BUDAPEST – Bringing a large day one crowd to a roaring crescendo in the final contest of an eventful first day of the World Championships at National Stadium, Team USATF's youth corps smashed the world record in dramatic fashion to take gold in the mixed 4x400 relay at 3:08.80. Running with a quartet of Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling and Alexis Holmes, the U.S. took down their own world record* of 3:09.34 that was set at Doha in 2019.
It was an all-star effort by four athletes making their World Championships debuts. Robinson, who split 43.86 in the morning heats to help the squad advance, ran the opening leg and established a lead with his 44.47 split. Effiong ran even with Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands and handed off to Boling, who clocked 45.13 on his carry to set up a stunning 48.82 anchor by Holmes. Femke Bol of the Netherlands had the lead coming off the final bend, but Holmes made up ground with every stride and as she passed Bol with the finish line in sight, the Dutch woman fell and dropped the baton.
The relay win came on the heels of another historic performance by history's greatest men's shot putter. Defending champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser capped off his series with the second-farthest throw in history, a massive 23.51/77-1.75 that was only five centimeters short of the pending world record performance he had at the USATF LA GP in May. He now has the five best throws ever, and nine of the top 10.
Crouser established the mark to beat right off the bat with a 22.63/74-3 on the first throw of the competition and improved to a Championships record 22.98/75-4.75 in round two. A, for him, subpar 22.28/73-1.25 on his third attempt was followed by a pair of fouls, and then the moonshot. 2019 world champion Joe Kovacs completed his medal collection, picking up bronze for his fourth career WC medal at 22.12/72-7, and Payton Otterdahl was fifth at 21.86/71-8.75. It was the seventh time in meet history that Team USATF earned two or more medals in the event. The only notable casualty in the morning qualifying round was Oregon22 bronze medalist Josh Awotunde, who had a best of 19.98/65-6.75 and finished 20th.
A relatively pedestrian early pace in the women's 10,000 set up a mad dash over the final three laps and Alicia Monson made a spirited challenge to get on the podium before settling for an impressive fifth-place finish in 31:32.29, a tenth of a second out of fourth. Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands were sprinting for gold side-by-side when Hassan tripped with only meters to go and went to the track to give Tsegay a clear path to gold in 31:27.18. World record holder and defending champion Letesenbet Gidey came up for silver in 31:28.16, and Ejgayehu Taye completed the Ethiopian sweep with a 31:28.31 for bronze.
The field went through 2K in 6:50.56, and Natosha Rogers and Elise Cranny along with Monson were in the top eight. Rogers moved up to second by 4K, passed in 13:10.40, with Monson and Cranny still hanging in the lead group. By 6K the Ethiopian trio had pushed to the fore and started to turn up the tempo. Tsegay was in the lead at 19:33.51, and Cranny had fallen back to 14th in what was still a huge pack. Taye took over the pacing duties through 8K in 25:38.05 and the U.S. trio were still in touch, and at the bell Monson was third behind Gidey and Tsegay, a step in front of Hassan. Cranny set a season best of 31:57.51 for 12th, and Rogers was 14th in 32:08.05.
Five of the top six finishers notched national records in one of the best men's 20K race walks ever, but it was Spain's Alvaro Martin who came away with gold in a world-leading 1:17:32 in a race that was delayed by two hours due to inclement weather. Martin, who was seventh last year and today walked the second-fastest time ever at the Championships, turned back last year's bronze medalist, Perseus Karlström of Sweden, who claimed silver in 1:17:39. Brazil's Caio Bonfim took bronze in 1:17:47 to match his finish from 2017. Nick Christie clocked a season best 1:26:21 to finish 41st, far above his ranking coming into the Championships. The top 18 finishers all went faster than 1:20:00, relegating 2022 champion Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan to 24th in 1:21:39.
Something you don't see very often in a major combined events competition is three of the top four places held by athletes from the same nation. Team USATF did just that after the first four events of the women's heptathlon, topped by Oregon22 bronze medalist Anna Hall's 3,998 points. Hall had a solid but not spectacular series of efforts, starting with a 12.97 100H that was second-fastest overall behind teammate Taliyah Brooks, who zipped to a season best 12.78. Hall cleared 1.83/6-0 in the high jump and then uncorked a PB 14.54/47-8.5 in the shot put. She polished off the day with a 23.56 200 to take a 93-point lead over Britain's 2019 world champion, Katarina Johnston-Thompson. Enjoying one of her strongest first days ever, Chari Hawkins is third with 3,900 after PBs of 13.04 in the 100H and 14.40/47-3 in the shot put, while Brooks is also on pace for her best score ever, tallying 3,888 in fourth with a PB 13.45/44-1.5 in the shot along the way.
