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Ooh yeah, no arrows necessary here! McLaughlin-Levrone hits the home straight alone, poised in splendid isolation, and wins in 49.41, making it look easy; Weil of Chile and Oketch of Kenya also qualify.
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Updated at 11.45 BST
Sydney oozes away beautifully, running right on the inside of her lane, and she’s miles ahead, I think – no arrows this time.
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It’s Sydney time! I can’t wait to see how she goes – she’s a proper threat for a medal, though we can’t be sure she’s quite ready for gold. With her talent and drive, anything is possible.
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We’re now able to see who’s where before the stagger unwinds, numbers above the heads of the runners indicating their places; that’s great, but there’s also something cool about guessing, then seeing how it looks coming off the curve. Venlogh of Hait wins heat two in 49.91, from Bokuwiecka of Poland and Butler of USA.
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Back to the discus final, Tausaga can’t get herself going; we’re advised that she’s either very good or very poor, and she’s in danger of elimination, the bottom two kicked out after three goes. Allman still leads from Van Klinken.
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Also going on:
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Klaver of the Netherlands takes the first heat in 50.32; Whittaker of USA also qualifies, along with Oakley of Jamaica.
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Next to the women’s 400m, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in particular – the double Olympic 400m hurdles champ is now taking on the flat race, as she pursues history. She’s also after Sanya Richards-Ross’ US record; how good will it be if she follows her into Real Housewives immortality too?
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Updated at 11.45 BST
I guess what I’m saying is the way he tied up in the home straight, it’s hard to believe he can improve enough to challenge Jacory Patterson, who looked in phenomenal shape to record 43.90 barely seeming to struggle. And, as I type, Greg Rutherford – in the BBC studio – wonders if his season has been well structured, given he started early but has run rarely, and there’s also a suggestion that he might’ve come to Japan a little earlier to acclimatise to the heat.
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McRae moves nicely around the curve, goes again in the home straight, and he wins in 44.25; Eppie of Botswana is second, with James third. Hudson-Smith and Reardon both qualify as fastest losers, but the former needs to get a lot, lot better to challenge for anything.
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Righto, time for the final heat of the men’s 40om. Kirani James, champion at London 2012, goes, and though he’s a way past his best, it’s always great to see him. The favourite here is Khaleb McRae of USA, and he’s out like a brute…
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Updated at 11.30 BST
Interesting: Van Klinken of Holland hurls one out a fair way … but she’s 13cm behind.
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In the field, the women’s discuss final is ready to get going. Can anyone stop USA’s Valarie Allman, the double Olympic champion? Well, she didn’t win in Budapest, Laulauga Tausaga did, but she’ll have to improve significantly on what we’ve seen this season … and Allman is celebrating already, happy with her 67.63 opening effort.
Valarie Allman in early discus final action. Photograph: Bernat Armangué/APShare
Updated at 11.18 BST
Nene wins in 44.34, second-fastest so far behind Patterson; Norwood struggles in second, and Molnar of Hungary is third.
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Nene starts well, looking smooth – his hammy, causing him grief earlier this season, must be OK. Watson is nowhere.
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Antonio Watson of Jamaica, the defending champ, goes in heat five, but he’s not in the greatest shape. Otherwise, there’s Nene, the fastest in the world this year, and Vernon Norwood of USA.
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Chris Bailey of USA takes it, coming from behind; Holder, of Australia, who went out fast, hangs on to second, with Samukonga also coming through taking third; Sam Reardon, of GB, was fourth.
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Updated at 11.02 BST
In heat four, though, we’ve got Muzala Samukonga of Zambia, whose PB of 43.74 is decent. Off they go…
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That was, we’re told, the fastest ever 400m world championship heat. And Patterson isn’t the fastest in the world this year, Zakithi Nene of SA is; he goes in heat five.
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Oh wow. Patterson wins in 43.90, the favourite for gold for a reason; McDonald is next in 44.38 and Scotti of Italy also qualifies. Kebinatshipi is fourth in a 44.48, a time quicker than Hudson-Smith’s.
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Ogazi doesn’t get away properly, but Patterson of USA is all over this.
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Or at least, though the standard of the best isn’t as high as once, there are so many capable of running medal-winning times. Here comes heat three, Rusheen McDonald of Jamaica and Ogazi of Nigeria, Patterson of USA and Kebiniatshipi of Botswana worth paying attention to.
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Updated at 10.55 BST
Biggup Ndori of Botswana, by the way, who won the heat in 44.36; Nakajima broke the Japanese record in 44.44, and McPherson’s 44.51 was a PB. If we didn’t know it before, we know it now: even in the absence of the injured Olympic champ, Quincy Hall, the standard is proper.
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There are six fastest losers to go through and Hudson-Smith’s time of 44.68 will almost definitely be enough. But he looked really leggy there, and if he doesn’t improve, signifcantly, he won’t get near a medal.
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Not enough! Hudson-Smith is run out of it, finishing fourth! But what was his time?
Matthew Hudson-Smith reacts after his heat. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/ReutersShare
Updated at 10.55 BST
Hudson-Smith starts nicely, looking smooth. Outside him, McPherson of Jamaica is going well, though, and as they come down the home straight, he’s struggling, Ndori and Nakajima going past! What does he have left?!
