De Grasse takes bronze for Canada’s first medal at Doha

Christian Coleman lived up to expectations, scoring a decisive win and lifetime best in the men’s 100m in Doha today with 9.76 for his first world championship victory. Coleman moves up to sixth on the all-time list with this performance. Justin Gatlin took silver in 9.89 and Canada’s Andre De Grasse bronze, with a new personal best of 9.90 and Canada’s first medal at these World Championships.

?? @De6rasse 0.06 seconds away from the 100m Canadian record ?

Bronze medal for the 24 year-old Canadian! ?#WorldAthleticsChamps https://t.co/tEZVafvdum

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) September 28, 2019

It was sweet vindication for Coleman after the threat of not being allowed to compete due to some missed drug tests a few weeks ago, and also for De Grasse, who has been beset by repeated injuries in the years since his three-medal performance at Rio in 2016.

De Grasse had significant ground to make up after an indifferent start, but surged ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine for third place.

Canada’s Aaron Brown did not have a good start, and finished eighth, in 10.08.

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Andre De Grasse shares his bronze-medal moment with young daughter Yuri ? pic.twitter.com/nPFCISdLdv

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) September 28, 2019

Women’s 10,000m

In the women’s 10,000m, it was the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, who set a world record in the mile at Monaco Diamond League in July, for the win in a world leading 30:17.6, followed by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia in second, with a PB of 30:21.2. Agnes Tirop of Kenya, who also won the bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships, was third again, with a PB of 30:25.2.

Despite having an incredible season, Hassan is relatively inexperienced at this distance, and in fact did not look comfortable earlier in the race, hanging near the back of the lead pack of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners. With eight and a half laps to go, Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (who would finish fifth), who won the World Cross-Country Championships in Denmark in March, went to the front before being overtaken by Gidey, who poured on a sprint with 1,500m left. But Hassan came roaring back in the final 200m, breaking Gidey’s heart. Hassan ran the final 1,500m in an astonishing 3:59.09.

Sifan Hassan wins the 10,000-meter world title in 30:17.62.

She ran her final 1600 meters in 4:17.

Holy crap.

— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) September 28, 2019

Americans Marielle Hall, Molly Huddle and Emily Sisson finished eighth, ninth and 10th, with Hall setting a PB of 31:05.71. Canada’s Natasha Wodak finished 17th, in 32:31.19.

Mixed 4x400m relay

The Canadian team, consisting of Austin Cole, Aiyanna Stiverne, Madeleine Price and Philip Osei set a Canadian record in 3:16.76, but did not advance.

Women’s 800m semis

Canada’s Lindsey Butterworth narrowly missed advancing to the final of the women’s 800m, finishing ninth in the semifinals.