Jamaica ‘ruff necks’ steal the show
Print Edition
EVEN without Usain Bolt, Jamaica finished the world championships with a bang last night, storming to the women’s 4x400 meters relay title to match Kenya’s gold tally at the top of the medals table.
Anchor leg Novlene Williams-Mills pulled out an eye-popping last 50 meters to catch Francena McCorory as the Jamaicans clocked this year’s best time of three minutes, 19.13 seconds to pip the United States on the line at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing.
“I came out here with a Jamaican ruff neck,” said third leg Stephenie Ann McPherson, using Jamaican slang for ‘street thug’, adding: “My teammates did a great job.”
The Americans hit back to take the men’s 4x400, veteran LaShawn Merritt passing Carl Lewis as his country’s most decorated male world championships athlete with 11 medals.
But they will leave China with a sense of foreboding before next year’s Rio Olympics after playing second fiddle to the Jamaicans, who won seven gold medals — three of them, inevitably, Bolt’s.
Kenya also finished with seven golds plus six silvers and three bronzes, an overall tally which edged it ahead of Jamaica on the final standings. Hosts China placed 11th with one gold, seven silvers and one bronze.
Two of those silver medals came last night, with Lyu Huihui taking second place behind Germany’s Kathrina Molitor in the women’s javelin. Zhang Guowei then shared second spot with Ukrainian defending champion Bogdan Bondarenko in the high jump. Canada’s Derek Drouin took the title.
American star Allyson Felix looked to have dug the Olympic champion out of an early hole with a blistering third leg to give McCorory a lead into the last lap, until Williams-Mills kicked coming into the home straight to win it for Jamaica. Britain took bronze in 3:23.62.
As heads went down once more in the American camp, Merritt flexed his muscles by anchoring the US to a sixth straight victory in the men’s final.
Merritt, David Verburg, Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum finished in 2:57.82 to extend a remarkable winning streak dating back to Helsinki in 2005. Trinidad and Tobago claimed silver in 2:58.20 with Britain taking bronze in 2:58.51.
Kenya’s demonstrated its middle-distance brilliance again when Asbel Kiprop completed a world title hat-trick in the men’s 1,500 to add to the 800 gold won by David Rudisha earlier in the competition.
Kiprop, who also won gold at the Bird’s Nest in 2008, surged home in 3:34.40, just edging out his compatriot Elija Manangoi. Morocco’s Abdalaati Iguider darted past Algeria’s Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi to take bronze.
On a big day for Ethiopia, Almaz Ayana stunned Genzebe Dibaba to win the 5,000 and deny her teammate a second gold at this year’s worlds.
Ayana clocked a championship record of 14:26.83 with Senbere Teferi taking silver in 14:44.07, a whisker ahead of Dibaba in an Ethiopian sweep. Dibaba, already the 1,500 world champion, was seeking to win a second gold, much like her big sister Tirunesh did at the 2008 Olympics at the Bird’s Nest.
Ethiopia’s great day started early, with another Dibaba excelling. Mare Dibaba, no relation to Genzebe and Tirunesh, captured the first women’s marathon gold for Ethiopia at the world championships, holding off Helah Kiprop of Kenya.
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