Makwala fails to take second chance as Guliyev powers to shock 200m win

A sensational finish from Ramil Guliyev (pictured, top) earnt him a shock gold, Turkey’s first in the Athletics World Championships, and condemned pre-race favorites van Niekerk of South Africa and Botswanan athlete Makwala to second and sixth respectively.

The Azerbaijan-born sprinter was in the middle of a tightly-contested pack at the halfway stage but streaked past Van Niekerk in the closing stages to pip the South African to the line in 20.09. In a photo finish for second, 400m winner Van Niekerk held off Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago by one thousandth of a second to grab silver.

Makwala, who earnt a late reprieve after being blocked from competing in the 400m and, initially, the 200m event as a result of the norovirus, couldn’t take his unexpected second chance and faded badly after a decent start to finish sixth.

Taylor completes Worlds hat-trick

Triple jump great Christian Taylor added another medal to his haul with a third world title, after a ding-dong battle with US teammate Will Claye.

Taylor’s best mark of 17.68 metres was enough to edge out Claye, who could only manage 17.63m. Nelson Evora of Portugal took the bronze with 17.19m.

The 27-year-old is already a double Olympic champion and Thursday’s win means he’s the first triple jumper to win three world titles.

More joy for the States

There was another 1-2 for the USA in the women’s 400m as outsider Kori Carter took advantage of flagging compatriot Dalilah Muhammad in the home straight to claim gold.

Carter ran 53.07 seconds from the outside lane to claim a surprise win ahead of Muhammad, who won gold in the Rio Olympics last year. Jamaica’s Ristananna Tracey ran a personal best of 53.74sec for bronze, while two-time defending champion Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic was fourth.

“I just had to run my race, go out and let them chase me,” said Carter, 25. “I’m on top of the world right now, it’s been such a long year.”
 

mp (Reuters, AP)

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