Day 4 wrap: Isinbayeva runs the show
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 14, 2013
There were distance finals, sprint finals, throws finals, and even a race walk, but Tuesday was the day Yelena Isinbayeva wrote, stage managed, and played the starring role at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.
Russia's "pole vault queen" ignited the Luzhniki stadium as she claimed her third world title on Tuesday, which saw host Russia harvested two gold and one silver in seven finals.
Isinbayeva did not have the best start, with misses at her opening height of 4.65m and 4.82m, but her first-attempt clearance at 4.89m – a height neither silver medallist Jenn Suhr nor bronze medallist Yarisley Silva could clear – sealed victory and a third World Championships gold for the Russian heroine.
Another title for Lashmanova
Isinbaeva ignited the crowds at Luzhniki stadium in the evening session while Russia's London Olympic champion Elena Lashmanova led a one-two finish in women's 20-kilometer walk to jazz up the local spectators in the morning.
After a conservative start, Lashmanova and Anisya Kirdyapkina moved to the front and pulled away from the rest of the pack. The pair were set to divide the first medals amongst each other, and Lashmanova won the draw, entering the stadium several seconds ahead of Kirdyapkina, though she almost lost all that margin by twice misunderstanding where the finish line was.
Team-mate Vera Sokolova tore through the pack in the last 5km and entered the stadium third, only to be disqualified with just over 400m to walk. Bronze went to China’s Liu Hong instead.
Merritt returns to the top
The American also enjoyed a one-two finish in the men's 400m race. Former Olympic and world champion LaShawn Merritt clocked a world leading time of 43.74 to win the gold while Tony Mcquay finished second in a personal best of 44.40. Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic took the bronze in 44.52.
"I've said it many times already, I was hungry. Probably the hungriest person in the field. No, I was starving. It's been a while since I was able to perform at my highest level. I was mentally and physically confident, I knew what I had to do, so I just had to produce it. As for the time, that race didn't feel that hard, so I think faster times will definitely come," said Merritt.
Down to the seventh in the Heptathlon
The wide-open Heptathlon delivered on its promise, shuffling its order slightly after the Long Jump, greatly in the Javelin, and finally once more in the closing 800m.
Ukraine's Ganna Melnichenko claimed the title in 6586 points while Canada's Brianne Theisen Eaton, wife of America's world record holder Ashton Eaton who won the men's decathlon world title on Sunday, finished second in 6530 points.
Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands set a new national record of 6477 to take the bronze.
Harting goes for three
Defending champion Robert Harting of Germany proved his high-level consistency as he claimed the third straight discus world title with the winning mark of 69.11 meters in the fourth round.
The German went into the lead in the first round, and in subsequent rounds improved his mark to the winning distance of 69.11m. With victory assured, he flung another out to 69.08m in the sixth round before beginning his exuberant celebration on the back bend.
Silver went to Piotr Malachowski with a fifth-round 68.36m; Gerd Kanter took bronze with his 65.19m.
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