Guliyev is new world 200m champion
Among the eight sprinters lined up at the start of the world 200m final and the 56,000 people in the crowd watching, only one man probably thought Ramil Guliyev would be the winner, and that was the Azerbaijani-born Turk himself. His faith was fully justified as 20.09 seconds later he crossed the line ahead of a host of favoured rivals to take the gold medal that had been the property of Usain Bolt since 2009. Wayde van Niekerk, seeking a 400/200m double had to settle for silver in 20.11, a thousandth of a second ahead of Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago. The result was universally acclaimed as a shock but Guliyev, who became a Turkish citizen in 2011 and was cleared to represent his new country in 2013, was having none of it.
Carter earns shock 400m hurdles win
American Kori Carter pulled off another of the growing number of shocks at the World Championships, achieving the rare feat of winning the 400m hurdles title from the outside lane. All eyes had been on Carter's US teammate, Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who had been the strong favourite, but it was the former American champion in lane nine who maintained her form best to race to victory in 53.07 seconds. Muhammad, the fastest woman in the world this year, earned the silver in 53.50 to complete an American one-two while Jamaican Ristananna Tracey, an Olympic finalist last year, took the bronze in a lifetime best 53.74. Czech Zuzana Hejnova, who had been seeking to achieve an unprecedented third successive one-lap hurdles victory, had to settle for fourth, being overhauled by Tracey on the run-in despite clocking a season's best 54.20.
Taylor wins another world title
Double Olympic champion Christian Taylor continued his dominance of the triple jump when he won his third world title, once again beating fellow American Will Claye into second place. Taylor leapt 17.68m with his third attempt to win by five centimetres, clinching the title when Claye was given a red flag on his last attempt. Portugal's Nelson Evora, Olympic champion in 2008, took bronze with 17.19. The 27-year-old Taylor became the first triple jumper to win three world crowns, having also claimed victory in Daegu in 2011 and Beijing two years ago. He also took gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics with Claye finishing second on both occasions.
Champion Kiprop leads Kenyan charge into 1,500m semis
Four Kenyans with eyes on 1,500m medals the three fastest men in the world this year and the one seeking a fourth successive title all qualified from first-round heats, though not without a scare for one of them. Triple defending champion Abel Kiprop, aiming to match the four successive titles world record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj took from 1997-2003, showed that he is not about to hand over his title without a fight. Kiprop went all the way to the line just behind Elijah Manangoi, silver medallist two years ago and the world leader this year with three minutes 28.80, in a mass finish to the first heat. The two 21-year-old pretenders of the Kenyan team had contrasting nights as Timothy Cheruiyot went through strongly in second place in the third heat while Ronald Kwemoi snatched the sixth and last fast-loser slot. Sadik Mikhou, who switched allegiance from Morocco to Bahrain last year, was an impressive winner of the second heat.
Miller-Uibo focused on making up for 400m mishap
Shaunae Miller-Uibo put her 400m disappointment behind her to power into the 200m final at the World Championships, saying she had simply lost her balance in the showpiece race the day before. The Bahamian came from behind in the last 60m to win the second heat in a time of 22.49 seconds and qualify second fastest behind Dafne Shippers of the Netherlands for Fridays final. She then explained what had happened 24 hours earlier when she stumbled 15m from the line with a comfortable lead in the 400m final and dropped to fifth.
Vetter's huge throw sets up German javelin showdown
Germany's Johannes Vetter and Thomas Rohler will take their burgeoning javelin rivalry into a potentially riveting final at the World Athletics Championships after achieving the automatic qualifying mark. Yet the pair, who have this season both produced throws that have only ever been bettered by the great Czech Jan Zelezny, surpassed the 83m qualifying standard in contrasting style. Vetter, who moved to second on the all-time list last month with a 94.44m effort in Lucerne, produced another fine throw of 91.2m at the first attempt to power into Saturday's final as the top qualifier. Olympic champion Rohler, in the second group, had to work harder, failing to make it with his first throw (80.88m) before his second effort cleared the 83m mark by 87 centimetres to make him the eighth best qualifier. With Andreas Hoffman also making the final as fifth best qualifier (85.62m), Vetter, whose leading throw was almost five metres longer than the next best effort of Czech Petr Frydrych (86.22m), declared: "I am dreaming of three medals for Germany."
Semenya eases through 800m heats, Arzamasova out
Olympic champion Caster Semenya maintained her two-year unbeaten record over 800m as she eased through the first round at the World Championships. Her main challengers, Francine Niyonsaba, Margaret Wambui and Ajee Wilson, also cruised into Friday's semifinals but defending champion Maryna Arzamasova was eliminated after finishing fourth in her heat. South African Semenya, last beaten at the World Championships semifinal in Beijing two years ago, was third going into the final straight and eased past Rose Mary Almanza and Natoya Goule to win in 2:01.33. Arzamasova led the fourth heat on the last lap but faltered badly at the finish to be pipped for the third automatic place by Halima Nakaayi.
Obiri on course to secure elusive 5,000m title
Kenyas Hellen Obiri remained on course to win her first major 5,000m title after qualifying fastest from the heats at the World Championships. The 27-year-old won world bronze in 2013 and came back from a year off to claim silver at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Obiri, the world leader this year, qualified for Sunday's final in a time of 14:56.70. She will be challenged by defending champion Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, who ran 14:57.06 in her first 5,000m race of the season five days after her runaway victory in the 10,000m in London. Senbere Teferi, Ayana's compatriot and 2015 world silver medallist, was also among the automatic qualifiers from heat one, along with Susan Krumins of the Netherlands and Shannon Rowbury of the United States. American Molly Huddle qualified via the fastest non-automatic places, along with Norways Karoline Grovdal and Kalkidan Gezahegne of Bahrain. The third Kenyan in the final will be Sheila Kiprotich, while the home crowd will be able to cheer two athletes on Sunday as Laura Muir ran fast enough to join fellow Briton McColgan. Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba, the former world 1,500m champion, withdrew before the race.
Kenya's former champion Sum pulls out of world 800m
Former world 800m champion Eunice Sum has withdrawn from the World Athletics Championships due to illness, Kenyan officials said. Sum, who won gold in Moscow in 2013 and bronze in Beijing two years ago, was scheduled to race in the 800m heats on Thursday and though she said on Wednesday she was pulling out, officials initially said there was still a chance she could run. However, they issued a statement on Thursday confirming her withdrawal. South Africa's Olympic and former world champion Caster Semenya, who won bronze in the 1500m on Monday, is the strong favourite.
