IAAF World Athletics Championships – in pictures

Fireworks explode in the sky above the Luzhniki Stadium during the opening ceremony Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Ballet dancers suspended on ropes perform to a sparse crowd during the opening ceremony Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Lushniki stadium – fisheyed Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Usain Bolt steals a march on his competitors in the men's 100m heats on the second day Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

The Jamaican is as comfortable in front of the press as he is on the starting blocks Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Mo Farah falls to his knees after winning the Men's 10,000m Photograph: Krasilnikov Stanislav/ Krasilnikov Stanislav/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

Light falls across the back straight in the heats for the women's 400m Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Christine Ohuruogu dips to take the women's 400m gold by a nose ahead of Amantle Montsho of Botswana after a dramatic comeback in the final straight Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

James Dasaolu of Britain, right, and Zhang Peimeng of China, centre, whirl past the cameras in the 100m heats Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

A slow shutter speed is a clever disguise for the large number of empty seats that were often seen at the stadium Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Arlina Armas (left, standing) attends her Namibian teammate Beata Naigambo who collapsed during the women's marathon Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA

Security guards watch as the women leave the stadium, with one guard in particular more interested in having his picture taken than the sporting action before him Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The competitors walk through a water spray to cool them down during the men's 20km race walk final Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Russia's Evgeniia Kolodko in full-flight during the women's shot put event Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

Mihail Dudas of Serbia celebrates before he's even hit the ground during the pole vault event of the decathlon Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

Competitors go flat out to qualify for the women's 100m semi-final Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA

A spectator enjoys the scorching weather but he IAAF Vice-President, Sergey Bubka, blamed the hot weather for the empty seats in the stadium Photograph: Antonin Thuillier/AFP/Getty Images

Michael Schrader of Germany strikes a pose during the discus event in the men's decathlon Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

Jamaica's Andrew Riley, left, and eventual gold-medal winner David Oliver, right of the USA in the blocks before the men's 110m hurdles heats Photograph: Srdjan Suki/EPA

Germany's Malte Mohr competes in the men's pole vault final under a Moscow sunset Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

Photographers pile in to capture an image of Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser moments after winning the women's 100m final Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Natallia Viatkina of Belarus sends the sand flying during the women's triple jump Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Yelena Isinbayeva won fans all over the world with her exuberant celebrations after winning the women's pole vault. The Russian went on to make comments seemingly defending laws banning promotion of homosexuality, having objected to Emma Green Tregaro's rainbow-painted nails; statements which she later put down to bad English Photograph: REX/IBL/REX/IBL

Cuba's Mabel Gay competes in the women's triple jump final Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

Romania's Elena Mirela Lavric falls after giving her all in the women's 800m Photograph: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images

Nadeeka Babaranda Liyanage of Sri Lanka takes her run-up during qualification for the women's javelin Photograph: Li Ming/ Li Ming/Xinhua Press/Corbis

Mo Farah celebrates winning gold in the men's 5,000m, becoming only the second man, after Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, to achieve the double-double of 5,000m and 10,000m golds at the Olympics and the following world championships Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Eyes down, pump those legs Photograph: Michael Kappeler/Michael Kappeler/dpa/Corbis

Colombia's Flor Ruiz looks skywards, before launching her javelin Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Runners from Ukraine, Italy and Czech Republic compete in the women's 4x400m heats Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

A birds-eye view of Italian triple-jumper Fabrizio Schembri Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Chasing shadows: Brigitte Merlano of Colombia, top, puts the pressure on Andrea Bliss of Jamaica Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda edges past Tsegaye Kebede as they pass St Basil's Cathedral during the men's marathon Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Christine Ohuruogu during heats for the women's 4x400m. The British team ended up with bronze in the final after Ohuruogu held off her French rival in the final leg Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Following his 200m triumph, Usain Bolt celebrates. Not for the first time ... Photograph: Ian Walton/Getty Images

Evening light created dramatic silhouettes inside Luzhniki Stadium Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The endurance runners of the women's 5000m muscle for position in the final Photograph: Srdjan Suki/EPA

Michael Ott of Switzerland shows a complete disregard for road signals during the men's marathon Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

USA's Alysia Johnson Montano stumbles over the line at the end of the women's 800m final Photograph: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images