Warholm ‘turns on turbos’ to win third world 400m hurdles title

Norway’s Karsten Warholm extended his dominance in the men’s 400m hurdles by digging deep to win his third world title on Wednesday.

Olympic champion Warholm clocked 46.89sec for gold in the Hungarian capital, with Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands taking silver in 47.34sec.

American Rai Benjamin claimed bronze in 47.56sec as defending world champion Alison Dos Santos of Brazil hit the third-last hurdle and saw his chances of a podium place evaporate, finishing fifth.

Warholm had won world golds in London in 2017 and Doha in 2019 but after returning prematurely from injury could only finish seventh in Eugene last year.

“I feel like the gold medal is back where it belongs,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling.

“It was the perfect run for me. I was able to keep my form in the first 250m and I know that the guys were running their asses off and would be very tired.

“It was just left for me to turn on the turbos over the last 100m and the race was mine.”

Warholm said there had been an air of predictability to the race.

“They went out super hard but I knew they were going to get it tough in the end. I knew I would have the most left on the home stretch,” said the 27-year-old, fresh from clocking a Diamond League record in Monaco last month.

Warholm, who set the remarkable world record of 45.94sec in winning Olympic gold in Tokyo two years ago, started in his favoured lane seven, outside Benjamin. McMaster was drawn in lane eight and Dos Santos in nine.

With such heavy-duty traffic around him, Warholm was unable to break clear of the field, as he often does against lesser competitors.

Indeed, at one stage it looked like Benjamin was gaining on Warholm, the pair going over the seventh of the 10 hurdles stride for stride.

Dos Santos rattled that hurdle and the final one to effectively end his medal hopes and then Warholm dug deep.

Face grimacing and every tendon screaming, Warholm produced a massive effort to go a metre clear as the field entered the home strait.

‘Extra special’ gold 

In what was arguably one of his ugliest displays of hurdling, the Norwegian clawed his way to the line to ensure a third world gold.

“Every gold medal means a lot to me but this one is a bit extra special because I lost it last year,” he said.

“I had an injury and a tough season. So it’s a good little comeback story. I learned a lot from that too.

“I love racing, I put everything in my life into this and having an injury is tough but it also motivated me to come back and get the gold back again.

“It feels a bit sweeter this year. You have to fight and I have a fighting spirit in these moments. It gets the best out of me. I’m still hungry for more and more.”

As Benjamin began to tire, McMaster came through for a memorable silver.

“I fulfilled a part of my dream tonight,” said McMaster.

“First thing was to get a medal, second step was to take three of the big three (rivals), I got two today so Warholm is still the existing target. But he knows that!”

Benjamin was dumbfounded by his demise.

“Fitness is there, I just do not know what happened in today’s race. I am very satisfied with the first half of the race,” the American said.

“I just cannot put the pieces together in the last half of the race. I just did not have it.”

Deja vu for Ingebrigtsen as Kerr takes world 1500m gold

Britain’s Josh Kerr produced a stunning sprint to the line to claim gold and inflict world championship defeat on Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s 1500m at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday.

Kerr, who won Olympic bronze in Tokyo when Ingebrigtsen claimed gold, turned on the afterburners down the home straight in Budapest to hold off the Norwegian and win in 3min 29.38sec.

It was deja vu for Ingebrigtsen who had to settle for silver, just as he did at the world championships in Eugene last year when he was beaten by another Briton, Jake Wightman, in a similar close finish.

Another Norwegian, Narve Gilje Nordas, took the bronze medal in 3:29.68, three hundredths of a second behind Ingebrigtsen.

“It is quite an overwhelming experience,” Kerr, who hails from the same Edinburgh club as Wightman, told the BBC.

“I am so proud of myself, I am so proud of my team and my family.

“I just threw my whole last 16 years into the sport at that last 200 metres and didn’t give up until the end.”

Kerr added: “I just did what I always do, throw everything I have at it and see if it breaks my way.

“As I came around the bend I thought I have to give everything I have.

“In the last 30 metres, I thought I want this so badly, I don’t care how much pain I’m in, I’m going to do everything to get to the finish line first.”

Ingebrigtsen, the dominant male performer over 1500m this season, was magnanimous in defeat.

“All credit to Kerr, he had a good race but I feel a little bit unlucky not being able to do what I have been doing the whole season, especially as it is the world championships final,” the 22-year-old said.

“It is what it is, of course I am disappointed. I tried to give 100 percent but it is not easy when you are not feeling 100 percent.

