Canada's Marco Arop glides into 800m semifinals after winning heat at worlds
Kenyan world record holder Faith Kipyegon retains 1,500 world title
Canada's Marco Arop cruised into the men's 800-metre semifinals on Tuesday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Arop, the reigning bronze medallist, made his move to the front of the pack with about 200 metres remaining and never looked back, winning the last of seven heats with a time of one minute 45.05 seconds.
WATCH | Arop qualifies for 800 semis:
The 24-year-old ran over one second faster to land on the podium at 2022 worlds in Eugene, Ore.
Arop, who was born in Sudan and raised in Edmonton, made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and is the defending Pan Am champion. He's now the top-ranked 800m racer in the world.
"The world rankings at this point mean nothing to me," Arop told CBC Sports' Andi Petrillo after the race. "It won't mean anything unless I can prove it on the world stage here and that's what I plan on doing."
WATCH | Arop chats with CBC Sports after winning heat:
Emmanuel Korir, the reigning Olympic and world champion from Kenya, ran a season-best 1:46.78, but finished fourth in his heat and failed to qualify. The fastest qualifier was fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi at 1:44.92.
Canada's Abdullahi Hassan, making his world championship debut, won't advance after crossing the finish line fifth in his heat at 1:46.33.
WATCH | Athletics North Day 4 recap:
Arop was the second Canadian man to ever medal at worlds in the event after Gary Reed won silver in 2007 in Osaka, Japan.
He'll return to the track for semis on Thursday. The medal race goes Saturday.
Watch Athletics North every day during the World Athletics Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Sports YouTube Channel for a rundown of the day's top stories and events. Rob Pizzo will be joined by our track and field analysts, including Morgan Campbell, to bring you the latest storylines.
Kipyegon still the 1,500 queen
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon set three world records this year. She didn't need a fourth as she won her second consecutive world title in the 1,500.
Kipyegon, 29, controlled Tuesday's race from start to finish, bursting out to the lead through 100 metres and controlling the pace the rest of the way.
WATCH l Kate Van Buskirk reacts to Faith Kipyegon's 1,500m gold:
As two relatively slow laps passed without any of Kipyegon's competitors making a move, it started to become clear that Kenyan, who also won the last two Olympic gold medals in the discipline, would not be surpassed.
"It was her race to lose. I think the other athletes felt that out too," said CBC Sports analyst Kate Van Buskirk, who won the 2013 and 2014 Canadian titles in the 1,500. "At one point in the race, the commentator said, 'They're deferring to her, they've let her control it.' And that's a mistake because it played out perfectly into her hands."
She eventually crossed the finish line in 3:54.87, well behind her world-record time of 3:49.11 set in June.
"This is a great season for me," Kipyegon said. "I told myself, 'You are the strongest and just keep going.'"
WATCH | Breaking down Kipyegon's GOAT status:
Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji snagged silver at 3:55.69, while the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan took bronze at 3:56 flat.
No time for rest, though. Kipyegon will be back on the track Wednesday evening for the start of the 5,000. She got a bit of a longer break than expected with officials moving the event to the night session due to excessive heat forecast for Wednesday morning.
"Because of the mentality, it's because of the confidence she ran with today. She's also so strong. I don't think I see a path where she doesn't win," Van Buskirk said.
Hassan will be in the field, too, and running her third event at worlds. Hassan earned a medal Tuesday after a fall over the weekend cost her one. Hassan tumbled about 25 or so metres from the finish line in the 10,000.
In men's high jump, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi added a world title to his Olympic title. Tamberi, with one side of his face cleanly shaved, the other side stubbly, finished just ahead of American JuVaughn Harrison.
"I need to celebrate this medal," said Tamberi, who shaves one half of his face and leaves the other half with stubble. "Because after one year of sacrifices and diet, I deserve it."
Qatar's Mutaz Barshim, who shared Tokyo gold with Tamberi and had won the last three world titles, took bronze.
WATCH | Tamberi wins high jump gold:
Other Canadian results
Racing in the men's 3,000 steeplechase final, Jean-Simon Desgagnés placed eighth, setting a personal best of 8:15.58.
"I'm feeling incredible. The progression I had in the last year was just insane," said Desgagnés, who placed 36th at last year's worlds.
Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali rose to the occasion once again at a big meet in defending his steeplechase world title. For Lamecha Girma, the world record holder in steeplechase, it was another silver medal. He's finished runner-up three times at worlds and at the Tokyo Games to El Bakkali.
In the women's 110 hurdles, Canada's Michelle Harrison advanced to Wednesday's semifinals with a time of 12.88 seconds.
The 30-year-old Saskatoon, Sask., native also reached the semifinals last year, but a personal-best clocking of 12.74 seconds wasn't enough to race for a medal.
WATCH | Harrison through to semis:
Mariam Abdul-Rashid, of Oshawa, Ont., won't advance with her time of 13.04 seconds.
The final goes on Thursday.
Also, Canadian Savannah Sutherland saw her world championship debut come to an end, placing sixth in her 400 hurdles semifinal at 54.99 seconds and failing to qualify for the medal race.
Sutherland, the 20-year-old from Borden, Sask., competes at the University of Michigan and won the NCAA title in June with a personal-best time of 54.45 seconds.
The Olympic qualifying standard is 54.85 seconds, but Sutherland's NCAA title time wasn't within the window.
"It gives a ton of confidence. I'm about 3.5 seconds faster than I was this time last year, so that's definitely something to build on," Sutherland said.
WATCH | Canadians to know at worlds:
Heatwave causes change to schedule
Earlier, the start of the women's 5,000 heats was moved from the morning session Wednesday into the evening because of excessive heat.
With the forecast expected to be around 32 degrees C, World Athletics decided to reschedule for about eight hours later in the day. The switch announced Tuesday also means the heats for the men's and women's 200 will be moved up about 30 minutes.
World Athletics uses its own measuring system and determined the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature shows "increases the risk of exertional heat stroke." WBGT is an international standard for measuring the heat, humidity and thermal stress conditions.
To keep fans cool, organizers handed out free water both inside and outside the stadium. They also distributed hand fans.
For the morning sessions, spectators with tickets in the sunnier sections will be allowed to move to empty seats in the shade.
American Tausaga wins stunning gold
Also, Laulauga Tausaga obliterated her personal best by over four metres to take a stunning world discus gold just as fellow American and favourite Valarie Allman had been seemingly cruising towards the title.
Tausaga came into the final with a best of 65.46 metres but somehow found 69.49 with her fifth throw before sprinting into the crowd to celebrate with her incredulous supporters.
Allman owned the top six throws of the season coming into Budapest, the best of them almost three metres better than anyone else in the field.
China's Feng Bin claimed bronze with a final round throw of 68.20.
Live coverage of the entire meet is available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem through Sunday.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
