The opening day of the 2023 World Athletics Championship had all the possible condiments. From the consecration of the Spanish Martín taking advantage of the absence of the Russians in race walk to three more finals that included a championship record, a world record and two falls that changed the destination of the tests just meters away from the finish.
The storm that fell in the Hungarian capital did not prevent Álvaro Martín from becoming the first gold medalist of this event in the 20 km race walk, other than suffering a delay of two hours before his start. The Spaniard took revenge for the medal chance he lost in Tokyo 2020 and managed to get on the podium in first place with a time of 1:17:32. Perseus Karlström from Sweden and Caio Bomfin from Brazil, both with national records, completed the podium.
Undoubtedly, the star of the day was Ryan Crouser. The Olympic champion in Tokyo and Rio was able to validate his world title won in Eugene 2022 and with a mark of 23.51 meters become world champion once again. The American was just 5 centimeters away from breaking his own world record, achieved in May of this year. Far behind were the Italian Leonardo Fabbri and Joe Kovacs, from the United States, in second and third place respectively.
Beyond any consideration, what could have been a historic night for Dutch athletics ended up being a tremendous nightmare.
In the two closing events of this exceptional day, their athletes went from being a few meters away from two gold medals and a world record to leaving the fabulous stadium of the National Athletic Center in Budapest empty-handed and a pair of bruises. Both Sifan Hassan in the 10,000 meters and Femke Bol in the last relay of the mixed 4x400, fell to the ground meters from the finish line and were unable to achieve their respective titles.
After a remarkable effort to overcome the Ethiopian trident, Hassan fell in the last few meters. This event prevented the Tokyo Olympic champion from getting on the podium and she finished in eleventh position. Also in the end, Bol fell to the floor and the Netherlands relay failed to finish the competition. This is how the United States won the 4x400 meters mixed relay title.
Day two of the competitions will include six finals, including two highlights that guarantee another adrenaline-filled night. Will Joshua Cheptegei be able to give us a new world record at 10,000?
Will the legendary 1-2-3 of North American speed come back together with Kerley, Coleman and Lyles in the 100?
Talent, emotion, drama, confirmations, surprises. All the nuances that promise an extraordinary World Championships in a year in which, as stated a few days ago by the re-elected president of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, this sport began full of extraordinary performances.
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