IAAF Athletics World Championships 2015: Sunday Results and Final Medal Table
Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop took gold in the men’s 1,500 metres at the IAAF World Championships on Sunday, as the curtain fell on an enthralling nine days of action.
In the other marquee race, Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana took the women’s 5,000 metres in style, getting the better of the great Genzebe Dibaba. The other women to take victory were Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba and Kathrina Molitor of Germany, in the marathon and javelin, respectively. In the other men’s event, there was a win for Canada from Derek Drouin in the high jump.
The 4x400-metre relays rounded off the championships, with Jamaica continuing their wonderful championships with a win in the women’s race. The United States were too good in the men’s version.
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Here’s a closer look back at the action and the final medal table from the championships.
| Women's Marathon | Mare Dibaba (ETH) | Helah Kiprop (KEN) | Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (BRN) |
| Men's High Jump | Derek Drouin (CAN) | Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR) | Guowei Zhang (CHI)* |
| Women's Javelin Throw | Kathrina Molitor (GER) | Huihui Lyu (CHN) | Sunette Viljoen (RSA) |
| Women's 5,000M | Almaz Ayana (ETH) | Senbere Teferi (ETH) | Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) |
| Men's 1,500M | Asbel Kiprop (KEN) | Elijah Motonei Manangoi (KEN) | Abdalaati Iguider (MAR) |
| Women's 4x400M Relay | Jamaica | United States | Great Britain & N.I. |
| Men's 4x400M Relay | United States | Trinidad & Tobago | Great Britain & N.I. |
| 1 | Kenya | 7 | 6 | 3 | 16 |
| 2 | Jamaica | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | United States | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 4 | Great Britain & N.I. | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Ethiopia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | Poland | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Canada | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Germany | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | Russia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Cuba | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
*Zhang shares the silver medal with Bondarenko.
Sunday Recap: Kiprop Races to Glory
Kiprop sauntered to the front of a thrilling 1,500 metres finale down the homestretch, with four athletes in a tight scrap for the minor medals behind him.
The Kenyan turned on the afterburners with the post in sight, finishing in a time of 3:34.40. He just got the better of compatriot Elijah Motonei Manangoi (3:34.63) and Abdalaati Iguider (3:34.67), who finished in the silver and bronze medal positions, respectively.
The IAAF Twitter feed paid tribute to an exceptional performance from Kiprop, who is now a three-time world champion:
In the women’s 5,000 metres, much was expected of Genzebe Dibaba, who was tipped to become the first woman ever to double the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres at the same championships. But Ayana (14:26.83) set a blistering early tempo that the rest of the field was unable to cope with, taking the win in a championship-record time.
Dibaba (14:44.14) was eventually pushed down to third after a game chase from Senbere Teferi (14:44.07), giving the Ethiopians a clean sweep of the medals. As Sean Ingle of the Guardian notes, it was quite a race:
For another Dibaba, no relation to Genzebe, it was a much better day, as Mare Dibaba (2:27:35) raced to a superb marathon victory. She waited until the last 100 metres of the 26.2-mile race to run away from Kenya’s Helah Kiprop (2:27:36), winning by just one second. Bahraini athlete Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (2:27:39) grabbed bronze.
As noted by FloTrack, it was the closest finish in the event’s history:
In the field, it was gold for Drouin in the high jump, as he prevailed in a jump-off against China's Guowei Zhang and Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko, who both take home a silver medal. The Canadian was the only man to clear a height of 2.34 metres when the bar was reset after an initial deadlock.
The women’s javelin produced an astonishing finish, as Molitor broke the hearts of the home crowd. She produced the longest throw in the world this year (67.69 metres) with the very last effort of the competition, snatching the gold medal out of the hands of China’s Huihui Lyu (66.13 metres). Bronze went to South Africa’s Sunette Viljoen with a throw of 65.79 metres.
Rounding off the evening were the relay races, and there was delight for Jamaica in the women's event, as Novlene Williams-Mills reeled in the United States' Francena McCorory in the home straight. Great Britain did superbly to finish third.
Eilidh Child, who ran the second leg for the British team, was delighted with third place, per BBC Sport: "I didn't have a great championship individually, but to come out with these girls, they pick you up, and you get another chance to get a medal."
In the men's race, the imperious quartet of David Verburg, Tony McQuay, Bryshon Nellum and LaShawn Merritt gave the United States an easy win.
These championships have bewitched us all, and the standard showcased from the competitors has been immaculate. But for these determined athletes, thoughts will already be turning to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next summer, as the champions from Beijing bid to back up their status as the world’s best with the most prestigious title of all.
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