Tausaga-Collins discus gold leads three-medal night for Team USATF at World Athletics Championships

BUDAPEST – A stunning upset and a 1-2 finish in the women's discus, and a sterling silver in the men's high jump gave Team USATF three medals on the fourth day of the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Center. The U.S. continues to top the medal table with 12, six of them gold, and leads the team point standings by 69 with 116, more than double the nearest nations.
 
Shocking the reigning Olympic and world champions, Laulauga Tausaga-Collins unleashed the best throw of her career in round five of the women's discus, adding almost four meters to the PB she set in the third round to win at 69.49/228-0, the first gold ever for Team USATF at the World Championships. The only American ever to throw farther, Tokyo gold medalist Valarie Allman made it a 1-2 U.S. finish with her 69.23/227-1 in the fourth round. China's Bin Feng, who was the surprise Oregon22 champion, earned bronze with a 68.20/223-9 on her sixth throw.
 
Allman laid down the mark to beat with her opening throw of 68.57/224-11 and upped her lead with the 69.23 three throws later. Tausaga-Collins was on the brink of disaster after a foul on her first attempt and a subpar 52.28/171-6 in round two. Gathering herself well, she responded in the third stanza with a PB 65.56/215-1. She fouled again on her next attempt before her monster toss, and capped her series with a 68.36/224-3.
 
Enjoying a clean card through his first three heights in the men's high jump, JuVaughn Harrison needed two attempts to get over 2.36/7-8.75, putting him second behind Italy's Olympic co-champion Gianmarco Tamberi, who cleared first time. Both men missed three times at 2.38/7-9.75, giving Tamberi the gold and Harrison the silver, the first American medal since Jesse Williams won in 2011. Shelby McEwen cleared 2.29/7-6 on his third try and placed seventh.
 
As expected in the women's 1500, world record holder Faith Kipyegon of Kenya was supreme, defending her title from Oregon22 with a 3:54.87 that was very predictable when she took the lead with 300 remaining. Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji earned silver in 3:55.69, with Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands gaining some measure of consolation with bronze after falling in the 10,000 final while in gold medal contention on day one. Cory McGee was 10th in 4:01.60.
 
Morocco's Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali sailed over the final water jump and passed world record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia, then galloped down the homestretch to win in 8:03.53. Girma earned silver in 8:05.44 to repeat the Oregon22 order of finish, with Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya recovering from a fall on the final lap to claim bronze in 8:11.98. USATF champion Kenneth Rooks was in the middle of the pack through the halfway mark and placed 10th in 8:20.02, while Isaac Updike was 16th in 8:30.67.
 
HEATS/QUALIFYING
 
Women's 400H semifinal
USATF champion Shamier Little put together a very good technical race in the third semi and pulled away from the field to record the fastest time of the day at 52.81. Little was a tenth of a second ahead of Bahrain's Kemi Adekoya at the eighth barrier, where she went very high over the hurdle, but regrouped and added almost a half-second to her margin of victory through the final two hurdles.
 
Running in tandem with Jamaica's Rushell Clayton through the first three hurdles in semi one, Anna Cockrell was a stride behind at the midway point. Clayton extended her lead around the final bend, but Cockrell came back on her in the final 50 and finished second in a PB 53.63, with Clayton also setting a PB to win in 53.30.
 
Aiming for her seventh global championship final (and medal), Dalilah Muhammad was in a very strong second semi with world leader and Oregon22 silver medalist Femke Bol as well as Jamaica's Andrenette Knight. Muhammad was a step behind Bol down the backstretch and that gap grew a bit around the curve. Bol powered home to win in 52.95, while Knight outsprinted Muhammad to take second in 53.72 ahead of Muhammad's 54.19 in third. Her time was not quite enough to earn her a berth in the final, missing out by one place.
 
Men's 400 semifinal
Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas surged past Quincy Hall on the final bend in the third semi, but then pulled up with 100 to go, leaving the path open for Hall to sprint to victory in 44.43, .02 off the PB he set in finishing third at the USATF Championships. Hall focused on the 400H the past two years and has a 48.10 PB in that event, but has switched his efforts to the flat quarter with huge dividends. 
 
Facing world record holder Wayde van Niekerk in semifinal one, Vernon Norwood made his trademark late move to storm past the field and challenge Jamaica's Antonio Watson for the win, placing second in a PB 44.26 to grab his first spot in a global championship final. Van Niekerk was third in 44.65 and ended up as a time qualifier for the final.
 
Women's 100H
All three Team USATF entrants advanced to the semifinal, led by a stunning performance by former world record holder Keni Harrison, who exploded from the blocks in heat three and sped to a world-leading 12.24, the fourth-fastest time ever and the second fastest time ever at the World Championships. 
 
2019 world champion Nia Ali was to the first hurdle first in heat two and never relinquished her lead on the way to a 12.55. Avoiding trouble after clattering the seventh barrier in heat one, Masai Russellfinished in a virtual tie with NCAA champion Ackera Nugent of Jamaica, Nugent getting the nod for the win by .005 seconds as both clocked 12.60. 
 
Men's 800
Jostling in the first 200 of heat four impeded Bryce Hoppel's rhythm, but he came through to the front at the bell and led briefly down the backstretch. Third with 200 to go, Hoppel pushed hard and moved up one spot to take second in 1:45.56 and automatically advance.
 
Very slow early pacing brought the runners in heat three by 400 in just over 55 seconds, setting up a crazy sprint over the final 200. Isaiah Harris was in the top three coming off the turn but couldn't hold his position and ended up fourth in 1:48.00, missing out on the next round.
 
Another pokey first lap in heat five meant there would be no time qualifiers. Rio 2016 bronze medalist Clayton Murphy made a bold move to take the lead through 600 in 1:20.72 and was still at the front into the homestretch. Over the last 60, Murphy wasn't able to match the closing speed of the rest of the field and ended up sixth in 1:47.06.
 
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 (12)
 
Gold (6)
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)
Noah Lyles, men's 100 (9.83, =world lead)
Grant Holloway, men's 110H (12.96)
Sha'Carri Richardson, women's 100 (10.65, championships record)
Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, women's discus (69.48/228-0)
 
Silver (4)
Anna Hall, women's heptathlon (6,720 points)
Tara Davis-Woodhall, women's long jump (6.91/22-8)
Valarie Allman, women's discus (69.23/227-1)
JuVaughn Harrison, men's high jump (2.36/7-8.75)
 
Bronze (2)
Joe Kovacs, men's shot put (22.12/72-7)
Daniel Roberts, men's 110H (13.09)