As the World Athletics Championships enters its final day, Jamaica’s champions have thrown themselves strongly into the fight for the top of the medal table after drawing level on gold medals, six apiece, though Kenya leads on silver, with more than one event remaining in which Jamaica could still claim gold to take the top spot at the current World Championships. The United States sits third with five gold, five silver and six bronze, Britain fourth with five medals including four gold, and Poland fifth with three medals.
Jamaican hurricane sweeps the 4x100m relay
Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team claimed the country’s sixth gold medal of the World Athletics Championships, with Jamaican hurricane Usain Bolt shining as usual in crowning his teammates’ efforts by finishing the race at tremendous speed, drawing the admiration of the huge crowd that packed the Bird’s Nest Stadium on the second-to-last day of the championships.
The Jamaican team, led by Bolt, set the best World Championships mark in the relay, 37.36 seconds, claiming the country’s third gold of the championships from six in total, putting them second in the medal table. China’s team took silver in 38.01 seconds, benefiting from the organising committee’s disqualification of the American team, led by Justin Gatlin, for a baton-changing error in the third leg, while Canada took bronze in 38.13 seconds.
Bolt had earlier been preceded by Jamaica’s women, led by the fastest woman Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who claimed the 4x100m relay gold, setting a new World Championships record of 41.07 seconds.
Kuchina embraces gold, Blanka returns with silver
Russian high jump star Mariya Kuchina returned to form after a long absence through injury, delivering her country the gold medal after clearing 2.01m, while Croatia’s Blanka Vlašić took silver at the same height, though the countback on attempts favoured the Russian, with her compatriot Anna Chicherova taking bronze.
Britain’s Farah takes on the Kenyans and delivers his country’s second gold
Britain’s Mo Farah once again embraced gold at the World Athletics Championships, crowning himself with gold in the 5000m and repeating his success against the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners in the race. Having already claimed 10,000m gold, Farah went on to take the throne over the middle distances with his second individual gold of the championships, covering the distance in 13:50.38, while Caleb Ndiku took silver in 13:50.75, and Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze in 13:51.86.
With this result, Farah joins the list of champions who have won more than one medal at the World Championships, headed by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt, who has claimed three gold medals at the championships, alongside his compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has won two golds, and the Netherlands’ Schippers, who has claimed gold and silver.
Arabs look to gold at the World Championships
The Arabs are hoping for two colored medals today as the World Athletics Championships draws to a close, with Qatar’s champion Mutaz Essa Barshim flying the Arab flag in the challenge, seeking gold in the high jump, alongside Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi, who qualified for the 1500m final and holds the Olympic gold medal from London 2012.
It is worth noting that the Arabs’ medal haul so far stands at just two medals, through Egypt’s Ihab Abdelrahman, who took silver in the javelin, and Tunisia’s Habiba Ghribi, who won the same colour in the 3000m steeplechase.
