Allyson Felix helped the United States through to the 4x400 metres relay final in a surprise return to Hayward Field on Saturday, days after running what was supposed to be her farewell race at the World Championships.
The seven-time Olympic gold medallist hopped back on a plane to Eugene, Oregon, after she was called up to the preliminary round of the women’s event, following her bronze-medal performance in the mixed relay last week.
The 36-year-old, who collected her first Olympic medal 18 years ago at the Athens Games, padded her team’s lead on the second lap as the United States finished first and Britain took second.
The United States will aim to secure a third successive worlds gold in Sunday’s final.
France finished with the third qualifying spot in the heat.
Jamaica established an enormous lead by the halfway mark and won its heat by more than three-and-a-half seconds.
Belgian anchor Camille Laus came from behind down the final straight to sprint home in second ahead of Canada.
A day after collecting silver in the 400m hurdles, Dutch anchor Femke Bol stormed home to keep the Netherlands in contention after a dropped baton but the team was disqualified.
Italy and Switzerland advanced on time.
Owens-Delerme takes overall lead in decathlon
Olympic champion Damian Warner’s bid for a first decathlon World Championships title ended after the Canadian sustained an apparent hamstring injury running the 400 metres event on Saturday.
Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme clocked a personal best of 45.07 seconds in the 400m, the final event of the opening day of decathlon, to move into the overall lead with 4,606 points.
Warner was leading the competition when he pulled up injured and fell to the Hayward Field track. His withdrawal opened up the field going into the second day of action.
“I felt my hamstring pull a couple of times,” Warner told CBC Sports. “This competition has been the screensaver on my computer the last couple of years. I had a chance to compete in front of my son and my girlfriend.
“So many helped me get to this point. I feel like I let them down in a way. Very tough pill to swallow at this point and I just have to do whatever I can to come back stronger... And hopefully get myself back on top of the world once again.”
Until last year Warner had spent more than a decade putting his body through the torture of the 10-discipline event, regularly making the podium but never quite getting to the top step.
That changed in Tokyo when he won Olympic gold and he followed up this year with the indoor world title.
At the outdoor World Championships he has a record of 18th, third, second, fifth and third. At 32, he knows there will not be that many more opportunities to win it.
In relatively chilly morning conditions, Warner opened up well with a 10.27 100m - slightly below his season’s best but still well clear of anyone else in the field.
His long jump of 7.87m was also the best of the day by 17cm and a 14.99m shot put, though down on some of the bigger men in the field, was still a season’s best.
Warner then managed a high jump of 2.05m - in a competition where Norwegian Sander Skotheim claimed a hugely impressive personal best of 2.17m - before his injury in the 400m event.
Warner’s compatriot Pierce LePage ran a personal best 400m in 46.84 to put himself in second spot, 121 points behind Owens-Delerme.
American Zach Ziemek also had a consistent first day to stay in touch in third place, ahead of compatriot Kyle Garland.
Australia’s Ashley Moloney, bronze medallist in Tokyo, moved ahead of Olympics runner-up and world record holder Kevin Mayer of France in fifth place after clocking a season’s best of 46.88 in the 400m.
German defending champion Niklas Kaul struggled all day and was among the back markers, ending the first day of competition in 16th place with 4,147 points.
The concluding five events take place on Sunday - the last day of the championships.
Champion Ali crashes out of 100m hurdles heats
American Nia Ali’s 100 metres hurdles title defence at the World Championships ended abruptly on Saturday after she hit a hurdle and crashed out of the heats.
The American had the early lead and was battling Jamaican Britany Anderson when she scraped her knee on the penultimate barrier at Hayward Field.
Ali wobbled and tried to recover but could not regain her momentum as she was unable to get her lead leg over the final hurdle and fell onto the track.
She could only watch on as the rest of the field crossed the finish line, with her training partner Anderson winning the heat in 12.59.
“I just let my technique get away from me and it cost me everything,” said Ali, adding this was the first time this had happened to her.
There were a number of other first-round casualties, with Ali’s compatriot Alaysha Johnson, a medal-contender after producing the second-fastest time in 2022, eliminated after she failed to clear the opening hurdle. Haitian Mulern Jean and Australian Liz Clay also failed to cross the finish.
World record-holder Kendra Harrison and her American compatriot Alia Armstrong kept U.S. hopes alive, advancing to Sunday’s semifinal with Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
Nigerian Tobi Amusan had the fastest time of the day, a speedy 12.40 seconds, with 2015 champion and Doha bronze medallist Danielle Williams of Jamaica finishing second in their heat after overcoming a sluggish start.
Masterful Korir wins world 800m gold in style
Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir ran a textbook tactical race to win the world 800 metres title on Saturday as he peaked at just the right time after a wretched season.
Korir arrived in Eugene with barely a race to his name but ran himself into form through the rounds.
In Saturday’s final he sat near the back of the tightly-bunched pack for 600m before putting the foot down, sweeping past most of them on the bend then overhauling fading leader Marco Arop on the home straight.
He won in one minute, 43.71, with Algerian Djamel Sedjati producing a storming finish of his own to take a surprise silver ahead of Canada’s Arop.
Ethiopia’s Tsegay holds on to win 5,000m gold
Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay held off late challengers to win the women’s 5,000 metres on Saturday as world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey faded down the straight to miss the podium.
Tokyo bronze medallist Tsegay traded the lead with compatriot Gidey, the world 10,000m champion, throughout the race until the pack took off for the final lap.
The Netherlands’ 5,000m Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, known for her ferocious kick, delivered her challenge with 200m to go after weaving to the inside but could not maintain her speed as Tsegay charged down the final straight.
Kenyan Beatrice Chebet took silver and Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum finished with bronze.
U.S. women shock Jamaican superstars to win 4x100m relay
Jamaica fielded the three medallists from the women’s individual 100 metres in Saturday’s sprint relay but that was still not enough to prevent a super-slick U.S. quartet taking gold to raise the biggest cheer of the week at Hayward field
Jamaica brought in its “big three” - Shericka Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah - with lead runner Kemba Nelson the only survivor from the semifinal team but they struggled on their changeovers.
The United States brought in Abby Steiner to join Melissa Jefferson, Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry, who ran a superb anchor leg to bring them home in 41.14 seconds, with Jamaica second in 41.18.
Britain was in the medal hunt until third leg Dina Asher-Smith pulled up injured, allowing Germany to storm through for a surprise bronze.
Canada wins men’s 4x100 relay
A flubbed final handover cost the United States gold in the men’s 4x100 metres relay on Saturday as Canada surged down the final straight to take the title.
The Americans looked set to retain their crown until the last changeover between Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy, who lost time with a slow exchange.
Canadian anchor Andre De Grasse did not waste the opportunity and passed Bracy on the final leg.
Britain finished with bronze.
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