IAAF World Championships

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Wins Record Third World Champs 100m Gold Medal

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Wins Record Third World Champs 100m Gold Medal

Aug 23, 2015 by Taylor Dutch
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Wins Record Third World Champs 100m Gold Medal


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BEIJING - The third evening of the 2015 World Championships featured Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce winning a record third world championship in the 100m.

Fraser-Pryce won in 10.76, the fastest time ever recorded in Beijing for the women’s 100m. This is her third 100m gold medal at the world championships, bringing her career gold medal total to seven at major championships, including two at Olympic 100m.

Fraser-Pryce exploded from the blocks and took to the lead immediately. A late charge by runner-up Dafne Schippers was almost an upset, but the Jamaican superstar excecuted her finish to bring glory to Jamaica.

Schippers of the Netherlands took silver in 10.81, a new national record. Schippers’ accomplishment is especially impressive considering she just became a full time sprinter. Schippers won the heptathlon bronze medal at the 2013 world champs. In a similar story of up-and-coming sprinters, American Tori Bowie, whose primary event once was the long jump, took bronze in 10.86.



The men’s steeplechase proved to be a huge victory for the Kenyan team, who swept the first four spots. Ezekiel Kemboi won his fourth steeplechase world championships gold medal, an incredible feat for the 33-year-old who has been winning medals at the championships since 2009. 
American Evan Jager fell short of medal hopes by finishing sixth with a hard fought effort. His Bowerman TC teammate Dan Huling finished fifth in his first world championship final. For more info on the men’s steeplechase, here.

The women’s 10,000m final featured a thrilling finish between Americans Molly Huddle and Emily Infeld. Huddle crossed the finish line with her arms in the air, presuming she had just won the bronze medal. But it was Infeld who made a mad dash to the line and out leaned Huddle for America’s first medal in the event since Kara Goucher in 2007. Vivian Cheruiyot and Gelete Burka took home gold and silver. For more info on the race, here.

Akron NCAA Champion and Bowerman Award finalist Shawn Barber won the gold medal in the men’s pole vault. The 21-year-old cleared 5.90m on his first attempt, while Raphael Holzdeppe met the height on his third attempt. Both vaulters failed to pass the 6.00m mark and Barber won on account of having no misses up until that point. He won Canada’s first gold medal of the 2015 championship.

LaShawn Merritt was the lone American qualifier in the men’s 400m semifinal. The defending world champion will have some work to do in the final on Wednesday evening in this very deep 400m field. World leader Isaac Makwala recorded 44.11 in his semi, while Olympic champion Kirani James appeared to jog in a 44.16 in his section. Wayde Van Niekerek, Yousef Ahmed Masrahi and Luguelin Santos have recorded very impressive times throughout the first two rounds of competition and this race is sure to be an exciting final.

Three American Women Advance to Steeplechase Final

For the first time ever, three American women will represent the United States in the women’s steeplechase final after Stephanie Garcia, Colleen Quigley and Emma Coburn secured their spots for medal contention in Beijing. 
 
Stephanie Garcia made her presence known early on in the first heat, trailing Madeline Heiner in heat 1 until the final 2 laps when Hiwot Ayalew of Ethiopia opened a gap. Garcia pushed on to finish third overall and earn an automatic qualifying spot in a time of 9:29. Florida State’s NCAA Champion Colleen Quigley powered through a tough second heat with a sixth-place finish overall in 9:29.09 in a race that included Olympic silver medalist Habiba Ghribi. Emma Coburn asserted herself as the leader in heat three until the final lap when the USATF Outdoor Champion was out-kicked by Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi and Sofia Assefa. Coburn managed to close in 9:27 which was good enough for third overall and an automatic qualifying spot into the final. 
 
Quigley learned of her fate after heat three when the results showed that she would advance as the second to last time qualifier into the final. The performance marks the first time three American women will advance into a World Championship final in the steeplechase, and the first time in history that six American steeplechasers, men and women, will race in the World final. 
 
The American men got the momentum going on day 1 in Beijing after Evan Jager, Donn Cabral and Dan Huling all earned World Championships final spots in their respective heats. The men's steeplechase final is set to go down during today's afternoon session, while the women's final will take place on August 26. 

Watch Coburn give her take on her chances at a World Championship medal:



Allyson Felix Leads Natasha Hastings, Phyllis Francis In 400m

Allyson Felix easily took care of business in heat 1 of the first round of the women’s 400m with a winning time of 50.60, which is 0.55 off her season’s best and 0.29 seconds ahead of runner-up Floria Guei. Felix's 400m performance marks the first time the Olympic Champion is attempting the distance at a World Championship since earning a silver medal in the event at the 2011 World Championships. 
 
In her first World Championships experience, Phyllis Francis ran an outdoor season’s best of 50.52 to advance with a runner-up finish to Olympic bronze medalist Christine Day of Jamaica. Natasha Hastings closed for a third-place finish in heat 2 to advance automatically into the semi-final round of the women’s 400m set to go off on August 25. 
 

Jeff Henderson Leads Men’s Long Jump Qualifying Round

The USATF Outdoor Champion solidified his spot at the top with a finishing mark of 8.36m, which is 0.11m ahead of the next best qualifying mark of 8.25m from Olympic Champion Greg Rutherford of Great Britain. Mike Hartfield qualified out of group B as well with a final mark of 8.13m, which advanced to the final as the third-best mark of the day from both groups. The final of the men’s long jump will go down Monday August 25. 
 

Favorites Advance to Women’s Pole Vault Final

The women’s pole vault final will be a showdown for the ages as 2014 World Indoor Champion Yarisley Silva, 2011 World Champion Fabiana Murer, and Olympic Champion Jenn Suhr all advanced to the final round of competition. 
 
Suhr will be joined by Team USA member and NCAA Indoor Champion Sandi Morris, who also advanced to the final in group A. The performance marks Morris’ first World Championship final of her career.