Packed final day at World Championships yields world records and drama

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Armand Duplantis

Sweden’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis brought the Hayward Field audience to their feet with his world-record performance in the pole vault Sunday night during the final day of competition. Duplantis improved upon his own world record with a 6.21-metre performance for the gold medal win.

The previous attempt, he started with a stiffer bar and failed in his jump. With a shrug, he went back at it for his final jump clearing the bar easily. Earlier he had cleared the bar by a large amount, but his right hand touched the bar. During his final attempt, his right hand was close, but the 22-year-old Tokyo Olympic champion made sure — he could have jumped higher.

WORLD RECORD 🚨@mondohoss600 🇸🇪 CLEARS 6.21M TO BREAK HIS OWN WORLD RECORD AND STRIKES HIS FIRST WORLD POLE VAULT TITLE!#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/1jUhWShkS1

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 25, 2022

Duplantis celebrated demonstratively, high-fiving crowd members and completing a summersault on the track.

American Christopher Nilson took the silver medal at 5.94m. Ernest John Obiena from the Philippines set a national record also at 5.94m taking the bronze medal.

Duplantis is now World Champion, Olympic Champion, and World Indoor Champion. He is a 17-time Diamond League winner. Duplantis is now arguably the greatest pole vaulter of all time.

Women’s 800m

The respect between these two 🙌#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/6DUWYU8vdu

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 25, 2022

American Athing Mu didn’t have the season that inspired World Championships gold medals hopes. However, she brought her game to Hayward Field and won gold. She is now the Tokyo Olympic champion and the Eugene World Championships gold medallist. She won in the time of 1:56.30, the world lead for 2022.

Mu, led for most of the race, but it was close over the final 75m, where Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson came up on Mu on the inside. It appeared she would take the lead, but Mu hung on for the win. Hodgkinson recorded a 1:56.38 finish time.

Finishing in third place was Kenyan Mary Moraa.

Mu owns a personal best of 1:55.04, which she set last August at Hayward Field. Hodgkinson set her best during the Tokyo Olympic final at 1:55.88. For Moraa, her World’s performance was a new personal best.

The future looks bright in this event as Mu and Hodkinson and fourth place finisher Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia are all just 20-years-of-age. Moraa is 22.

Results

Women’s 4 x 400m relay

The Americans were so good, they could have won without Sydney McLaughlin, but why not? Throw her into the race and watch her go.

The 400m hurdles gold medallist did not disappoint with her ridiculous anchor performance at 47.91 seconds.

The foursome clocked a world-leading time of 3:17.79.

Jamaica finished in second place well back at 3:20.74, while Great Britain took bronze in 3:22.64. Both season-best performances.

Men’s 4 x 400m relay

The Americans were yet again unbeatable. Elijah Godwin got the US off to a first-place handoff with the fastest first lap of 44.28 seconds.

Michael Norman had the fastest second lap at 43.64 and just as importantly the hand-off was clean.

Bryce Deadmon clocked a 43.82 for the fastest third lap and the anchor Champion Allison hung on with the third fastest anchor leg. at 44.43.

The Americans have won eight of the past nine world titles and eight of the past 10 Olympic golds.  

Men’s 5000m

Norway’s Jacob Ingebrigtsen wanted redemption after letting the gold medal slip through his hands in the 1500m event earlier in the week. He had it but didn’t respond to Great Britain’s Jake Wightman as he passed.

In the 5000m, Ingebrigtsen made no mistake.

He took gold in the time of 13:09.24. Jacob Krop of Kenya finished second in the time of 13:09.98, while bronze went to Oscar Chelimo with his 13:10.20 performance.

The three Kenyans in the races, as expected, tried to work together, Krop, Nicholas Kiprorir, and Daniel Simiu Ebenyo. They worked their way to the front going 1-2-3 for a spell, but Ingebrigtsen wasn’t having any of it.

“It feels amazing. I felt really good today,” Ingebrigtsen said. “I won it and I needed it.”

He also told the CBC that this is his life. “It may sound stupid to others but I want to race as much as possible and do everything.”

WORLD CHAMPION ‼️

Jakob Ingebrigtsen 🇳🇴 runs 13:09.24 to strike world 5000m gold!

His first world title 💪#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/1Si8WZ4IY0

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 25, 2022

The race had been one of the most eagerly-anticipated of the whole championships as it featured three current Olympic champions. Ingebrigtsen won the 1,500m in Tokyo, Selemon Barega of Ethiopia the 10,000m, and Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the world record holder, the 5,000m.

Twice Ingebrigtsen drifted over to lane eight to take water during the race. It seemed like a mistake that would rear its ugly head at the end.

Tactically, Ingebrigtsen made sure the pace was fast once he took the lead. Doing so would string out the pack and he would take the sprint out of their legs on the home stretch. The tactic worked well.

Results

Full results are available here>>