Canada's Ethan Katzberg wins hammer throw gold medal at World Athletics Championships
Raises national record to 81.25 metres in event debut to beat 2021 Olympic champion
Hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., has followed his first Canadian title with a world title.
Katzberg won a gold medal in his World Athletics Championships debut with a throw of 81.25 metres on Sunday, raising his Canadian record to beat 2021 Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki of Poland (81.02) in Budapest, Hungary.
Katzberg's effort, on his fifth of six attempts, vaulted him into first place to stay ahead of Nowicki and Bence Halász of Hungary (80.82, season best).
"My coach Dylan Armstrong told me to go for [the win]. I had 80 metres [on my first throw] so he [said] 'you gotta go for it, don't hold back' and I tried my best to do that," Katzberg, the first-ever Canadian men's hammer thrower to medal at worlds, told CBC Sports' Andi Petrillo.
On his final try, the 21-year-old Canadian threw 81.11 while Nowicki, the five-time world champion, went 80.36 and Halász didn't register a mark.
"It feels amazing," Katzberg said. "To become a world champion with a national record on top of that, it's a very, very good feeling. I'm thrilled."
Katzberg, who has seven victories in 13 events this season, is the first Canadian to medal at these worlds. He was fresh off a national-best 81.18 on Saturday to automatically qualify for the final.
They have definitely mentored me and physically prepared me for this competition.— Katzberg on his coach, Dylan Armstrong, and veteran throws coach Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk
He opened Sunday's competition with a 80.18 effort and followed with 80.02 before fouling on his third attempt. On his fourth try, Katzberg dipped below 80 metres for the first time in Budapest, throwing 79.82.
Katzberg credits Armstrong, who won shot put bronze for Canada at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and veteran throws coach Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk, a hammer-throw gold medallist for Ukraine at the 1972 Munich Games, for sculpting him into a world champion.
"He's been my coach but he's also been my mentor," he said. "He and Dr. Bondarchuk have been amazing mentors to me. They have so much knowledge shared between them. They have definitely mentored me and physically prepared me for this competition, and it worked out."
Before arriving in Hungary, Katzberg had a 78.73 PB from his winning performance on July 29 at the Canadian track and field championships in Langley, B.C.
The six-foot-six, 235-pound athlete has also thrown over 77 metres seven times after averaging 70-72 most of last season.
Katzberg showed a glimpse of his potential last August with a silver medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Adam Keenan of Victoria placed 11th in Sunday's 12-man field with a best throw of 74.49. On Saturday, the 29-year-old secured the 12th and final berth for the final by 42 centimetres over fellow Canadian Rowan Hamilton of Chilliwack, B.C.
Ahmed 6th in men's 10,000m
Elsewhere Sunday, Canadian distance runner Moh Ahmed vowed to have a better presence and be competitive in his two races at these worlds, and he delivered in the men's 10,000 final at the National Athletics Centre.
The St. Catharines, Ont., native stopped the clock in 27 minutes 56.43 seconds for sixth place in his first 10,000 on the track this season, matching his result from the previous two world championships in Eugene, Ore., (last year) and Doha, Qatar (2019).
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On Sunday, Ahmed positioned himself in the middle of the 25-man field for much of the race but made a move on the inside to second with about 1,600 metres to the finish line.
The 32-year-old, who was the lone Canadian in the event, remained in the top three for a bit before sliding to fifth at the bell lap with 400 metres left.
On the straightaway, Ahmed's closest competitors — Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, Kenya's Daniel Ebenyo and Ethiopia's Selemon Barega — pulled away and finished in that order. For Cheptegei, it's his second consecutive world title in the 10,000.
Ahmed, the reigning Olympic silver medallist in the 5,000, will compete in Round 1 of that event on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The final is Aug. 27 at 2:10 p.m.
Philibert-Thiboutot doesn't advance to 1,500m final
In the men's 1,500 semifinals, Quebec City's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot was 10th in his heat — the top six automatically advanced to Wednesday's final — and 24th of 27 finishers in a time of 3:37.41, nearly three seconds slower than Saturday's heats (3:34.60).
Philibert-Thiboutot, 32, will look ahead to the Paris Olympics next summer after meeting the automatic qualifying standard in mid-July at a Diamond League meet in Silesia, Poland.
Other Canadian results:
- Khamica Bingham, women's 100 heats — 11.29 seconds, 27th
- Django Lovett, men's high jump qualification — 2.22 metres (season best), 27th
- Grace Konrad, women's 400 heats — 51.60 PB, 30th; Kyra Constantine — 52.28, 35th
Lyles rules men's 100m
Noah Lyles captured the 100-metre title, finishing in 9.83 seconds for a victory that reshuffled the deck for next year's Paris Olympics and cements him as the world's No. 1 sprinter.
It was a victory that maybe only he and those close to him saw coming. The 200 specialist, who will defend his title in that event later this week, barely qualified for the shorter race after battling with COVID in the leadup to U.S. nationals last month.
More recently, he posted on social media he could run 9.65, a thought defending champion Fred Kerley scoffed at, saying if Lyles did that, he'd run faster.
But Kerley didn't make it out of the semifinal round and Lyles's closest competition in the final came from Letsile Tebogo, a 20-year-old from Botswana, who finished in 9.873, 1-1,000th of a second ahead of Britain's Zharnel Hughes.
"Fred Kerley is an absolute shocker because he was my slight favourite to win," said CBC Sports analyst Donovan Bailey.
Running from Lane 6, Lyles overcame a so-so start, and was running in about fourth place at the halfway mark. Everyone ahead of him was to his left, and he powered past them and through the line. His first embrace was with American teammate Christian Coleman, the 2019 champion who finished fifth.
"Noah Lyles is a veteran and at the end of the day, he's going to execute. If he has a bad start, he's going to execute properly," Bailey said.
Lyles has been unabashed about the mental-health struggles he's endured, especially in the post-COVID atmosphere of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He recently signed a deal for a Netflix series to take people behind the scenes of his training — the thought being that the sport, struggling for relevance in the post-Bolt era, needs more time in the limelight.
His latest gambit was the posting of his goals on Instagram. The 9.65 in the 100 is still a fair bit away, but he has a gold medal in the event and matched Hughes for the best time in the world this year. He also listed 19.10 as an aim in the 200, which would break Usain Bolt's record. The final in that event is set for Friday night.
Fraser-Pryce cruises to 11.01-second clocking
On the women's side, all the big names progressed safely through the first round of the 100, with the remarkable Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce looking in great form again as she seeks her sixth title at the age of 36.
The Jamaican, who had an injury-hit first part of the season, blasted out of the blocks and eased home in 11.01.
Jamaica has taken gold in six of the last eight 100 finals — five to Fraser-Pryce — but compatriot Shericka Jackson is probably favourite to extend that domination in Budapest.
Last year's silver medallist and reigning 200 champion, the season leader with 10.65 seconds, was in cruise control from the start in winning her heat in 11.06.
Their biggest rival is likely to be Sha'Carri Richardson, leading the American charge in her first global championships after being banned from the Tokyo Olympics and failing to qualify for last year's worlds. She looked quietly pleased as she sauntered home in 10.92, the fastest time of the day.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who has been in sparkling form in the Diamond League this season, looked sharp in winning her heat in 11.08, the nosiest of the day as home hope Boglarka Takacs also went through.
Monday's semifinals are scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET and the final at 3:50 p.m.
With files from The Canadian Press & Associated Press
