From Wayde to Isaac: Seven highlights of the world championships
THE IAAF World Championships drew to a close producing one of the most drama-filled showpieces in years with a host of upsets signalling the changing of the guard.
Usain Bolt and Mo Farah conceded their 100m and 5 000m crowns respectively proving they were mere mortals after all.
The championships were the perfect display of what the sport is about, with a healthy spread of medals between the nations. We unpack the highs of the biennial showpiece. Wayde van Niekerk – twotime world champion Aiming for the stars, Wayde van Niekerk came into the championships with the hopes of becoming only the second man to win the 200-400m double gold after Michael Johnson in Gothenburg 1995.
The 400m world record-holder came painstakingly close to achieving this feat, racing to gold in the 400m before clinching the silver in the 200m.
There is no doubting Van Niekerk’s growing legend as he nearly reached one of the pinnacles of his sport in a tough week involving six consecutive days of competitive racing. Treble golden girl Caster Semenya Chasing her own double Caster Semenya attempted to become the first woman to win both the 800m and the 1 500m at the world championships.
Racing the 1 500m purely for fun, Semenya was delighted to come away with the bronze.
As the pièce de résistance she won her third 800m world title, crossing the line in her 19th consecutive final to confirm her absolute dominance in the two-lap event over the past two years.
Semenya did not only beat a world-class field but also won over the passionate crowd with her winning smile and golden glow. South Africa’s sand angel Luvo Manyonga Dropping into the pit where he only moments before landed a world-title winning leap, Luvo Manyonga made a sand angel signifying his rise since his fall from grace.
The horizontal jumps phenom came into the championships as the resounding favourite with a world leading 8.65m but an injury before the championships placed some doubts on his chances.
Despite the flashbacks of his one-centimetre Olympic defeat, Manyonga did not disappoint as he claimed victory with a winning jump of 8.48m to add to his world junior crown from 2010. Lebogang Shange gets close to a medal Shange produced one of South Africa’s gutsiest and inspiring performances of the championships when came within striking distance of winning a 20-kilometre Race Walk medal.
Moving like a man possessed, Shange went from 20th position and trailing by 30 seconds at the halfway mark, to move into the lead with three kilometres to go.
The little walker finished just 14 seconds behind the bronze medallist but there is certainly no shame in fourth, when nobody gave him a chance.
Shange broke the national record in the process. Ruswahl Samaai glitters with bronze Sharing a podium with Luvo Manyonga, Ruswahl Samaai was the poster child of perseverance as he brushed off the disappointment of the Rio Olympics to play his part in South Africa’s first double medal-haul in the same final at the global showpiece.
Samaai hovered outside a podium place after four rounds before leaping to third place on his fifth and securing the bronze on his final jump of 8.32m to give South Africa a memorable near-sweep of the medals. Usain Bolt is human after all The build-up to the championships centred around Jamaican sprinting legend Usain Bolt’s final hurrah before drawing the curtain on one of the greatest careers in track and field.
Bowing out with the 100m bronze medal did little to tarnish an unprecedented career which included seven individual world titles and six individual Olympic golds.
Instead it enhanced his legend give us mere mortals hope that our heroes are not infallible.
Bolt’s showmanship, but more importantly his incredible athletic ability, will be missed.
Here’s to the greatest of all time! The Isaac Makwala challenge Botswana’s Isaac Makwala hogged the headlines, becoming one of the crowd favourites while sparking a viral socialmedia trend.
Makwala missed out on the 400m after he was placed under 48-hours quarantine following a confirmed outbreak of norovirus among athletes, but featured in the 200m final.
After initially missing out on the heats, Makwala was offered a time-trial in the pouring rain to qualify for the semifinals.
Makwala dipped below the required time, the one-arm sleeve-wearing athlete dropping to the track and entertaining the crowd with a few press ups.
Imitating Makwala, fans from around the world wore from plastic bags to socks on their arms doing push-ups on social media videos.