Australia’s Mackenzie Little one bronze in the women’s javelin at the World Athletics Championships overnight, nailing her first throw and holding a spot on the podium.
Little, a doctor at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital apart from being a world-class athlete, won Australia’s third medal of the meet with a throw of 63.58m. She trailed only Ecuador’s Juleisy Angulo (65.12m) and Latvia’s Anete Sietiņa (64.64m).
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“When I opened up with that 63, I was crowding on the line and I knew that there was more, but I also just knew that 63 would not cut it (for gold),” Little said.
“I really just tried to give my all throughout the competition, and I couldn’t be happier for Anete who I’ve known since 2013 when we competed at the World Youth Championships, when we stood together on the podium. I’m just thrilled.”
Little, 28, has only competed 10 times this year, though is still ranked No.5 in the world. She also won bronze at the previous world championships in Budapest, and starred again despite her work demands.
“Sometimes I only have an hour or so for my session in the evening so that’s all I’m going to get. It’s something I want to work on,” she said.
“It’s easy to say that I have this wonderful balance and everything comes perfectly together when I’ve got a nice medal around my neck, but things have been hard, and for me I also know that I compete best when I’m really happy and fulfilled in other parts of my life. My work is so fulfilling at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Rose Davies (10th) and and teammate Linden Hall (11th) put in strong efforts overnight in the women’s 5000m final, in which Kenya took gold and silver through world record holder Beatrice Chebet and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon.
Matthew Denny had a ‘one and done’ throw of 66.63m in men’s discus qualification, beating the auto-qualifying mark of 66.50 on his first throw. The 29-year-old is gunning for his first major medal.
“One and done. I’m grateful to be through to the final. It’s not always easy, and we tried to not push the gears so high and overextend because obviously the final is tomorrow night and I need to be ready for that,” Denny said.
“It’s nice to throw that far quite easily without too much exertion and nice to be in Tokyo Stadium again. I think I feel I’ve never felt more ready to throw and win.”
Jess Hull makes 800 metres history | 00:46
Australia’s relay squads had a mixed night, with just one team surviving heats across the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m.
The men’s 4x100m team of Connor Bond, Joshua Azzopardi, Calab Law and Rohan Browning, were fourth in Heat 2 and qualified for the final in 38.21sec.
“We can definitely go faster in the final. We went 37.87 in Sydney earlier this year and this team’s just as good. 38.2 is a good time but that’s not what we’re here for,” Law said.
The men’s 4x400m team were disqualified after crossing the line in third in what was thought to be a new Australian record. Cooper Sherman, Reece Holder, Aidan Murphy and Thomas Reynolds ran 2:58.00, yet Murphy was judged to have stepped out of the exchange box before Holder had passed the baton.
The women’s 4x100m relay team of Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Kristie Edwards and Torrie Lewis also experienced devastation, with Connolly and Masters fumbling the baton exchange for a DNF.
The Women’s 4x400m team of Mia Gross, Ellie Beer, Jemma Pollard and Carla Bull produced a season’s best of 3:25.43 to finish seventh in their heat.
TRACK SUPERSTARS SHINE
Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Beatrice Chebet made it a memorable night for Kenya at the world championships on Saturday as they produced outstanding performances to win the men’s 800 metres and women’s 5,000m respectively.
Just over a year ago the duo left Paris as Olympic champions, while Chebet won both the 5,000 and 10,000m golds.
On Saturday, in front of over 58,000 spectators at Japan’s National Stadium, she achieved the same feat, beating her idol Faith Kipyegon to become only the third woman to do the distance double at a world championships.
Wanyonyi’s blisteringly fast race was watched by retired Kenyan 800m legend David Rudisha, who sat beside another man who knows a thing or two about the two-lap race, two-time Olympic silver medallist and World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe.
Rudisha produced one of the all-time great Olympic performances when he broke the world record to win gold at the 2012 London Games.
There was never any question of that happening in Saturday’s final, Wanyonyi winning in a championship record time of 1min 41.86sec.
However, Rudisha has all but anointed the 21-year-old former cattle herder as the man most likely to set a new record.
“Maybe I will start to think about the world record,” Wonyonyi said. “I also want to win gold in Los Angeles in 2028. That’s the biggest goal. “I met David Rudisha yesterday. He told me just to take a rest and focus, and everything is possible.”
Chebet enjoys a close friendship with Kipyegon, who is six years her senior, but on the track she is not overawed by one of the legends of athletics.
Indeed Chebet has every chance of being accorded similar status, given her increasingly impressive gold medals tally.
Kipyegon, despite her disappointment at failing to repeat her world 1,500m/5000m double from the 2023 Budapest championships, embraced Chebet warmly at the finish.
“Going home with two gold medals makes me really happy,” said Chebet. “Me and Faith have been friends for a long time. We motivate each other and I am really pleased with our performances.”
Kipyegon, who retained the 1,500m title earlier in the week, said Chebet “is the best”.
“I’m now going to have some sleep and go back home and enjoy some time with my daughter,” she added.
The women’s 4x100m relay final on Sunday may come to be remembered more for the handing over of the baton from 38-year-old Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to the new queen of the sprints, America’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
However, Fraser-Pryce will hope to bow out after almost two decades at the top by denying Jefferson-Wooden a third gold medal, which would equal her achievement in Moscow in 2013.
The USA men’s 4x100m relay teams have gained a reputation down the years for fouling up baton exchanges — the latest example came at the Olympics last year.
This time though it was not them but their great rivals Jamaica who came up short as Ryiem Forde’s handover to 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson on the anchor leg went awry.
The two did not exchange a word as they walked the 90 metres or so to the line in a heat won by Olympic champions Canada.
Anna Hall exchanged world silver for gold in the heptathlon, but it was Kate O’Connor’s performance that caught the eye as the 24-year-old took silver, a first ever in the event for Ireland.
In fact, it was just Ireland’s seventh medal in championships history and their first since 2013.
“I knew that I was always going to be in with a shot of a medal,” said the Northern Ireland-born O’Connor.
“But it’s the one thing being in with a shot and another actually going out and doing it.” Caio Bonfim will be bringing a gold medal home to Brazil, winning the men’s 20km walk after finishing second in the 35km walk last Saturday.
However, the 34-year-old will be returning home without one item he left Brazil with.
“I lost my wedding ring in the third kilometre. I believe my wife will be OK because I won today,” he said.
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