World Championships day one recap

August 22, 2015
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Mo farah

The IAAF World Championships have officially kicked off in Beijing. Day one on the track has come to a close today (Beijing is 12 hours ahead of Toronto.) Today was quite an exciting one for fans of running. Here’s what you missed:

Men’s Marathon

The first gold medal won at the World Championships went to a teenager who placed first in the men’s marathon today in China. Eritrean runner Ghirmay Ghebreslassie is just 19 years old but is already fast enough to have taken the lead running a 2:12:27 marathon for a first place win today. He took the lead after the 36K point beating out Yeman Tsegay from Ethiopia who placed second (2:13:08) and Munyo Solomon Mutai who finished third in 2:13:30. This was Ghebreslassie’s third marathon so far. For a more detailed report, see here.

Men’s 10,000m

Mo Farah took the win in today’s 10,000m running a 27:01:13. Track fanatics would not be surprised by this result– it’s his sixth consecutive global title. This is also the fastest 10,000m run in Bird’s Nest Stadium. In second and third place were Kenyan runners Geoffrey Kamworor ((27:01:76) and Paul Tanui (27:02:83). Canada’s much-adored Cam Levins placed 14th today running 28:15. Farah is up again next Saturday running the 5,000m

  Winning comes easy. Coming up with a new celebration every time is the tough part for @Mo_Farah.(via Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/gMiEDQ3jJB — Chris Chavez (@Chris_J_Chavez) August 22, 2015

Men’s 3,000m steeplechase 

Canada’s Matt Hughes raced the 3,000m steeplechase in Beijing today and is advancing to the finals. he placed third in his heat running a 8:41:52. “I felt some push and it wasn’t the guys I thought. Everyone is beatable when I’m on top of my game,” Hughes said in an interview with Athletics Canada today after his race. “My plan was to lay low for the first part, I was confident I could kick with them, I came off the corner hard to get a good last water jump in.”

The finals take place in the afternoon session of Aug. 24. Alex Genest didn’t have as good of a race today. he fell around the one kilometre mark and is disappointed with his race. He placed 10th in his heat running 8:52:49.

Women’s 1,500m 

Nicole Sifuentes represented Canada in the 1,500m heats today. She placed eight in heat two running 4:12:82. She won’t be advancing to semi-finals. The Winnipeg tweeted her disappointment after he race today however the athlete has a new PB in the 5,000m which she will run on Thursday.

Women’s heptathlon 

Saskatchewan athlete Brianne Theisen-Eaton had an excellent day in the women’s heptathlon with a PB in the 100m hurdles. So far, the athlete is in fourth place in the event having scored more points than this phase in the event in 2013 where she placed silver. her time in the 100m hurdles was 12.98. She also ran the 200m with a time of 23.94. The runner’s goal this year is to make it to the podium.

Men’s 100m semi-finals Andre Dr Grasse after winning 100m final at the Pan Am Games.Sprint rivals Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin sailed into the semi-finals of the men’s 100 metres on Saturday. Boos rang round a packed Bird’s Nest in Beijing when Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, was introduced to the crowd. But the 33-year-old American roared home in the fastest time of 9.83 seconds while defending champion Bolt, greeted with whoops at the stadium in which he took the world by storm at the 2008 Olympics, finished with a comfortable 9.96.

 Bolt is known for his complete dominance of sprinting. The only time he has failed to land a major title was when he was disqualified for a false start in the 100m in Daegu four years ago.

“Overall it was good,” said Bolt. “I wasn’t trying to run fast. I was just trying to do as much as possible to get through the round. I know tomorrow, just watching the guys and how fast they’re running, the semi-finals are going to be pretty fast,” he said.

Gatlin has clocked the quickest time in the world this year of 9.74. Asked about Bolt shutting his race down at around 60 metres and coasting to the finish, Gatlin shrugged: “You look at Bolt, he did the same thing in 2012 (at the London Olympics). He ran kind of slow in the first round, picked up in the semis and crushed it in the final.”

Canadian hope Andre De Grasse, 20, timing 9.99 in his heat. The other two Canadians who raced were Justyn Warner who ran 10.20 placing fifth in his heat and Aaron Brown who ran 10.03 today. The semi-finals and final are scheduled for the evening session on Sunday.

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