Defending champion Noah Lyles has completed the World Championship double five days after his gold run over 100 meters. The US sprint star also triumphed over the 200 meters in Budapest on Friday in 19.52 seconds. In the women’s race, defending champion Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) set a championship record of 21.41 seconds, just seven hundredths short of the 35-year-old world record set by Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA).
The 26-year-old Lyles secured his third world title in a row and became the first sprinter since Usain Bolt (2015 in Beijing) to win both gold medals over the two shortest sprint distances. Sha’Carri Richardson (USA) had attempted the same feat, but the 100m world champion had to settle for bronze (21.92). Silver went to her compatriot Gabrielle Thomas (21.81).
Lyles, who crowned himself sprint king over 100 meters for the first time on Sunday, had already squinted at the 14-year-old world record of Jamaica’s sprint legend Bolt (19.19) before the race. In the end, however, the American was 33 hundredths short of the record from Berlin 2009.
Neugebauer on course for gold, Kaul out
Silver in the men’s race went to Erriyon Knighton (USA/19.75) ahead of Letsile Tebogo from Botswana (19.81). The German record holder Joshua Hartmann (Cologne) was surprisingly eliminated in the preliminary heat. Andrew Hudson, who, like Lyles, was involved in a golf cart crash on Thursday before the World Cup semifinals, finished eighth (20.40).
Hudson was subsequently set for the final after his actual exit in the semifinals. The 26-year-old got glass in his eye when two vehicles that were transporting athletes from the warm-up area to the stadium collided. The world association World Athletics then initiated an investigation and announced that the transport procedure would be reviewed.
Meanwhile, German record holder Leo Neugebauer set course for gold with an acclaimed decathlon show. The 23-year-old will be the leader at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Saturday, when the medal decision in the supreme discipline will be made. “My voice isn’t there as much because I’ve screamed so much already,” said Neugebauer, who is ahead of Canadians Pierce Lepage and Damian Warner. “The first day was a lot of fun.”
The emotional state of 2019 world champion and European champion Niklaus Kaul could hardly have been more different. The 25-year-old ended the decathlon prematurely in 15th place after four disciplines. First hip problems slowed him down, then he was treated for foot pain. At the Olympics in Tokyo two years ago, Kaul was over on the first day due to foot problems. Visibly struck, he left the interior.
On course: the German Leo Neugebauer : Photo: Reuters
On Friday, the stage in the stadium belonged primarily to “Leo The German” Neugebauer. After five disciplines with 4640 points, he is still 49 points ahead of his German record at the beginning of June. He improved Jürgen Hingsen’s national record of almost four decades to 8836 points, which is also documented by the T-shirts of his personal fans. “My family and friends can finally watch because I’ve had most of the competitions in America,” said Neugebauer, who studies in Texas. “They have fun, I have fun – just great.”
Neugebauer, who quickly became the darling of the public, repeatedly started cheering runs. “Dude, Leo is going crazy,” marveled European javelin champion Julian Weber, who certainly qualified for the final on Sunday. Neugebauer and Weber are the biggest medal trumps of the German Athletics Association, which is still without a medal a year after Eugene’s great disappointment at the World Championships in Budapest.
Women’s sprint relay continues after protest
At his World Championship premiere, Manuel Eitel occupied twelfth place in the decathlon with 4296 points. World record holder Kevin Mayer no longer has a chance of winning a medal. The Frenchman pulled out due to Achilles tendon problems.
The men’s sprint relay over 4×100 meters after the heats is also no longer there. Joshua Hartmann, who started too late, also lost the baton. He “took sole responsibility”. The women’s quartet around Gina Lückenkemper missed 13 hundredths of a second, but after a protest because of disability they were still allowed to go to the final. “It wasn’t an easy season. We had to complain about a lot of failures,” said double European champion Lückenkemper.
At last year’s World Championships, the women’s relay team, which was weaker this year, won bronze. It was the only medal besides gold from the missing long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo, who was injured this time. Now Neugebauer, who fulfilled the fans’ requests for countless selfies between the disciplines, has the best chance of ensuring the German gold moment.
Michael Reinsch, Budapest Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 Michael Reinsch, Budapest Published/Updated: Michael Reinsch, Budapest Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6
Breaking the 8 meter mark in the long jump made him “super happy”. The 10th place in the 2022 World Cup found the ball distance of 17.04 meters “fantastic”. After these two personal bests, he stayed close to his previous top performances in the high jump and the 100 meters at the start. In 47.99 seconds over 400 meters, he was clearly ahead of the best time, but then waved his thanks to the audience.
Weber, hoping for a medal, started less well in the javelin throw. In qualifying, the 28-year-old was fourth with 82.39 meters. “I’m not the morning person. I much prefer to throw in the evening, that’s when I really get going,” he promised for the showdown on Sunday. In addition, Weber’s spears have not yet arrived in Budapest. He doesn’t know where they went to.
