Budapest, August 28 (JIT) - The revenge of the Dutch Femke Bol in the 4x400 meters relay and the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 5 thousand meters will remain as final images of the XIX World Athletics Championships 2023.
On a Sunday day without actions for Cuba, thousands witnessed the first golden metal of the Netherlands in the long relay, enjoyed more after the blow of losing the title in the 4x400 meters mixed relay on the finish line.
That fateful night, Bol's inexplicable stumble opened the doors to the throne for the United States, with the addition of a world record for the specialty.
This time the extraordinary runner from the country of the tulips did not fail. With a spectacular finish on the finish line, she left the Jamaican quartet, who had led the entire race, with no options.
Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver and Cathelijn Peeters were ahead of her in the sections. They withstood the push of their rivals and handed her the baton with a wide but salvageable disadvantage. The time of 3:20.73 minutes was recorded as the leading mark of the season.
Jamaica (3:20.88) and Great Britain (3:21.04), with times unheard of this season, took silver and bronze in that order. The United States, leader in the last three World Championships, did not reach the final due to disqualification.
The northerners left no doubts about their superiority in this event. They were more than one second ahead of the rest of the teams. To secure their thirteenth title, they completed the race in 2:57.31 minutes. In the last legs Justin Robinson and Rai Benjamin almost "walked" their rivals.
France raved with the second place and national record of 2:58.45 minutes, and Great Britain completed the podium with 2:58.71. The Jamaicans, runners-up in Oregon 2022, walked away without a prize with 2:59.34.
Ingebrigtsen's boasts have generated a lot of criticism, multiplied by another defeat in a world final of the 1,500 meters. At least today he had the opportunity to show that he is still a powerful runner and partly vindicated himself with another crown in the 5,000 meters.
The Nordic closed imposing and stopped the clocks in 13:11.30 minutes, just enough to thwart the illusions of the Spanish Mohamed Katir (13:11.44) and the Kenyan Jacob Krop (13:12.28).
FINAL MILESTONES
It is worth mentioning the first title won by Bahrain in these world events, thanks to the surprising performance of Winfred Mutili Yavi (8:54.29 minutes) in the women's 3,000 meters steeplechase. He left Kenyans Beatrice Chepkoech -world record holder- and Faith Cherotich in silver and bronze with marks of 8:58.98 and 9:00.69, respectively.
Athing Mu will not return to the United States with her second 800m world title, as Kenya's Mary Moraa ran like never before and her personal best of 1:56.03 minutes awarded her the gold medal. Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson took silver with 1:56.34 and Mu took bronze with 1:56.61.
The Olympic javelin monarch, India's Neeraj Chopra, did not let the previous history repeat itself. He reached 88.17 meters on his second attempt and won the gold medal. He had finished second at Oregon 2022.
Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh also improved on her subtitle from a year ago in the high jump. This time she was the only one to clear 2.01 meters.
RECUENTO
. Cuba returned to the medal table with three awards, thanks to its triple jumpers Lázaro Martínez (17.41 meters, silver), Cristian Nápoles (17.40, bronze) and Leyanis Pérez (14.96, bronze).
. The United States dominated the point and medal standings with 277 points and 12 gold medals. A notable advantage over Jamaica (139-3) and Kenya (112-3).
. Cuba, with 27 stripes, was in 17th place in a ranking made up with the contribution of those placed among the first eight places in each specialty. In the medal standings, it finished in 25th place (0-1-2).
. At the end of the competition, no positive results had been reported in the anti-doping controls.
. The Hungarians can boast of having organized one of the best athletics world championships in history.
