There can be no better description of “delivering when it matters the most” than seeing America’s Tianna Bartoletta leap to a world title in the women’s Long Jump at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
Bartoletta left it late to snatch GOLD from Shara Proctor who looked like she had the medal in the bag, but it was the former champion who emerged victorious to claim her second world title. The American did a World Leading mark of 7.14m in her sixth attempt, producing a spectacular jump to win.
Bartoletta who won this event in 2005 when she still bore her maiden name, Madison, will be delighted to have won the World title again, especially as she had to focus on the Long Jump this year more than the sprints.
Great Britain’s Shara Proctor led from her third jump of 7.07m, a new National Record (NR), and going past 7m again in her fourth attempt with 7.01m, looking like she had secured the win, but she had to settle for Silver after committing two fouls and failing to match Bartoletta’s effort.
Ivana Španović also set an NR, leaping 7.01m to secure the Bronze, making sure she secured a place on the podium just as she did in 2013 where she placed 3rd in Moscow.
This is the first time in the women’s Long Jump history since 1991 that all three medallists all crossed 7m.
Meanwhile in the men’s High Jump, defending champion Bohdan Bondarenko easily qualified for the final, as was his rival Mutaz Essa Barshim who placed 2nd in group A. Just like Bondarenko, Barshim failed one of his two attempts at 2.29m, but they easily cleared 2.31 and qualified.
China’s Zhang Gouwei, was one of only two athletes to clear all five bars without failing, the other being Canada’s Derek Drouin, and they will both be in contention for a medal in the final.
Germany’s Christin Hussong threw the furthest in the women’s Javelin to qualify for the final with 65.92, her new Personal Best. Olympic champion Barbora Špotáková also qualified with 65.02.
In the women’s 20 Kilometres Race walk, China made it a one-two finish as they claimed their first GOLD of the Championships. Hong Liu won with a time of 1:27:45, crossing the line the same time as her compatriot Xiuzhi Lu who won the Silver. Lyudmyla Olyanovska will go back to Ukraine a heroine, as she became the first athlete to medal for her country in this sport with her Bronze in 1:28:13
Track events:
The highlight of the day no doubt belonged to Dutch athlete, Dafne Schippers who ran a blistering 21.63s to win the women’s 200m GOLD. Schippers who won Silver in the women’s 100m on Monday, stormed back in the last 30m to finish strongly and pip Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson.
Also the men’s 110m and the women’s 100m hurdles provided some thrilling contests. Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov came from a losing position to win GOLD in the men’s 110m Hurdles, dipping in on the line in a time of 12.98s and running a National Record(NR).
Just as she did in the semis, Danielle Williams stormed to victory in the women’s 100m Hurdles to win GOLD in a PB of 12.57s.
If you’re looking for how to execute a task without breaking much sweat, then you need to see the way Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop won his 1500m semi-final in 3:43.48.
Another impressive performance of the night was that of Ashton Eaton, who ran 45.00s in the 400m of his Decathlon event. In fact it was a Decathlon World Record (DWR) the best ever.
Day 7 ended with the bar raised further, and with the relays coming up on Day 8, there could be more breathtaking performances in the offing.
