IAAF Athletics World Championships 2015: Results and Medal Table After Tuesday
It takes something special to seize the spotlight away from Usain Bolt, but David Rudisha and Greg Rutherford did exactly that on Tuesday at the IAAF Athletics World Championships, as they produced superb displays to win the men’s 800 metres and men's long jump, respectively.
In another absorbing session of athletics, the other men's gold medal went to Nicholas Bett of Kenya in the men’s 400-metre hurdles. In the women’s events, Denia Caballero of Cuba won the discus, while Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba was too strong in the 1,500 metres, racing to an easy win.
Bolt was able to swagger his way to the 200-metre dash semi-finals in typical fashion, but Justin Gatlin went a little quicker on the day, providing a reminder that he’s going to be a tough competitor over the half-track distance too.
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| Women's Discus | Denia Caballero (CUB) | Sandra Perkovic (CRO) | Nadine Muller (GER) |
| Women's 1500m | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) | Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (KEN) | Sifan Hassan (NED) |
| Men's 400m Hurdles | Nicholas Bett (KEN) | Denis Kudryavtsev (RUS) | Jeffery Gibson (BAH) |
| Men's 800m | David Rudisha (KEN) | Adam Kszczot (POL) | Amel Tuka (BIH) |
| Men's Long Jump | Greg Rutherford (GBR) | Fabrice Lapierre (AUS) | Jianan Wang (CHN) |
| 1 | Kenya | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Great Britain & N.I. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Jamaica | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ethiopia | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | United States | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | Poland | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 8 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
For full results and medal standings check out the IAAF website.
Rudisha and Rutherford Star on Tuesday
Rudisha thrilled the watching world with a stunning performance at the London Olympics three years ago, and while his win here wasn't quite as spectacular, the Kenyan produced a measured display to pick up the world title in the 800 metres.
The Olympic champion coasted around the first lap and kicked with 400 metres go. From that point on there was nobody catching him, as he left the chasing pack in his wake with a winning time of one minute, 45.84 seconds.
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce paid tribute to a quality competitor and a very amicable man too:
Rutherford, meanwhile, added a world title to his Olympic win from two years ago as well as his European and Commonwealth golds, showing his class on the biggest stage once again.
The Brit laid down an early marker with a solid leap of 8.29 metres with his second jump. Then, with that safety net secured, he was able to push hard in his remaining jumps and a season's-best effort of 8.41 metres extended his lead even further. It proved to be a distance no other competitor was able to get near, as Rutherford sat out the final two jumps.
As noted by Owen Gibson of the Guardian, Rutherford excelled under pressure again, while others wilted:
Afterward, Rutherford, who is the fifth British athlete to have won all four major titles, struggled to hold back the tears. "I'm a bit lost for words," he said, per BBC Sport. "What an incredible night. It's been unreal. My family and friends helped me build a long jump pit in the garden. It’s unbelievable. This was my best-ever performance."
Fresh from his 100-metre win on Sunday, Bolt cruised through to the semi-finals in his preferred 200-metre distance with a time of 20.28 seconds. The Jamaican eased down through the final stages of his heat and still progressed as the winner, but Gatlin was also very sharp, posting a time of 20.19 seconds.
In one of the biggest shocks of the championships so far, Kenya’s Bett stormed to victory in the final of the men’s 400-metre hurdles. America’s Michael Tinsley was expected to shine in this one, but he hit a couple of hurdles hard around the final bend and Bett surged through on the outside to seize a surprise triumph in a time of 47.79 seconds.
As noted here by NBC’s Nick Zaccardi, it was a historic performance from the Kenyan athlete:
In the women’s discus, it was Cuba's Caballero who made good on her status as the world’s best, bagging gold with a throw of 69.28 metres. She was a comfortable victor over Croatia's Sandra Perkovic (67.39 metres) who took silver, with the bronze won by Germany's Nadine Muller (65.53 metres).
The women’s 400-metre final is shaping up to be a cracker, after Great Britain's Christine Ohuruogu showed off her major championship pedigree with an accomplished semi-final display, posting a time of 50.16 seconds. But the reigning world champion will have to be at her very best to finish ahead of American Allyson Felix, who looked synonymously serene to progress.
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