Canada's Gabriela DeBues-Stafford advances to 1,500 metres final
24-year-old Toronto native finishes 2nd in heat in 4:01.04
Canadian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford advanced to Saturday's 1,500-metre final at the track and field world championships in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Toronto native finished second in the second heat of the semifinal with a time of four minutes 1.04 seconds.
Jenny Simpson of the United States finished one spot ahead of DeBues-Stafford in 4:00.99.
WATCH | DeBues-Stafford claims 2nd in Women's 1,500m semifinal:
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands took first place in the first heat with a time of 4:14.69. American-record holder Shelby Houlihan and Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon of Kenya also automatically qualified by finishing in the top five of the first heat.
"It's exciting," said DeBues-Stafford. "I was a bit nervous coming into this because I know I belong in the final, but you never know what can happen."
Canadian Tim Nedow advances to shot put final
WATCH | Tim Nedow qualifies for shot put final with last throw:
Tim Nedow, Canada's only participant in men's shot put, advanced to the final with a throw of 20.94m on his third and final attempt in the qualification round. Nedow placed seventh in Group A.
"It was really my only option because the same throw wasn't going to cut it," said Nedow. "We have such a strong group of guys, it's so fun. I'm so proud to be part of this historic shot put final. It's going to be something crazy."
Tomas Walsh of New Zealand finished ahead of the pack with a throw of 21.92m, while Brazilian Darlan Romani put up the second best distance with 21.69m. Twelve men qualified for the final.
Ryan Crouser of the United States also secured his place in the shot put final with a throw of 21.67m to lead Group B. Crouser won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Gong Lijiao takes shot put
Gong Lijiao won the women's shot put final with a mark of 19.55m. Lijiao won her first world title at the 2017 world championships in London, and she clinched the Diamond League title in Brussels earlier this year.
WATCH | Brittany Crew 8th in shot put:
Toronto's Brittany Crew, the Canadian record holder, finished eighth in the women's shot put final with a top throw of 18.55 metres. She was sixth at the last worlds in 2017.
"I tried my absolute best so I can't be upset or disappointed," Crew said. "It just didn't happen for me today but it's OK. I'm super proud of myself. It's going to be a big fight in Tokyo."
Salwa Eid Naser's phenomenal 400m final
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser has won the women's 400 metres in the third-fastest time ever, leaving Shaunae Miller-Uibo still without a world championship gold medal.
Naser, who was born in Nigeria as Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu and later switched allegiance to Bahrain, took the lead on the second turn and held off Miller-Uibo on the last stretch to win in 48.14 seconds. That's the fastest anyone has run in the 34 years since Marita Koch of East Germany set the world record at 47.60.
Shericka Jackson won bronze for Jamaica in 49.47.
Miller-Uibo is the Olympic champion and won 400 silver in 2015 and 200 bronze in 2017.
Naser is competing in Doha while Bahrain is part of a regional diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar that has been in place since 2017.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen leads 1,500m heats
The fastest six competitors from all three heats automatically advanced to the semifinals of the men's 1,500m.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway finished atop the standings in the first heat of the event with a time of 3:37.67. American Olympic gold medallist Matthew Centrowitz also qualified after finishing third place in the first heat with a time of 3:37.69.
Ronald Musagala of Uganda claimed the last automatic qualifying position of the third heat with a time of 3:36.54. Musagala holds the national Ugandan record in the 1,500m and is searching for his first championship.