Would Sifan Hassan begin her quest for triple gold with success? Would we have a shock in the men's 1500m heats?
Day 1: The Evening Session
Men’s 1500m Heats
First out on the track for the evening session came the men’s 1500m. With current champion Jake Wightman sidelined by injury, eyes were fixed on Jakob Ingebrigsten. In a pretty stacked first heat which featured Kerr, Kipkorir and Mechaal, being in the top 6 is the priority with the new qualification rules. No more time qualifiers. In the final 200, a group of 6 broke free and qualification was secured for the semi finals. The only incident came in a fall featuring Danielsson, Elmer and Ramsden. However, due to the fall, all were advanced to the semi finals.
Qualifying from heat 1:
Jakob Ingebrigsten 3:33.94
Josh Kerr 3:34.00
Reynold Kipkorir 3:34.24
Adel Mechaal 3:34.35
Isaac Nader 3:34.36
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot 3:34.60
Matthew Ramsden qR
Tom Elmer qR
Emil Danielsson qR
Heat 2
Heat 2 saw former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot line up alongside Neil Gourley, Spain’s Mario Garcia and Samuel Tanner of New Zealand. A very tactical race started to unfold with Gourley taking control and slowing the pace greatly. With two laps to go, Cheruiyot decided to lift the pace and hit the front. This brought the race to life with the top 6 on the line. A wall of runners reached the line after a messy final lap with only 0.25 of a second separating the top 6. A physical finish saw Garcia take the win with Tshite taking second and Gourley forcing his way through for third in the second race of the evening session.
Qualifying from heat 2:
Mario Garcia 3:46.77
Tshepo Tshite 3:46.79
Neil Gourley 3:46.87
Samuel Tanner 3:46.93
Ruben Verheyden 3:47.02
Timothy Cheruiyot 3:47.09
Heat 3
The third heat saw Katir enter as favourite in a race which also featured France’s Azzedine Habz alongside American hope Cole Hocker. Dark horses in the field were Norwegian Gjert Ingebrigsten protege Narve Nordas and Niels Laros, the talented 18 year old from The Netherlands. At the bell, Katir lead Laros as the pace rose. 6 men broke away leaving the field no chance to close the gap in the last 200m. A rapidly slowing Katir allowed Laros to take the win in the heat with Cole Hocker using his powerful kick to take third.
Qualifying from heat 3:
Niels Laros 3:34.25
Mohammed Katir 3:34.34
Cole Hocker 3:34.43
Pietro Arese 3:34.48
Narve Nordas 3:34.67
Azzedine Habz 3:35.16
Heat 4
The final heat of the evening session saw the talented American Yared Nuguse coming in with the quickest PB. Alongside him Kenya’s Abel Kipsang, Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran, Team GB’s Elliot Giles and the perennial Polish challenger Michal Rozmys looked to be the top choices for the semis.
Fourteen began, six would continue. Kipsang led to the bell at a decent pace, into the last 200, Kipsang continued to lead from a fast kicking Spencer and Nuguse, Giles and Coscoran also made it through. Taking fourth, and setting a season’s best, Luxembourgish Charles Grethen finished in 3:34.32.
Qualifying from heat 4:
Abel Kipsang 3:34.08
Yared Nuguse 3:34.16
Adam Spencer 3:34.17
Charles Grethen 3:34.32 (SB)
Elliot Giles 3:34.63
Andrew Coscoran 3:34.75
Men’s 100m
The fastest men in the world took to the track to thrill the crowd with the Americans Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley promising world records, Zharnel Hughes entering the fray in the evening session as the fastest man in the world this year. Kenya’s Ferdinand Omenyala looking dangerous.
This also gave us our first look at the Q Room. A new addition to this year’s championships where we can watch the anguish of the time qualifiers awaiting their fate. As the heat’s progress, the man with the slowest time in the room is evicted to be replaced by those with faster times.
The biggest drama came in the 5th heat where Fred Kerley took to the blocks for the first time in the championships. After a long delay for a Hungarian triple jumper’s efforts causing too much crowd noise, two false starts came in quick succession. The first saw a disqualification for Favour Ashe, the Nigerian in lane 6. The second was adjudged to be a green card with no one at fault. The Jamaican, Seville, came through fastest in 9.86.
Heat 6 saw Lamont Marcel Jacob making a rare competitive appearance since his Olympics win in a time plagued by injuries. His first heat result saw him in third and given a chance in the next round.
The Women’s 10,000m
Sifan Hassan launched her quest for triple gold with 25 laps of the track only a few hours after winning her heat of the 1500m. Gold was not a foregone conclusion with the quality of the field. Letesenbet Gidey, Gudaf Tsegay and the Ethiopian contingent would be a stiff test.
From the gun, the Americans with Natosha Rogers and Elise Cranny led the field at a rather pedestrian pace, the favourites happy to sit at the back of the pack. Through the race, with the muggy evening session weather, it was not going to be a record pace but a more tactical affair. As the pack moved through 5,600m, Ngetich and Kimais from Kenya moved to the front to inject some pace into proceedings. Tsegay and Gidey responded to the Kenyan move but Hassan was happy to remain at the back of the pack. Was she shot or was she biding her time?
The Race Heats Up
Through 7,000m, the Kenyans and Ethiopians took a hold of the race. The two packs working together to put the hammer down and run the kick out of the field. Hassan remained in contact with the pack without showing much interest in heading to the front although she was shadowing the moved of the front runners.
Into the last mile, the lead pack dwindled to the Kenyans, Ethiopians along with Warner-Judd, Monson and Hassan. Into the last 800m, nobody wanted to make a move. Gidey started to stretch the pack a little. Would it come down to a 400m blast?
The Bell Brings The Race Alive
The bell saw the race come alive, Hassan, Gidey and Tsegay sprinting from 200. Hassan looked strong, Tsegay alongside her. Hassan stumbled and fell with about 50m to go.
From first, so close to the start of something glorious, to the ground and hopes of the treble extinguished in the blink of an eye. A push? A stumble? We will see if the appeal comes in.
Tsegay powered on to take the win, Gidey brought home the silver while Ejgayehu Taye completed the sweep for Ethiopia. Not quite the race for the ages which was hoped for but a moment of high drama to crown the evening session of day 1.
Final Results:
Gudaf Tsegay 31:27.18
Letesenbet Gidey 31:28.16 (SB)
Ejgayehu Taye 31:28.31
4 x 400 Mixed Relay
The final track event of the evening. Could it top the drama of the last 50m of the 10,000m? A strong American team who had run a world lead time of 3:12.12 in the heats looked to be favourites. Team GB came into the final as the second fastest team from the heats having set a national record. France, who also set a national record in the heats also had hopes for a medal.
Clean out of the blocks, the USA, GB, Netherlands and Belgium exchanged at the same time. Klaver took the Dutch to the front with Eftong keeping the USA in second. Boling took the USA into first with the final hand off coming. The Dutch handing to Femke Bol with high hopes of victory.
Alexis Holmes came charging, 10m from the line, another Dutch stumble. Bol hit the tartan and gold slipped from her grasp as the baton hit the floor. 3:08.80 a world record victory from Team USA. Silver handed to Team GB in 3:11.06 (NR) and bronze from the Czechs in 3:11.98. Hopefully, the crash from Bol hasn’t left her with injuries which preclude her from more fantastic performances in these championships.
Drama to end the evening! What else will we see this week?
