EUGENE, Oregon — A podium sweep in the men's shot put and a pair of 1-2 finishes in the women's pole vault and men's 110m hurdles Sunday at Hayward Field elevated Team USATF to one of the finest nights in World Championships history, adding three golds and seven total medals to move to six golds and 14 total medals, 11 more than any other nation. The U.S. also built an almost insurmountable lead in the team point standings with 125, 89 ahead of second-place Ethiopia, and there are still seven days remaining.
For the first time in World Championships history, Team USATF swept the medals in the men's shot put, a fifth-round meet record blast of 22.94m/75-3.25 giving two-time Olympic champion, world record holder and Oregon native Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon/USATF Oregon) gold, the one medal he was missing from his collection. Defending champion Joe Kovacs (Brentwood, Tennessee/USATF New York) threw down the gauntlet right away with a massive 22.63m/74-3 in the opening round after Crouser had a safe 22.21m72-10.5. Josh Awotunde (Franklinville, New Jersey/USATF New Jersey) got in on the act with his first attempt, throwing a lifetime best 22.24m/72-11.75 to move into second and become the fifth-best performer in meet history. Crouser took the lead on his next effort, a 22.71m/74-6.25 that put him atop the standings for the next two rounds before Kovacs unleashed a 22.89m/75-1.25 to move into gold medal position. That set up Crouser's clutch Championships record throw and neither man could improve in the final stanza. Awotunde added five centimeters to his PB in the fifth round, earning his first international medal with a 22.29m/73-1.75 that also made him the No. 11 all-time U.S. performer. Tripp Piperi (Austin, Texas/USATF Texas Southern) had a best of 20.93m/68-8 to place eighth.
Olympic champion Katie Nageotte (Powder Springs, Georgia/USATF New York) and World Indoor champion Sandi Morris (Mableton, Georgia//USATF Arkansas) waged a see-saw battle all the way up to 4.85m/15-11, where Nageotte cleared on her first attempt to put pressure on Morris, who had no misses up to that height. Morris went over on her second try and both women took three attempts at 4.90m/16-0.75 without success, giving Nageotte her first World Championships gold and Morris her third straight silver. Gabriela Leon (Grand Rapids, Michigan/USATF Michigan) made her opening height of 4.30m/14-1.25 and then missed three times at the next height to finish 12th. Nageotte and Morris both came in at 4.45m/14-7.25 and had no trouble clearing that. They went clear at 4.60m/15-1, but Nageotte had first-attempt misses at 4.70m/15-5 and 4.80m/15-9 while Morris's card remained unblemished. Australia's Nina Kennedy earned bronze with a season best 4.80m/15-9.
Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaica injured himself in a run-through right before the final, and then Devon Allen (Annapolis, Maryland/USATF Potomac Valley) was assessed a false start by .001 seconds and disqualified, leaving an empty lane either side of defending champion Grant Holloway (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida). That left history's second-fastest man a clear run to gold again and he took full advantage with a 13.03 to beat NCAA champion Trey Cunningham (Winfield, Alabama/USATF Florida) by .05, giving Team USATF a 1-2 finish for the first time since 2013. Spain's Asier Martinez claimed the bronze with a personal best 13.17. Holloway had earlier clocked a 13.01 season best to win semi-final 1, the fastest semi ever at the World Championships, with Cunningham winning the second semi in 13.07 and Allen placing second in the third semi in 13.09.
Jamaica became the first nation to sweep the medals in the women's 100m at the World Championships, led by a meet record 10.67 for defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Shericka Jackson clocked a lifetime best 10.73 for silver and double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah claimed bronze in 10.81 as seven of the finalists bettered 11 seconds. Aleia Hobbs (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) was the top U.S. finisher, placing sixth in 10.92, with USATF champion Melissa Jefferson (Georgetown, South Carolina/USATF South Carolina) eighth in 11.03. Jefferson earlier ran 10.92 to place third in the second semi and earn a time qualifier spot in the final, and Hobbs had a 10.95 to finish second in the third semi and nab an automatic berth in the final. TeeTee Terry (Miami, Florida/USATF Florida) was third in the first semi in 11.04 and didn't advance.
Personal bests in the shot put and 200m put Anna Hall (Gainesville, Florida/USATF Florida) in third place in the women’s heptathlon with 3,991 points, just behind leader Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium and Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands. Hall opened her competition with a 13.20 in the 100m hurdles, just off her lifetime best of 13.15, and then had her highest clearance of t he year in the high jump with a 1.86m/6-1.25. Moving to the shot put, Hall had a best of 13.67m/44-10.25 to add five inches to her personal best. Closing out day one in the 200m, Hall zipped to a 23.08 PB, the fastest time overall. Michelle Atherley (Coral Gables, Florida/USATF Florida) had the fastest 100m hurdles time overall at 13.12 and is 12th with 3,655, while Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler (Temple, Texas/USATF Texas Southern) is 14th with 3,596 and Kendell Williams (Kennesaw, Georgia/USATF Georgia) 15th with 3,481.
The American trio of intermediate hurdles men all made it through to the final with a win, a runner-up finish and a third place in the semis. American record holder and Olympic silver medalist Rai Benjamin (Mount Vernon, New York/USATF New York) ran a very well-controlled race, just as in the first round, and was satisfied not to take the lead until the final turn. Hitting the 300m mark in 35.29 with a very slight lead, Benjamin pulled away and won by more than a half second in 48.44. World Indoors 400m silver medalist Trevor Bassitt (Bluffton, Ohio/USATF Ohio) went out very quickly with Olympic bronze medalist Alison dos Santos of Brazil, this year's fastest man. The duo came off the last curve with dos Santos ahead by a half-step and both made quick work of the run in over the final two barriers. Dos Santos won in 47.85, with Bassitt second in 48.17 to advance to the final. Running in the final semi against world record holder and Olympic champion Karsten Warholm of Norway, Khallifah Rosser (Fontana, California/USATF Southwestern) had to work hard to stay in touch with not only Warholm, who won going away in 48.00, but also Wilfried Happio of France, who set a lifetime best of 48.14 to place second. Rosser advanced to the final as a time qualifier by virtue of his 48.34 in third.
The U.S. leader in 2022, Sam Mattis (East Brunswick, New Jersey/USATF New York) used a second round 65.59m/215-2 in Group A to qualify for the final, the only American to do so. Mattis had the eighth-best throw overall, just missing the automatic advance mark of 66.00m/216-6. Throwing in Group B, USATF champion Andrew Evans (Portage, Michigan/USATF Kentucky) was 18th overall with a top effort of 62.20m/204-1, and Brian Williams (Mesa, Arizona/USATF Arizona) had a farthest throw of 58.25m/191-1. Neither man was able to advance.
Knowing what they needed to do after watching the results from the first semi, the second section was at a much more rapid pace and Josh Thompson (Hillsboro, Oregon/USATF Oregon) hung on to the back of the string of runners, passing by 800m in 1:56.11 in 12th before moving up to ninth at the bell. Thompson turned on the jets and covered the final 400m in 56.05 to snag seventh in 3:35.55, a season best that gave him the final time qualifying berth in the final. Running in the first semi that was front-loaded with Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya and World Indoor champion Samuel Tefera of Ethiopia, Johnny Gregorek (Somerville, Massachusetts/USATF New York) came through the bell in the back of the pack and tried to sneak through on the rail down the final stretch, moving up to eighth in 3:37.35, missing out on the final. Click here to find out how to watch. A full list of results and schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #JourneyToGold.