EUGENE, Oregon — The first Team USATF men's 100m sweep in 31 years and a historic women's shot put performance brought the Hayward Field crowd to a raucous crescendo Saturday night on the second day of the World Athletics Championships. American athletes won four medals to vault to the top of the medal table with five overall, and the U.S. also assumed a commanding lead in the points standings with 50. China has the next highest point total with 28.
For the first time since Tokyo in 1991, Team USATF swept the medals in the men's 100m. Overcoming a start that wasn't his best, Olympic silver medalist and 2022 world leader Fred Kerley (Taylor, Texas/USATF Gulf) made up ground over the final 20m to out-lean Marvin Bracy-Williams (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida), taking the gold in 9.86. Bracy-Williams took silver at 9.88, and Trayvon Bromell earned bronze, also with a 9.88 (9.874-9.876). 2019 world champion Christian Coleman (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) had the best start and ended up sixth in 10.01. Lining up for the final with half the field made up of Americans for only the second time in meet history, the U.S. had high hopes for medals and a calm Kerley led the way. Never panicking as he made up the deficit behind Bracy-Williams, Kerley showed the best maintenance of form and that gave him the edge he needed. Bracy-Williams and Bromell had three World Indoors 60m medals between them coming into this race, and it was Bracy-Williams' first outdoor global medal, while Bromell matched the bronze he earned at the 2015 World Championships. Kerley, who earned bronze in the 400m at the 2019 World Championships, won his semi over Coleman earlier in the evening in 10.02 without expending a lot of energy, while Bracy-Williams was second in his semi at 9.93 and Bromell was second in his at 9.97.
History repeated itself in a way as Chase Ealey (Holman, New Mexico/USATF New Mexico) blasted a 20.49m/67-2.75 on the opening throw of the competition to win the first women's shot put gold medal by an American at the World Championships. It was the third best throw in U.S. history behind only the American record of 20.63m/67-8.25 by Michelle Carter and her own 20.51m/67-3.5 at the USATF Championships last month. The last time a World Athletics global championship event was held on U.S. soil, the 2016 World Indoors at Portland, Carter won the first American gold in that meet's history. Ealey followed up her big toss with a 19.82m/65-0.5 in round two and then a foul on her next attempt. In round four she surpassed 20 meters again, going 20.07m/65-10.25. A 19.65m/64-5.75 on her fifth attempt and a foul in the final round were of no consequence as she held off a challenge from China's Lijiao Gong, the 2019 world champion. Gong had three throws over 20m, topped by a 20.39m/66-10.75. Jessica Woodard (Marlton, New Jersey/USATF Arizona) was eighth with a best of 18.67m/61-3, and Maggie Ewen (Dilworth, Minnesota/USATF Minnesota) took ninth at 18.64m/61-2.
Steffin McCarter (Copperas Cove, Texas/USATF Southwestern) sailed out to 8.04m/26-4.5 in round two, a jump that earned him fifth, and an 8.02m/26-3.75 in the second round carried Marquis Dendy (Ocala, Florida/USATF Florida) to a sixth-place finish.
A very confident performance in the opening three laps set up USATF champion Sinclaire Johnson (Longwood, Florida/USATF Oregon) for a strong finish in the second semi, and she took third in 4:04.51 to move on to the final. Johnson was on the shoulder of Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya at the 1K mark, and that duo hit the bell at 3:02.67. Kipyegon won the section in 4:03.98, while Ethiopia's Hirut Meshesha passed Johnson for the runner-up spot in 4:04.05. In the first semi, Elle St. Pierre (Brighton, Massachusetts/USATF New England) and Cory McGee (Boulder, Colorado/USATF New England) were facing Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, the second fastest woman in the world in 2022. With only two time qualifying spots available, both women were aiming for a top-five finish. McGee was sixth with 300m to go and went wide coming off the last bend. She passed Winny Chebet of Kenya down the homestretch and finished fifth in 4:02.74 to qualify automatically for the final. St. Pierre was 11th in 4:09.84.
In an event loaded with talent from around the globe, including four Jamaican representatives who have won the past four Olympic golds, Team USATF's 100m women did what was needed to move into the semifinal. This year's fastest American at 10.81, Aleia Hobbs (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern) wasn't leading until the 30-meter mark of heat six, but from that point it went all her way in a powerful 11.04 victory. USATF champion Melissa Jefferson (Georgetown, South Carolina/USATF South Carolina) didn't expend any more energy than necessary to tag along with Switzerland's World Indoors 60m gold medalist Mujinga Kambundji, finishing second in 11.03 behind Kambundji's 10.97. TeeTee Terry (Miami, Florida/USATF Florida) got out with Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Cote d'Ivoire and those two went clear of the field down the straight. Ta Lou edged past a relaxing Terry for the win in 10.92 with Terry at 10.95.
Two out of three U.S. men earned advancement in the heats of the 1,500m. In contrast to the first two heats, the third section took out at a middling pace and went through 800m in just under 2:02. Josh Thompson (Hillsboro, Oregon/USATF Oregon) made a very savvy move to the rail coming off the final turn and secured a semifinal spot with a 3:39.10 in second. Taking advantage of a faster pace than the first section, Johnny Gregorek (Somerville, Massachusetts/USATF New York) sprinted into the top six in heat two, clocking 3:35.65 in sixth, nabbing an automatic berth in the semifinal. A slowish early pace in heat one had USATF champion Cooper Teare (Alameda, California/USATF Oregon) mid-pack. As the leaders went through 900m it started to spread out a bit and Teare faded, placing 13th in 3:41.15. 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.