Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas competes during the women's triple jump final at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States, July 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas and Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim achieved a three-peat in their respective events at the World Athletics Championships.
EUGENE, United States, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Both triple jumper Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela and Qatar's high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim performed brilliant feats here on Monday, winning their respective third title in a row at the World Athletics Championships.
Tokyo Olympic champion Rojas, 26, was in a class of her own, leaping to victory in a world-leading result of 15.47 meters, beating Jamaican Shanieka Ricketts (14.89) and American Tori Franklin (14.72) to second and third place respectively.
Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim competes during the men's high jump final. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Barshim, who shared the gold with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi in one of the most dramatic and emotional scenes at the Tokyo Olympics, proved his prowess to win here on 2.37m, also a world-leading result this season.
South Korean Woo Sang-hyeok set a national record and took silver on 2.35m and Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine got a bronze on 2.33m.
On the fourth day of the competition, African athletes were the ones to shine.
The men's 3,000m steeplechase saw Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali add the world title to his Tokyo Olympic glory, winning in eight minutes and 25.13 seconds. Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia had to settle for second place in 8:26.01 as he did in Tokyo last year. Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto was third in 8:27.92.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon celebrates after the women's 1500m final. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
In the women's 1,500m final, Tokyo and Rio Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya collected her second world title in 3:52.96, ahead of this year's world indoor champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia who clocked 3:54.52. British Laura Muir came third in 3:55.28.
In Monday's marathon in the early morning, Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase bagged her first world title in a championships record of two hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds. Kenyan Judith Jeptum Korir finished nine seconds behind to take silver while Israel's former 10,000m European champion Lonah Chemtai Salpeter came third in 2:20:18.
Elsewhere, Belgian double Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam claimed her second World Championships gold in the heptathlon with 6,947 points. Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands was the runner-up in 6,867 while American Anna Hall was third in 6,755.
Xie Zhenye (C) of China crosses the finish line during the men's 200m heat at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States, July 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Chinese sprinter Xie Zhenye sailed into the men's 200m semifinals, where he will face American teenager Erriyon Knighton in the last heat on Tuesday. ■
