EUGENE, Ore. (Reuters) – Fred Kerley led an American clean sweep in the men’s 100 metres final at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday and Chase Ealey helped give home fans a night to remember with the first U.S. victory in the women’s shot put.
Kerley, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, timed his dip perfectly to clock 9.86 seconds and pip compatriots Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell in front of an underwhelming home crowd at Hayward Field.
“It’s amazing to do it on home soil with the home crowd behind us. It’s a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep,” said Kerley, who had run the fastest-ever World Championships heat on Friday with a scorching 9.79.
Bracy edged Bromell for silver by two thousandths of a second after both ran 9.88. Another American, defending champion Christian Coleman, finished sixth.
Despite having four runners in the final Bracy said getting three on the podium was easier said than done.
“To say it is one thing, to do it is another. We knew it was very much possible,” he added. “It was about three guys getting on the same accord.”
Italy’s Olympic 100m champion Lamont Jacobs, who has battled a thigh injury for several weeks, pulled out of the semi-finals earlier on Saturday.
In the shot put, Ealey threw 20.49 metres with her opening attempt to win the U.S. team’s first World Championships gold medal on home soil and deny China’s Gong Lijiao a third successive title.
Olympic champion Gong came close with her fifth try, which fell just 10cm short, but had to settle for silver, while Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands clinched bronze.
China did manage to win gold in the men’s long jump, Wang Jianan producing a last-round leap of 8.36m to snatch the title away from Tentoglou Miltiadis.
In the morning session, Ethiopian world record holder Letesenbet Gidey beat Sifan Hassan to win the women’s 10,000m gold in 30:09.94, the fastest time of the year.
Olympic and defending world champion Hassan, who has barely been seen on the track this year, ran out of gas in the final straight to finish fourth.
In the men’s hammer throw, Poland’s Pawel Fajdek produced the best throw of the year to become only the second athlete to win five back-to-back world golds, after pole vaulter Sergey Bubka.
Japan’s marathon team recorded seven COVID-19 cases, with two athletes, four endurance team support staff and the head coach testing positive.
The men’s marathon and women’s hammer throw final takes place early on Sunday before an afternoon session featuring the women’s 100m and men’s 110m hurdles finals.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Mitch Phillips in Eugene, Oregon; additional reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
