London: Brittney Reese of America dominated the proceedings as she claimed her fourth World Championships long jump title here Friday. The 30-year-old 2012 Rio Olympic champion leapt 7.02m on her third attempt to confirm the gold medal in the nerve-wracking finale. Neutral athlete Darya Klishina(7m) took silver whereas titleholder and Olympic champion Tianna Bartoletta(6.97m) claimed the bronze medal. It was expected to be a battle between Reese and Bartoletta. However, Klishina changed all that with a lifetime best on her fourth attempt. “I was doing this for him and I know he would have been cheering for me. I’ll be continuing to Tokyo 2020. I’m not done yet, I can assure you,” said an emotional Reese who lost her grandfather recently.
Schippers dominates
Holland’s Dafine Schippers retained the women’s 200 metres title pipping Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote d’Ivoire on the line. The 25-year-old Olympic silver medallist Schipper, clocked a season best of 22.05s while Ta Lou had a time of 22.08s. Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo took the bronze medal with a 22.15s timing.
Unique feat
Poland’s two-time reigning World Champion Pawel Fajdek(79.81) completed his hat-trick of titles with a fine display of consistent throwing. A fourth round throw of 79.81m saw Fajdek become the first man to win three successive hammer title at the Worlds. Russian Valeriy Pronkin (78.16m) participating as a neutral athlete took silver while another Polish Wojciech Nowicki (78.03m) claimed bronze.
Agencies