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| Sally Pearson |
Ending the curse of cover, Australia's Sally Pearson delivered one of the most spectacular displays in history giving her country it's first gold medal of the championships. The sprint hurdler shocked the world with a brilliant 12.36 win the semi finals, which tied her at 6th place on the all time list, only to come back in the final and run a blistering 12.28.
Thus clocking a personal best, an Australian and Championship record, which puts her squarely down in history as the 4th fastest ever in this event. This is also the fastest time for this event in 23 years. With an unbeaten streak all season Pearson was naturally the pre-race favourite but no one, myself included could have anticipated, the absolute destruction she brought in the final.
With her usual fast start, Pearson got off like a bullet, clearing the first and second hurdle well ahead of the field and stormed to victory. The Americans put up a good fight with Danielle Caruthers grabbing the silver and Olympic Champion Dawn Harper for the bronze. Both clocked a personal best of 12.47secs and trust me you can't ask better than that. US national champion Kellie Wells suffered a tragic fall and did not finish. It's really heartbreaking to see Wells go out like that but hats off to the winner and the two Americans for a truly breathtaking race.
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| Usain Bolt |
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than that, along came the men's 200m. Following his disappointing false start in the 100m, the audience watched with baited breath to see what he'd do in the longer sprint and boy were we surprised. Bolt in lane 3, got off to a decent start and quickly made short work of US national champion Walter Dix in lane 4. The tall Jamaican came off the bend in a clear lead and powered away to the line, winning by a good 3-4 metres. There was really no question in any one's mind that Bolt would win, he's been unbeaten all season. I think the real shock is in the time. For his efforts Bolt clocked a superb 19.40, the fourth fastest time in history. Based on his struggles with form, I myself had predicted 19.80 or maybe 19.75, of course my predictions were blown away. Dix ended up with the silver in a brilliant 19.70sec and Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre broke the 20 second barrier for the first time with amazing 19.80 which is also a national record. Bravo to all three athletes.
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| Matthias de Zordo |
The men's Javelin final was also delightful with Germany getting yet another win in the men's throwing events. 23 year old Matthias de Zordo's first attempt of of 86.27m was enough to take the gold. Defending Champion and favourite Andreas Thorkildsen was unable to attack finished 2nd with 84.78m, well off his season best of 90.61m . Cuba's Guillermo Martinez, who got 2nd in Berlin was 3rd this time around with a throw of 84.30
Although Sanya Richards Ross and Allyson Felix missed out on individual gold medals in their respective events they both made up for it by running sizzling 1st and 2nd legs in the relay. Richards Ross started things off with an amazing first lap, giving the US a huge lead which was maintained throughout the entire race. The US won in 3:18:09, bringing team USA to it's 3rd back-to back 4x400 world championship title.
Jamaica ran well for second, particularly that final leg by Shericka Williams where she narrowed the lead, bringing the team to a national record of 3:18:71. Russia got the bronze in 3:19:36.
The day produced such magnificent performances, I had a hard time deciding where to start. For me Pearson's run in women's 100m hurdles and Bolt's 200m stride will forever be etched in my mind.
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