The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scot takes fourth in men’s marathon
American 100m champion says media needs a ‘bad boy’
Scotland’s Callum Hawkins said he was relishing the chance to battle Sir Mo Farah in the marathon from next year after finishing fourth at the World Championships in London.
The 25-year-old, ninth at last year’s Olympics in Rio, clocked a personal best of two hours 10 minutes and 17 seconds as he crossed the finish line at Tower Bridge 26 seconds off bronze.
Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui won in 2hr 8min 27sec.
Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola claimed silver and Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania took bronze.
Rose Chelimo, the Kenyan who now competes for Bahrain, took gold in the women’s event in 2:27:11. Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat of Kenya took silver, with Amy Cragg of the US taking bronze.
Katarina JohnsonThompson missed out on a heptathlon medal on what was a day to forget for British athletes.
The 24-year-old was tipped to make the podium in London but could not recover from an awful high jump on Saturday and finished fifth.
She was 240 points adrift of third-placed Anouk Vetter going into the 800m last night after five events and needed an unlikely result which never happened.
Gold went to Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium with 6,784 points, with Carolin Schafer of Germany (6,696) taking silver.
Johnson-Thompson fell 18cm short of her high jump personal best on Saturday and, despite coming second in the long jump, never looked likely to mount a stunning comeback.
She was the biggest casualty last night as none of the British athletes made their finals in the evening session, to pile the pressure on Laura Muir to win a medal in the 1,500m final today.
Johnson-Thompson clocked two minutes 08.10 seconds in the 800m to come second to record a total of 6,558 points.
London 2012 heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill collected her 2011 World Championships gold medal – denied her at the time by Russian drug cheat Tatyana Chernova – yesterday before Johnson-Thompson finished.
The 31-year-old offered to help her former team-mate and feels Johnson-Thompson will stick with her decision to train in France, rather than opt to link up with EnnisHill’s former coach Toni Minichiello.
Their was bitter disappointment for Andrew Pozzi, the European Indoor 60m hurdle champion, who failed to make the 110m hurdles final.
Elsewhere, the women’s sprinters of Asha Philip, Desiree Henry and Daryll Neita failed to reach the 100m semi-final.
Matthew Hudson-Smith ran a season’s best in the 400m but also did not progress, while Holly Bradshaw missed out on a medal in the pole vault.
Scotland’s Guy Learmonth failed to qualify for the 800m final after finishing fifth in his semi-final.
Meanwhile, America’s Tori Bowie won the women’s 100m gold from Marie-Josee Ta Lou, with Dafne Schippers in bronze.
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson only managed to finish fifth.
Justin Gatlin insisted his pariah status was undeserved as the least popular world 100m champion in history still refused to see his triumph over Usain Bolt as a setback for the sport.
The two-time drug cheat’s victory on Saturday night in 9.92 seconds was greeted by boos, as his every appearance at the London Stadium has been.
There is no hiding from the embarrassment the unrepentant American’s victory will cause to a sport still struggling to regain credibility in the wake of repeated doping scandals.
The retiring Bolt, cast as the ‘saviour’ of athletics in his battles with Gatlin, had his goodbye gatecrashed by the one man almost no one wanted to spoil the party.
Gatlin was effusive and gracious in his praise of bronze medallist Bolt after the race, bowing down to him on the track and lauding him in interviews, but for the 35-year-old sorry still seems to be the hardest word.
His first ban in 2001 he blamed on an amphetamine contained in attention deficit disorder medication.
The second in 2006, which resulted in a four-year suspension, reduced from eight on appeal, he attributed to a testosterone massage cream applied to his body without his knowledge.
Remorse has not been forthcoming – and still, at least publicly, is not.
Asked if he could understand why his victory was seen as a disaster for the sport, he said: “I really don’t need to understand.
“I can understand the rivalry that I have with Usain, but it’s not a bitter rivalry. I respect the man and every time we come across the line I’ve shaken his hand, given him a hug and told him congratulations and that’s all that really matters for me.
“I’m just a runner, I’m back in the sport, I’ve done my time.
“I’ ve come back, did community service, I talked to kids and inspired kids about the right path. That’s all I can do.
“Society does that for people who have made mistakes and I hope track and field can understand that to. That’s why I’m back in the sport and that’s why I’m still running.”
After the race Bolt was angered by a suggestion this year’s slower times – only he and Coleman broke 10 seconds before the final – came after a doping crackdown and insisted Gatlin had nothing to answer for now.
He said: “I’m sure everyone takes that very disrespectfully. We’ve proved we’ve worked hard, Justin has done his time over the years and has proven himself over and over again.
“I have proven myself over and over again, the young kid Coleman is coming in and has performed great and has shown the world he is going to be a great athlete.
“There’s something called injury and sometimes everything doesn’t go as smoothly as you want to – there’s wind and so many other things.”
He added: “Justin was the better man and he executed it well. For me he deserves to be here because he’s done his time and worked hard to get back to be one of the best athletes.
“He’s been injured and he’s come back. He’s like any other competitor.”
Plenty of athletes have returned from bans and won medals and received far warmer receptions.
Asked about his “bad boy” reputation, Gatlin said: “What do I do that makes me a bad boy?
“Do I talk bad about anybody? Do I give bad gestures? I don’t. I shake every athlete’s hand. I congratulate them, I tell them good luck. That doesn’t sound like a bad boy to me.
“It seems like the media want to sensationalise it and make me a bad boy because Usain is the hero.
“That’s fine, I know you’ve got to have a black hat and a white hat, but guys, come on.
“I keep it classy and I never talk bad. I try to inspire other athletes. I don’t see where the bad boy comes from.”
Lord Coe admitted he was far from “eulogistic” to see Gatlin get the gold.
Coe, president of world athletics governing body the IAAF, conceded it was “not the perfect script”.
Speaking on BBC 5 Live’s Sportsweek, Coe said: “I’m hardly going to sit here and tell you I’m eulogistic that somebody that has served two bans in our sport would walk off with one of our glittering prizes, but he is eligible to be here.”
I’m just a runner, I’m back in the sport, I’ve done my time. JUSTIN GATLIN