Day 3 of the 2023 World Athletics Championships: Magical day for the United States

For the logic of High Performance sport, all medals have their value. Nobody should think they have the right to highlight a world title in a test of throws and jumps above a speed test.

However, we know that a world title in the 100 meters is worth more than any other in the world of athletics and its relationship with public opinion, audiences and businesses.

For that same reason, it can be said that this one in Budapest is a historic world championship for North American athletics that, together with the extraordinary final run today by Sha’Carri Richardson and yesterday’s extraordinary explosion of Noah Lyles among men, secured a double title that they last achieved in Helsinki almost 20 years ago.

The conquest of Richardson, 23, born in Dallas and inspired by the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner, also had three distinctive aspects: she surpassed the Jamaican Jackson and Fraser-Pryce in full force, did so despite qualifying for the final by time and not by location in her series, and she managed to correct a trend of six Jamaican successes in the last eight world championships.

It was an almost perfect night for the United States. Minutes earlier, Grant Holloway won his third world title in 110 hurdles, making it clear that his defeat to Jamaican Parchment in the Tokyo Olympic final was a matter of a day that did not end up being ideal.

Pole vaulting made its debut in Budapest and the 12 female athletes who managed to pass the 4.65 meter mark qualified for the final. The Tokyo Olympic champion, Katie Moon, was positioned as the best of the day followed by Robeilys Peinado from Venezuela, who achieved her record best of the season.

Norway’s Karsten Warholm was categorical and achieved the fastest time in the semifinals of the 400 meters hurdles and will seek his third world title next Wednesday. August 23, will also consecrate a champion in the women’s 400 meters. Natalia Kaczmarek was the fastest of the semifinals that took place today with a time of 49.50 and will go in search of her first world title.

Day 4 will feature the final of high jump and 3000 meters with obstacles in men and disc throw and 1500 meters in women.

Not only for North American sports, 100 meters is dazzling. Something similar happens to us as well.

However, day three on Hungarian soil had magic from start to end.

With Zango, from Burkina Faso, winning the first world gold medal for his country in the final stage of the triple jump and with the Cubans Martinez and Nápoles confirming that nothing that happens socially, economically or politically will prevent that country’s sport from continuing to give birth to wonders.

The Swede Daniel Stahl demonstrated in the last attempt at the disc throw test that he is still in a position to take away some important throne from the Slovenian Ceh, who ended up losing an undefeated streak in Budapest that looked endless.