other in 4:08.10. Most notably, Laura Muir failed to advance with her 4:09.66.
RESULTS COMING SOON.