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There’s a slight delay as the high jumpers need to clear out of the road, but we’re about ready to go now.
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Hudson-Smith goes in the next heat, the second of six. He’s recently become a dad; the jetlag must be a doddle compared to that.
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Dobson doesn’t think this was his sharpest race, but he eased up in the home straight as he knew he was top three. This year, he’s been working a lot on 2oo to 300m and doesn’t think he’s got it right once, but he kept something in reserve for the semis.
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Richards wins in 44.64, Pillay of RSA is second, Dobson third. That looked like a bit of a struggle for all of them, even in the context of track’s most minging race.
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Richards gets away nicely, Dobson too; there are four in a line for three spots as we come into the home straight…
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Cock the hammer, it’s time for action, as Cypress Hill once advised. The men’s 400m heats are about to get going, Charlie Dobson of GB going in the first; Jereem Richards of T&T is the main threat.
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Our schedule:
Photograph: World AthleticsShare
“I’ve learnt in the past just to stay in the present,” laughs Matt Hudson-Smith in interview with the Beeb – I like that. And he’s right, of course – the past has gone and the future is a promise: the only thing he has, as an athlete, but also we all have, as people, is what’s going on right now.
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We’re back watching footage of the 100m heats; goodness me, Julien Alfred looks immense, a classic example of an athlete who wins something when not quite expecting to, then becomes a million times better as a consequence. Consider also: France after the 1998 World Cup.
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Josh Kerr, meanwhile, the defending champ, reckons he’s got it sorted; of course he does.
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Back to the men’s 1500m, Jakub Ingebrigtsen is, I’m afraid out. He’s had a helluva year, I’m afraid – but will be back for the 5000m.
Jake Wightman, the 2022 champion, qualified from the same heat.
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Updated at 10.24 BST
I think we may have found a new friend. Julia Paternain, born in Mexcio to Uruguayan parents before moving to Cambridge when her dad began teaching maths at the university, won bronze in the women’s marathon. Enjoy her here:
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BBC are showing us highlights of the morning sesh; Josh Kerr is safely through to the next round of the men’s 1500m.
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Updated at 10.27 BST
First up this morning/evening, we’ve got the heats of the men’s 400m. Matt Hudson-Smith, the Olympic silver medallist goes in those for GB – he’s fourth-fastest in the world this year.
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On which point:
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I said I’d come back to Dennis Mitchell, so here we are. He comes across as really good dude but it’s hard to disagree too much with Gabby Douglas. Here’s Sean Ingle:
While there was a great atmosphere on the track, there has been a rather frosty one in the sprinting community. That is because in the buildup to these Championships, Gabby Thomas, the American who won 200m gold in Paris last year, posted a comment on social media that sent tongues wagging. “Doping coaches should be banned for life from coaching in the sport,” she wrote. “Whether you were banned while competing as an athlete or caught distributing as a coach [for some, both],” she wrote. “Idc idc idc [I don’t care] … If you train under a coach who is known for doping … you are complicit.”
Her message was directed at Dennis Mitchell, who is coaching the four American women 100m sprinters here, including Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the favourite for gold, and Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning champion.
Mitchell was a top sprinter who made perhaps the most preposterous excuse for failing a drugs test. It came in 1998 after he tested positive for excessive testosterone and blamed it on having drunk five beers and having sex with his wife four times. “It was her birthday,” he said. “The lady deserved a treat.”
Mitchell was banned for two years. A decade later he testified under oath in the Balco investigation that he had received human growth hormone from his coach, Trevor Graham.
More recently, in 2017, Mitchell and an athletics agent, Robert Wagner, were caught on camera offering to supply performance-enhancing drugs to a fake actor in an operation conducted by the Daily Telegraph.
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Preamble
こんにちは – kon’nichiwa – and welcome to the World Athletics Championships – night two!
In the summer of 1991, Toyko hosted this same competition, and to this day it stands as one of the greats, featuring perhaps the greatest men’s 100m race ever run. With Leroy Burrell looking set for victory, Carl Lewis came from nowhere, on his literal blind side – his right eye is legally so – dipping for a finish that took some time to unravel.
In the event, Lewis took gold by 0.02s, breaking the world record in the process, while Burrell also improved on his pre-existing mark; Dennis Mitchell, more on whom later, snaffled bronze. The overwhelming sense was that this was most significant sporting event in the world, the entire planet captivated.
Things have changed since then, Usain Bolt putting the leading mark so far out of sight as to be almost invisible; we are no longer inspired by watching the fastest humans ever to sprint the earth. On the other hand, though, Kishane Thompson and Noah Lyles could barely be split at the Olympics and since then, Oblique Seville has established himself as a serious rival, while Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek remain threats. Tonight’s final mightn’t be epochal, but it will be brilliant.
Similar is so in the women’s competition. The fastest runner on paper, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, is well past her best, so too Shericka Jackson and perhaps also Sha’Carri Richardson – who might still fancy herself to bring it home. More likely, though, the gold will be contested by Julien Alfred, the Olympic champ, and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, easily the fastest in the world this year – or, to put things another way, we’re in for a treat.
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