Kipyegon destroys field for fourth 1500m world gold, Tinch takes hurdles

Kiwi Kerr adds world high jump crown to Olympic gold, Katzberg retains hammer title

Kenya's peerless Faith Kipyegon underlined her status as one of the greatest athletes of all time when she convincingly claimed a fourth 1,500m world title on Tuesday to go with her three Olympic golds and world record in the event.

Kipyegon delivered a gun-to-tape run that destroyed the field as she came home clear in 3 minutes 52.15 seconds.

Fellow Kenyan Dorcus Ewoi ran a personal best 3:54.92 for silver while Jessica Hull won Australia’s first medal in the event when she just held on for bronze in 3:55.16.

Kipyegon now matches Hicham El Guerrouj (1997-2003) by claiming four world 1,500m golds and she will also go for a second world 5,000m title later this week.

“Being able to defend my title and to win a fourth gold feels really special,” Kipyegon said.

“After setting the world record in Eugene [in July], I said to myself, 'I have to go to Tokyo and defend my title.' I knew I could run it under control.

“I won here in the 2021 Olympics just after becoming a mother, so being back here, winning again, means I can show a new gold medal to my daughter.”

Kipyegon, 31, set her stall out from the start, setting an early pace that strung out the busier-than-usual field after extra athletes were reinstated after semifinal falls.

However, she seemed to ease off slightly on the third lap and Ewoi and Olympic silver medallist Hull, who has spent most of her career watching Kipyegon's back disappear into the distance, were right on her shoulder at the bell.

There was nothing to worry about, however, as Kipyegon quickly took control again and by the time she crossed the line she was 30m clear.

Kipyegon will be back in the stadium on Thursday for the 5,000m heats, with the final on Saturday. 

Cordell Tinch took the long road to elite athletics but capped a superb second season as a professional by winning 110m hurdles gold at the world championships on another sweltering Tokyo night on Tuesday.

The American was all control and pace as he blazed over the 10 hurdles and held off the fast finishers in the run-in to claim his first global title at his first global championships in 12.99 seconds.

“When I crossed the finish line I felt relieved,” the 25-year-old said. “I came into this season with the goal of winning the world title. I wanted to be the best hurdler in the world.

“Being the only one to run sub-13 today makes me happy. I believed I was the best out there, so I didn't feel any pressure. People expected me to panic but I stayed focused.”

Orlando Bennett ran a personal best 13.08 to win silver, while his fellow Jamaican Tyler Mason took the bronze in 13.12, which matched his previous best time.

Olympic gold medallist Grant Holloway's six-year reign as world champion ended earlier on Tuesday when the American finished sixth in his semifinal, guaranteeing a fresh champion in the event.

Tinch could not have imagined it would be him in late 2022 when he was a cellphone salesman in his home town Green Bay, having given up first a college football scholarship and then a shot at Division I athletics.

He returned to the track at Pitt State in 2023 and impressed in the high hurdles sufficiently to turn professional last year, only mid-season surgery denying him the momentum to claim a spot on the US team for the Olympics.

This season, however, he has dominated his event and Tinch's sizzling 12.87 at the Shanghai/Keqiao Diamond League in May made him the joint-fourth fastest man of all time with Cuba's 2008 Olympic champion Dayron Robles.

Olympic high jump champion Hamish Kerr equalled his personal best with a leap of 2.36m to give New Zealand their second gold medal at the championships with victory in a dramatic final.

The 29-year-old made the highest jump in the world this year at his first attempt and raced off across the infield in celebration when Woo Sang-hyeok failed to get over at the same height.

Woo, who was hoping to give South Korea their first ever world championship title, finished second to add another silver medal to the one he won three years ago in Eugene after clearing 2.34m at his third attempt.

Czech Jan Stefela took bronze on the countback over Ukraine's Oleh Doroshchuk after they both cleared the bar at 2.31m but failed all three attempts at 2.34m. 

Canada's Ethan Katzberg claimed a third global hammer title in three years when he launched his second attempt a huge 84.70m for a championship record that made him the fifth-longest thrower in history.

The 23-year-old, who was incredibly over 81m with all six throws, is now a double world champion either side of his Olympic triumph last year.

His win made it a hammer double for Canada in Tokyo after Camryn Rogers completed the same global hat-trick on Monday.

In a final of stellar quality, Germany’s Merlin Hummel took silver after he hugely improved his personal best from 81.27 to 82.77 with his first throw.

Hungary's Olympic silver medallist Bence Halasz added a third world bronze to his collection with 82.69m.

Reuters