“I had been on training camp for three, almost four months, with minimal social life and contact with the rest of the world but in the warm-up today and in the semi-final I was a little bit dry in my throat.

“It got worse last two days and then a little bit better when I woke up this morning.”

He said he would definitely also run in the 5,000m “but I do not know how will it go”.

Kerr’s kick 

Abel Kipsang took up the early lead at an unforgiving pace and Ingebrigtsen settled on the Kenyan’s shoulder.

The Norwegian moved smoothly to the front at the 500m mark and turned the screw with a kilometre still to run.

He took the pack through the bell in front but Kerr moved swiftly into second and then kicked with 200 metres to run.

Ingebrigtsen kicked back and the pair were neck-and-neck as they entered the home straight.

A raucous near-capacity crowd in the Hungarian capital were on their feet as the pair closed on the finish line.

Ingebrigtsen had come into the final in imperious form, having improved his European record to 3:27.95 in the Oslo Diamond League in June and then to 3:27.14 in Chorzow last month.

Kerr, however, proved the stronger finisher when medals were on the line, edging ahead for gold to leave Ingebrigtsen ruing another race where he missed out on gold due to a British rival’s superior tactical nous.

Moon and Kennedy share women’s pole vault gold at world championsips

Olympic champion Katie Moon of the United States and Australian Nina Kennedy shared gold after tying in a nail-biting women’s world pole vault final in Budapest on Wednesday.

Kennedy and Moon, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo two years ago and took the 2022 world title in Eugene under her maiden name of Nageotte, both vaulted a best of 4.90m and could not be separated on countback as both had one failure at that height.

After a brief chat between the two competitors and the officials, it was decided that both would be world champions rather than having a jump-off.

The vaulters embraced, surrounded by photographers, and to roars of approval from the near-capacity crowd at the National Athletics Centre in the Hungarian capital.

The outcome echoed the men’s jump at the Tokyo Olympics when Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy were allowed to share the gold medal with the same height of 2.37m.

Moon said: “When the final started I didn’t think about sharing a gold medal would work for me but now I am completely satisfied.

“What a battle it was, oh my. When it became obvious that only Nina and I were still standing, the show had just started.

“What an amazing night, I hope everyone enjoyed that one. We did.”

An overjoyed Kennedy said: “I think a miracle happened tonight… to win a gold medal, it is just a dream come true.

“I jumped out of my skin tonight. It was super crazy. I felt like the whole stadium was watching every single jump, they were all around us tonight, it was really incredible.”

Wilma Murto of Finland claimed the bronze medal.

Harrison throws down gauntlet to 100m hurdles rivals

Kendra Harrison’s mission to at last win a global 100m hurdles title remained firmly on course on Wednesday as she coasted into the world final in Budapest.

The 30-year-old American has had to make do with an Olympic and world silver in the past, but just as she did in the heats, she posted the fastest time of the three semi-finals, 12.33sec.

Thursday’s final promises to be a thriller.

Harrison was joined by Olympic champion and her former training partner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, defending world titleholder Tobi Amusan and 2019 winner Nia Ali.

Harrison’s time was not as blistering as her opening salvo on Tuesday of 12.24sec and the former world record holder said she was disappointed with her performance as she “hit too many hurdles”.

“The main goal this season is to get the title,” said Harrison.

“I believe in myself, whatever time happens tomorrow, even a world record, I just want to win the title.”

Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas took the other automatic qualifying spot with Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper having to wait to see if she progressed as a fastest qualifier.

Amusan was only cleared to run last week over an alleged breaking of the anti-doping rules but the Nigerian came through as a semi-final winner in 12.56sec.

She was pushed all the way by young Jamaican Ackera Nugent.

Amusan, like Harrison, was not pleased with her run.

“I made it to the finals but I had a bad race,” said Amusan.

“There is a lot I have to tune up but I will be ready for tomorrow. There is a lot of cleaning around.”

However, there will be no American medal sweep as Masai Russell hit the second hurdle and from then on her dreams were over as she clattered another and eventually pulled up.

Camacho-Quinn won a loaded semi-final, coming from behind to pass Jamaica’s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, who was also overtaken on the line by Ali.

Camacho-Quinn looked impassive on the blocks but she conceded she was feeling far from calm.

“I was shaking a bit at the start,” said Camacho-Quinn.

“I was telling myself it cannot be a false start, so I hesitated coming out of the blocks.

“I need to be patient tomorrow, go out and just do what I have been preparing for. Hurdles is a mind game.”

Williams, though, went through at Tapper’s expense. 

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