World Championships: Day One as it happened

The 14th World Championships in Athletics got underway yesterday at the Luzhniki National Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Let us have a look at the results of day one at the Championships.

Edna Kiplagat of Kenya became the first woman ever to retain the world marathon title as she won in 2:25:44. Italian Valeria Straneo came second with a timing of 2:25:58 and Kayoko Fukushi of Japan clinched the bronze medal with a timing of 2:27:45. Kiplagat’s victory made up for a disappointing London Olympics last year when she was suffering with flu and could only finish at the 20th position.

The day’s other major result was Men’s 10,000 meters where hot favourite Mo Farah won the gold medal. Briton Farah, who stole the hearts of the British public with his double distance success over 10,000m and 5,000m at London 2012, sprinted home from Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia to win in 27 minutes 21.72 seconds.  Kenya’s Paul Tanui completed the podium. The Somalia-born Farah is aiming for another 5000 meters and 10.000 meters double after his success at the London Olympics.

Usain Bolt breezed through to the semifinals of Men’s 100m with a comfortable victory. The final of the showpiece event of the Championships is later tonight. Former champion Justin Gatlin poses the most obvious threat to Bolt with the event severely weakened by the absence of injured champion Yohan Blake plus Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, who failed doping tests earlier this summer. The false start that cost Usain Bolt his 100m world crown two years ago remains the Jamaican’s only major championship failure since he began redefining sprinting five years ago.

However, the blot of the day was Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste who had to withdraw from the Championships for having tested positive for a banned substance.