HEATS/QUALIFYING
Men's 3000 Steeplechase
Running in the same heat as defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and knowing he needed a fifth-place finish or better to make the final, USATF champion Kenneth Rooks was fourth at 1000 in 2:55.39 but only ninth at 2000 in 5:45.83. Entering the final circuit, Rooks held fifth and was in good position at 7:23.03 before a 60.63 lap put him across the line first in 8:23.66, the same time as El Bakkali. Isaac Updike placed 11th in the third heat in 8:31.81 but was advanced to the final upon a protest. Benard Keter was eighth in heat one at 8:24.20 and did not advance.
Men's Hammer
Rudy Winkler and Daniel Haugh moved on to the final, with Winkler hitting an auto qualifying 77.06/252-10 on his second attempt to finish sixth overall. Haugh had to sweat it out until his third and final try, fouling twice before nailing a 76.64/251-5 that put him seventh and secured his spot. Placing 31st overall, Alex Young did not advance after a best of 69.10/226-8 in round one.
Men's Discus
Only a season best 63.85/209-5 by Brian Williams saved the U.S. from being shut out of the final. Williams was 11th overall, but Turner Washington's 63.57/208-6 and Sam Mattis's 63.43/208-1 were not enough to advance in 15th and 16th places.
Women's Long Jump
One and done was the order of the morning for USATF champion Tara Davis-Woodhall, who spanned 6.87/22-6.5 for an automatic qualifier that was also the best jump of the day overall. Former Florida star Jasmine Moore, who won the NCAA indoor title this year, had a best of 6.73/22-1 in round two and earned a berth in the final, but last year's fourth-place finisher, Quanesha Burks, missed out as her only legal attempt went 6.57/21-6.75 and placed her 16th overall.
Women's 1500
Three Team USATF athletes toed the line, and all three earned a big Q to move on to the 1500m semi-final tomorrow evening. Leading the trio of Americans, Sinclaire Johnson clocked a season-best 4:01.09. In their first global championship race since 2019, Nikki Hiltz snagged a spot in the semis with a 4:03.76 clocking, just behind the Netherlands’ Siffan Hassan. Cory McGee rounded out the pack in the fourth heat with her 4:03.47 to move on.
Men's 1500
USATF champion Yared Nuguse found himself in a very quick final heat, hitting the 800 mark in 1:55.16 in sixth, and he was in a perfect striking position at the bell. Nuguse started to move to the top three, but couldn't drop a large group pushing the pace down the final backstretch. Using savvy tactics to stay out of trouble, he cruised down the final 100 to claim second in 3:34.16.
Cole Hocker passed 400 in 58.66 in the third heat, just behind Australia's Stewart McSweyn. Going through 800 in 1:57.39, Hocker had dropped back to seventh but was still less than a half-second off the leader. With 300 to go and needing to finish in the top six to advance, Hocker was eighth at 2:54.88. He cranked up the tempo around the final bend and covered the final 300 in 39.55 to take third in 3:34.43 to easily move on. Joe Waskom was eighth in the second heat in 3:47.26 and did not advance.
Men's 100
Defending world champion Fred Kerley, 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, and 2022 world 200 champion Noah Lyles were easy qualifiers for the next round. Lyles was the fastest of the threesome, winning heat two in 9.95, with Coleman second in heat seven at 9.98 and Kerley runner-up in heat five at 9.99. USATF champion Cravont Charleston was not a full speed and did not advance with his 10.18 for third in heat three.
Men's Triple Jump
Very similar bests carried Will Claye and Chris Benard to the final, with four-time medalist Claye one centimeter better at 16.72/54-10.25 for 10th and Benard in 12th. USATF champion Donald Scott, sixth at Oregon22, was 22nd at 16.33/53-7 and did not advance.
Competition resumes at the track tomorrow with the women’s discus at 3:00 a.m. ET. A full list of results along with a schedule of events can be found here.
*records subject to usual ratification procedures
TEAM USATF MEDAL TOTAL (3)
Gold (2)
Ryan Crouser, men's shot put (23.51/77-1.75, championships record)
Mixed 4x400, Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes (3:08.80, world record)
Silver (0)
Bronze (1)
Joe Kovacs, men's shot put (22.12/72-7)