Day 2 of the 2023 World Athletics Championships: Lyles, the great figure on another extraordinary day

The only flaw with the 100 meters test is that the story is resolved in the first days of both the World Cups and the Olympic Games.

Due to inevitable scheduling issues of a schedule that reserves for later both the 200 - the other side of pure individual speed - and the 4×100 bet, the Budapest tournament resolved one of its highest expectations in just its second day of competition.

The race that gave Noah Lyles his fourth world title -first in this distance- was the outstanding conclusion of another exceptional day. From the surprising hammer victory of Canadian Ethan Katzberg and the first great outdoor conquest of the Serbian jumper Ivana Vuleta to the ratification of Joshua Cheptegei as the best long-distance runner of these times, the afternoon-night on the banks of the Danube confirmed the great moment this sport is going through.

Anyway, not only was there no 1-2-3 from the United States, but only Lyles installed that flag on the podium. Cristian Coleman fell away after a final ten meters of a nightmare and Fred Kerley, the best of the Diamond League season, was disqualified for a false game in the semifinals.

For the rest, as sports wise men explain, there are more ways to win than to win gold. That’s what the impact of Letsile Tebogo’s second place (Botswana) and the tears of emotion of Zharnel Hughes (Great Britain) after receiving the bronze medal were all about. And pay attention to Jamaica, which even without a space on the podium, seems to have entered a renewal zone with two almost teenagers who run for less than 10 seconds with suggestive naturalness.

The feat of the day was signed by Canadian Ethan Katzberg in hammer throw. At the age of 21, he crushed all the odds by throwing 81.25 meters and relegating Polish Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki to second place (81.02) and Hungarian Bence Halász (80.82) to third place. It is the only medal won by Canada so far in Budapest 2023.

Spain’s hegemony in the 2023 Budapest Race Walk was absolute. After the coronation of Álvaro Martín at the start of the first day of competition, María Pérez celebrated in the 20 kilometers with a time of 1:26:51. Only Russia, in 2001 and 2009, had celebrated in the two 20-kilometer races at a World Championship. A few hours later, Ivana Vuleta, from Serbia, jumped 7.14 meters to become an outdoor world champion for the first time.

The British Katarina Johnson-Thompson won her second world title in heptathlon -she was champion in Doha 2019- surpassing Anna Hall, who won the 800 meters, by only 20 points at the close of the competition. Anouk Vetter, from the Netherlands, completed the podium.

In the semifinals of the 1500 meters, Faith Kipyegon won the best record of the night with a time of 3:55.14, while in the men’s rounds, Yared Nuguse raced in 3:32.69 to qualify with the fastest time. The finals will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday.

For its part, on day 3 of the competition, there will be the men’s final of triple jump, disc throw and 110 meters hurdles, among other semifinals and qualifications. Undoubtedly, the most important moment of the day will be played by the fastest women in the world in the final of the 100 meters. Sha’Carri Richardson was the fastest in the heats, but she could go on to play a final with great figures such as Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Marie-Josée Ta Lou. Can the North American win her first world title?

As a hypothesis, I suspect that if we were to give any of you a free ticket to Paris 2024, most of you would say that your favorite is the one for the 100 meter definition night. What we want so much is history in this very attractive Hungarian world cup. Nothing to blame us for. As long as the next few days are even a little like the two that have passed, we will become aware that, even if we are still fascinated by the hectometer, the athletics festival is much more than that.