Fred Kerley lost out early to Noah Lyles and Katarina Johnson-Thompson frays the nerves before claiming the crown as the world's best all round female athlete. But it was all small beer in comparison to what happened later on down the river.
Big talk and out
So much for testosterone. Fred Kerley, the defending champion, who talked up his chances of retaining his 100m title never even made the final. The 28-year-old American went out after finishing third in his semi-final. “That’s the point of the heats … to find the best. My opponents were better than me today. I’ve got to move on, there’s nothing wrong with me I just ran a terrible race.” Well, at least in the 100m you find out about a bad day very quickly.
Lyles files
Noah Lyles, with whom Kerley had been sparring verbally, won his semi-final in 9.87 – the season’s best time. And the 26-year-old went on and won the final in 9.83 to support his grandstanding. "I knew I was going to be in the final ... and I grabbed the win." Lyles is among the favourites for the 200m and he's also going to be in the 4X100m relay. Could be more gold on the way.
Not so blue Montag
Jemima Montag from Australia came away with silver in the women’s 20km walk and further vindication of her decision not to knuckle down to her studies in Melbourne for a little while longer. “The medical school has agreed that the Olympics are a once in a lifetime - or maybe twice in a lifetime thing,” said the 25-year-old. “And so they’ve allowed me to have next year off so I can put everything into preparing for Paris." And why not? You want a happy doctor dispensing the advice and prescribing the medicines. "I don’t want to get to 50 and look back and think why did I try and juggle medicine with this," added Montag. "I’ll have 30 years to do medicine. I’m all in for Paris and so let’s turn this silver into a gold.” Exactly the kind of dynamic attitude that a doctor should order.
Edgy stuff
Local girl Rita Nemes gave the partisans something to cheer when she won the 800m race in the heptathlon. The 33-year-old crossed the line in 2:10.65 but she was nowhere near the medals. The real meat came in the second heat which would decide the world order. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won gold in 2019, went into the race in pole position - only 26 points ahead of Anouk Vetter from the Netherlands and 43 in front of third-placed Anna Hall from the United States. Hall absolutely belted out and opened up a big lead - Johnson-Thompson managed to close her down to come second. Hall got 1053 points for her win in 2:04.09 and Johnson-Thompson received 1030 for finishing in a personal best time 2:05.63 and her gold medal. Hall passed Vetter to claim the silver while Vetter got the bronze.
Tales of the riverbank
All the grunts and grimacing finished early at the National Athletics Centre. Curious to have a major championships and put the 100 metres final at 7.10pm. But it was done so the spectators could peel away to feast upon the St Stephen's Day celebrations in which the foundation of the Hungarian state more than 1,000 years ago is saluted. There were hundreds of thousands along the Buda (west) and Pest (east) sides of the Danube. They were regaled with historical commentaries, son-et-lumiere projections and fireworks. Loads of fireworks. Sensible timing then for Bence Halasz to win Hungary's first medal of the championships - bronze - in the men's hammer before they all went out to savour the anniversary.
