Schippers, Fajdek defend titles

Dafne Schippers and Pawel Fajdek defended their 200m and hammer throw titles respectively on Friday, at the Athletics World Championships in London.

Schippers clinched the 200m gold with a time of 22.05 seconds, while Fadjek secured the hammer throw gold with a best of 79.81 metres.

Dafne Schippers successfully defended her 200 metres world title on Friday in a thrilling final to join greats Allyson Felix and Merlene Ottey in winning the event more than once.

The 25-year-old Dutchwoman, who took bronze in the 100m, timed a season's best 22.05 seconds.

Schippers, whose star had been eclipsed at last year's Olympics by Jamaican Elaine Thompson, said it had been a real fight to retain her crown in an event that didn't feature either Thompson nor America's 100m world champion and Olympic 200m bronze medalist Tori Bowie.

Watch: IAAF World Championships: Day 8 in 60 seconds

 

Thompson decided not to compete and Bowie withdrew after injuring herself in the 100m final. "I fought for that," said Schippers. "I have worked so hard this year so I am so happy. It's so cool. Two times in a row is very special too.

"It was so so cool I was walking around and saw all the orange (on her lap of honour) so it was amazing."

Ivory Coast's Marie Josee Ta Lou had to settle for a second sprint silver in a matter of days, timing a national record of 22.08sec, with Bahamas Shaunae Miller-Uibo finishing third in 22.15sec.

Schippers, who took silver in the event in last year's Olympics, stormed off the bend well up on Ta Lou with Britain's Dina Asher-Smith showing well in third in the outside lane.

However, Ta Lou -- diminutive beside the statuesque Schippers -- clawed back the metres between her and the Dutchwoman whilst Bailey-Uibo also made up ground in the final 50 metres.

Schippers, though, just hit the line a tad ahead of Ta Lou with Bailey-Uibo gaining some compensation for missing out on a medal in the 400m -- a dramatic collapse seeing her go from first to fourth in the final 20m -- by edging past Asher-Smith.

Fajdek defends hammer throw title

Poland's Pawel Fajdek defended his world hammer throw gold in a thrilling competition in London on Friday.

Fajdek threw a best of 79.81 metres while Russian Valeriy Pronkin, competing as a neutral as his country's athletics federation remain banned by the IAAF, claimed silver with 78.16m on his final throw.

Another Pole, Wojciech Nowicki, took bronze (78.03) to add to previous bronzes in the 2015 worlds and 2016 Olympics.