Warholm all-clear
Norwegian beats 400m hurdles great to win first gold
London, Aug. 10: Norway’s Karsten Warholm and Phyllis Francis produced sublime performances to stun the favourites and take gold at the athletics world championships on Wednesday.
Warholm, a baby-faced 21-year-old, led from start to finish to beat one of the all-time greats in the 400m hurdles Kerron Clement and give Norway their first gold in the event.
Clement, bidding to become the first man to win the hurdles world title three times, had to settle for bronze.
“I truly don’t believe it,” gasped Warholm, who put his fingers round his mouth after crossing the line, apeing the famous painting The Scream by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
“I’ve worked so hard for this but I don’t know what I have done. This is an amazing feeling. I’m world champion, that’s crazy,” he added.
Francis’s victory in the women’s 400 metres was even more surprising as the American, fifth in the Olympics last year, looked set for a minor medal at best with Bahama’s Shaunae Miller-Uibo set to add world gold to her Olympic crown.
However, the Bahamian tied up dreadfully in the final 20 metres and it was Francis who breasted the line in first with her legendary compatriot Allyson Felix third.
“At the finish line I was surprised, I thought I was second or third, but then they told me ‘you are first’. That is crazy,” said 25-year-old Francis after the race.
Miller-Uibo stumbled over the line and then collapsed on the track with not only her dreams of 400m gold having been shattered but also of doing the 400m/200m double.
For two other athletes though the dream double remains on course with Britain’s Mo Farah and South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk reaching the 5,000m and 200m finals respectively.
LAKSHMANAN FAILS TO QUALIFY
Govindan Lakshmanan ran his personal best but failed to qualify for the final round of the men’s 5000m race. The 27-yearold clocked 13 minute 35.69 second, nearly one second better than his earlier personal best of 13:36.62, in the first round heat number one but he ended up at the 15th spot in a top class field. Overall he finished 31st as top five from each of the two heats and the next fastest five from among the remaining runners qualify for the final round.