Hassan fall hands Tsegay gold; no stopping Crouser

Sifan Hassan’s quest for a trio of world titles went up in smoke on Saturday as she fell within sight of the finish line in Budapest to hand Ethiopian rival Gudaf Tsegay victory in the 10,000m. What had been a generally sedate race at the National Athletics Centre culminated in a sensational finish.
At the bell for the final 400 metres, Hassan made her move, going wide to reel in the front runners and take the lead with 200m remaining. Tsegay and defending champion Letesenbet Gidey stuck with her into the final straight, the raucous crowd getting to their feet as Tsegay and Hassan broke away. A grimacing Hassan, eyes fixed on the big screen at the end of the track, drifted wide from her inside lane in a bid to put off Tsegay, twice hitting the Ethiopian in the chest with her elbow. Tsegay, however, rode the attempted obstruction and it quickly became apparent that it was in fact Hassan who had overcooked her desperate attempt to reach the line first.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner lost her footing and dramatically stumbled to the track amid gasps of disbelief. As Hassan writhed on the track, Gidey and third Ethiopian, Ejgayehu Taye, roared past her to seal a clean sweep for the east African distance running powerhouse.
Tsegay, who won in 31min 27.18sec, was quick to cross back over the finish line to embrace Hassan, consoling her and helping her walk back. “I am keeping my smile but it is really hard. I am very disappointed,” said Hassan. “This is sport, these things happen. I just had a bad moment. I felt really strong and tried to push in the last lap. I think I got pushed by the Ethiopian. I hope I am not crazy. I will need to look at the replay to see what exactly happened. I do not think I am injured. My hand is OK but the knee needs to be checked. Hopefully, all is good.”
Tsegay said she had been “ready for a very fast finish because I was not focused on time today, but only on the gold medal”. “I expected Hassan’s speeding up and I just waited for this moment, being ready to respond for her moving. When Sifan tried to cross my line not far from the finish, I even did not pay attention to that. It happens often at different competitions because every one of us always fights for leading position.”
The fall put a quick end to Hassan’s plan for a repeat of her unprecedented triple at the Tokyo Olympics. She won gold medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m and a bronze in the 1500m in the Japanese capital. Despite a gruelling schedule, Hassan will now have to focus all her attention on the 5,000m and the 1500m, having run a heat in the latter earlier on Saturday.
The race had started in a predictable manner. Hassan and Gidey were happy to bide their time at the back of the pack as a slow pace marked the first half of the 25-lap race. The pace increased through to the final 10 laps, with Tsegay taking up the lead and the pack breaking up.
Hassan, tucked back in 12th place, stuck with the pace as Gidey and Taye went through a series of surges to further thin the field out. Team tactics showed as the three Kenyans also came together, with the field packed with fast finishers. The pack was reduced to 10 as Taye led with four laps to run, Hassan eventually making her move towards one of the most dramatic endings in world championship history.
Crouser retains shot title despite blood clot scare
Ryan Crouser retained his shot put world title despite being affected by blood clots in a lower leg taking gold in style with a championship record throw of 23.51 metres. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe had singled out the shot as the event to savour at the championships and Crouser did not let him down, producing a totally dominant performance.
Crouser donned his trademark stetson hat after celebrating his victory. “It’s been a terrible preparation, the last 20 days have been very tough,” he said, though sporting a beaming smile. The 30-year-old American, the two-time Olympic champion and world record holder, set the pace from the first throw and turned the screw on his rivals with a then-championship record effort of 22.98 metres in the second round.
An almighty battle took place for the minor medals with places swapping on a regular basis. Two-time world champion Joe Kovacs at one point slipped to seventh but then moved back to bronze with a mighty effort of 22.12m in the penultimate round. The surprise package was Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri who took silver with a personal best of 22.34m.
His performance meant no medal for New Zealand’s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh, who had to make do with fourth with a best effort of 22.05.
US win mixed relay with world record as Bol falls
In last night’s final event, the United States won a dramatic gold with a world record in the mixed 4x400 metres relay as Femke Bol fell five metres from the line just as it looked as if she was going to bring the Netherlands home for gold.
The Dutch ran a brilliant race but US anchor Alexis Holmes refused to let Bol escape and was within inches of her before Bol crashed to the track, dropping the baton. The winning time of 3:08.80 broke the Americans’ own world record set in the first running of the event in 2019. Britain took the silver in 3:11.06 and the Czech Republic bronze in 3:11.98 – both national records.
Spanish walker Martin wins first gold of Budapest Worlds
Spain’s Alvaro Martin won the men’s 20km race walk to claim the first gold of the World Athletics Championships. The two-time European champion clocked 1hr 17min 32sec for the victory on the streets of the Hungarian capital in a fast race that saw five of the first six finishers break national records.
“I was fourth at the last Olympic Games, I missed the bronze which motivated me to work hard,” Martin said. “In Tokyo, I felt when I was in the fourth position that I could win a medal. Unfortunately, it did not happen and that is why this gold medal is next step towards the next Olympic Games” in Paris next year. The race walk was delayed for two hours because of a heavy storm and the opening day’s action at the National Athletics Centre was put back an hour.