The World Athletics Championships were, not for the first time, the Armand Duplantis show on Monday although New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish did his best to share the spotlight after a shock win in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Duplantis kept the drama going to the end in Tokyo — after the Swede retained his crown he went on to break the world record for the 14th time, on his third and final attempt at 6.3m.
The 53,000-strong crowd had stayed rooted to their seats even though the action on the track had ended long before.
Photo: AP
They witnessed Duplantis jumping into the stand, and enjoying a long and passionate kiss with his fiancee, Desire Inglander, before embracing his parents.
Beamish had been a great warm-up act.
He almost did not make it to the final after he fell in the heats, but he got up and produced a sensational burst of speed to qualify.
Photo: AFP
In the final, the long-haired Kiwi beat two-time defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco by a hair’s breadth on the line to deliver New Zealand their first-ever world track gold.
Swiss 100m hurdler Ditaji Kambundji sprang an even bigger surprise in her final, giving her country their first medal in the hurdles.
There was to be no such rocking of the establishment in the women’s hammer, Canada’s Olympic champion Camryn Rogers retaining her title and she too charged into the stands to embrace her team.
However, Duplantis deservedly took center stage.
The showman never fails to deliver, and, with his winning smile, wrapped up the gold with a vault of 6.15m before his piece de resistance.
His rivals never laid a finger on him — Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took silver with a best of 6m, then helped to keep Duplantis cool with an electric fan, and Australian Kurtis Marschall claimed bronze with a personal best of 5.95m.
“I felt the only way to leave Japan was to set the world record,” Duplantis said. “That was my mentality. I don’t know what is next for me at this moment, I don’t care.”
“I will just enjoy this right now. I was feeling really good the whole day. I knew I had the record in me,” he added.
The distance races, especially the men’s events, have been full of surprises at these championships and the 3,000m steeplechase proved to be no exception.
Beamish, 28, came down the outside as El Bakkali charged for the line believing a third title was in the bag.
However, Beamish gained on him, and they breached the line together, but the Kiwi had done just enough, timing 8 minutes and 33.88 seconds to the Moroccan two-time Olympic champion’s 8:33.95.
“This was a turnup, wasn’t it? That was pretty unreal,” Beamish said. “It’s unreal. I’m pretty stoked. I did a lot in the last 200 meters. I knew I had it in me tonight.”
“It’s a first track gold for New Zealand at a world championships, which is pretty cool,” he said.
El Bakkali was utterly distraught and collapsed to the ground sobbing before being consoled by teammate Salaheddine Ben Yazide.
“It’s very difficult for me to accept this result, but I have to, because this is high performance sport,” El Bakkali said.
Kambundji was not the first from her family to appear in a final at the track, because her sister Mujinga ran in three finals at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Monday’s heroine looked stunned at winning as Olympic champion Masai Russell, who had predicted she might break the world record, instead trailed in in fourth.
“I am just enjoying the title,” Kambundji said. “It’s amazing to be a world champion. My family is here in the stands — my mom, dad and my aunt, and it feels amazing to be able to share this moment with them.”
The men’s 1,500m looks like it could be going to Britain for a third successive time as US Olympic champion Cole Hocker was disqualified, joining Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the sidelines.
Britain would have three finalists, all from Scotland, including defending champion Josh Kerr and 2022 victor Jake Wightman, who both denied Ingebrigtsen gold.
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