Olympics champs reign supreme

Eugene (USA), July 19

Experience prevailed on Day 4 of the World Championships with Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon and Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas among the Olympics champions standing on top of the podium.

Kipyegon, winner of the last two Olympics 1,500m titles, finished with a remarkable time of three minutes, 52.96 seconds to regain her world crown.

Rojas dominated the triple jump from start to finish and cruised to gold after jumping 15.47m to claim her third straight world title.

Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim, who famously shared Olympics gold with Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi last year, won an unprecedented third straight world high jump title after clearing a world-leading 2.37m with ease.

Double Olympics champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium pulled out a last-gasp victory over Dutch rival Anouk Vetter to reclaim her world heptathlon title. In the morning session, Gotytom Gebreslase won the women’s marathon in a championship record time of 2 hours, 18.11 minutes. — Reuters