Niklas Kaul wins decathlon, Damian Warner takes bronze

Olympic bronze medallist Damian Warner had to settle for bronze once again as the decathlon wrapped up with the 1,500m moments ago in Doha. Twenty-one-year-old Niklas Kaul of Germany, who was in first position going into the race after scoring the best javelin result in the history of the decathlon, had to beat Estonia’s Maicel Uibo by about three seconds in order to win the gold medal. Kaul ran a beautifully disciplined race, hanging back until the second lap before demolishing the field with a season’s best 4:15.70, more than six seconds ahead of countryman Tim Nowak (who finished 13th overall) and 15 seconds ahead of Uibo, who wins the silver medal just minutes after his wife, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, won silver in the women’s 400m.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE for @DamianWarner ?

8529 total pts
110mH- 13.56
Discus- 42.19
Pole Vault- 4.70m
Javelin- 62.87m
1500m- 4:40.77

?? @DamianWarner continued to battle, claiming the Decathlon World Championship bronze medal ? #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/4OE0OZKdSA

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) October 3, 2019

Canada’s Pierce LePage finished fifth, with 8,445 points, in his first World Championships.

Point totals–top 5

1. Niklas Kaul 8,691
2. Maicel Uibo 8,604
3. Damian Warner 8,529
4. Ilya Shkurenyov 8,494
5. Pierce LePage 8,445

RELATED: Kevin Mayer bails out of pole vault, destroys medal chances in Doha

Going into the final event, Uibo led with 7,869 points, followed by Warner in second position with 7,854 and Kaul only six points behind him, with 7,850. LePage was in fifth place behind Ilya Shkurenyov (7,826), with 7,796 points.

Defending champion Kevin Mayer made it through six events but was unable to pole vault, after sustaining an injury during the hurdles competition, smashing any chance of a medal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3KybIri90W/

The women’s 1,500m took place earlier today, with Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford advancing to the final, which goes Saturday at 1:55 p.m. ET. DeBues-Stafford, who has broken no fewer than seven Canadian records on the track this year, finished second in the second of two heats, and it was a quick one–Jenny Simpson ran 4:00.99 for the top spot, 13 seconds faster than Sifan Hassan’s 4:14.69 from heat one. The first five finishers from each heat auto-qualled, with the next two fastest (both of whom were in heat two) qualifying based on their time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3HxOGBHSHl/

RELATED: Gabriela DeBues-Stafford sets 7th Canadian record of 2019

Here’s the startlist for Saturday’s final:

1. Jenny Simpson (USA)
2. Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (Canada)
3. Laura Muir (Great Britain)
4. Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia)
5. Winny Chebet (Kenya)
6. Winnie Nanyondo (Uganda)
7. Nikki Hiltz (USA)
8. Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
9. Shelby Houlihan (USA)
10. Rababe Arafi (Morocco)
11. Faith Kipyegon (Kenya)
12. Ciara Mageean (Ireland)

You can catch all the action in Doha live at www.cbcsports.ca. For full results, click here.