Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia celebrates with the national flag after winning the women’s pole vault final during the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, yesterday. RIGHT: US gold medallist Lashawn Merritt (left) celebrates with Dominican Republic’s bronze medal winner Luguelin Santos following the men’s 400 metres final.
MOSCOW: Yelena Isinbayeva, the greatest woman pole vaulter of all time, thrilled a partisan home crowd roaring her every jump when she landed the third and probably last world title of her illustrious career yesterday.
The Russian, twice Olympic champion and world outdoor record holder, was the only vaulter to clear 4.89 metres.
It was a season’s best leap for the 31-year-old, the first woman to clear the revered five metres barrier, who said before the championships that she would retire.
American Olympic champion Jenn Surh took silver and Cuban Yarisley Silva bronze. Both failed at 4.89 after clearing 4.82.
After a nervous start when she failed with her first attempt after entering the competition at 4.65, a measure of her confidence with her rivals already up and running, Isinbayeva grew in stature.
With a chorus of “Yelena Yelena” reverberating around the Luzhniki stadium, the biggest crowd of a poorly attended championships so far, each clearance was greeted by a cacophony of approval.
Isinbayeva rewarded the support with punches in the air and squeals of delight. When gold was assured she ran to the crowd and embraced her coach.
Milking the moment and urging the crowd to raise the decibel level further, she asked for the bar to be raised to 5.07, one centimetre above the world record she set in 2009.
American Lashawn Merritt regained the men’s 400 metres world title.
It restored some credibility to his reputation after serving a 21-month doping ban and then fighting a court battle against the International Olympic Committee before being allowed to run in the 2012 Olympics.
Merritt, who won his previous title in 2009, posted the fastest time of the year of 43.74 seconds to take gold while compatriot Tony McQuay ran a personal best (44.40sec) for second place and Luquelin Santos of the Dominican Republic was third.
Mohammed Aman was outmuscled and jostled, but belied his diminutive size to produce a devastating sprint and claim a first-ever medal of any colour for Ethiopia in the world 800m by winning gold.
Aman, the 19-year-old world indoor champion who has twice got the better of Rudisha, stepped into the void with some style.
“I’m the first Ethiopian to win a 800m gold medal!” Aman said. “This gold medal is a big thing for me and my country.”
Germany’s Robert Harting won his third successive world discus title in impressive style when his 69.11 metre throw, the fourth-longest of the season.
Meanwhile, Kenyan Milcah Chemos won the women’s 3000m steeplechase title in the evening session yesterday. AGENCIES
