Liles wins first World Championships triple since Bolt, also wins 400m relay
Liles wins the first triple at the World Championships since Bolt, together with the 400m relay
Noah Liles (26-USA) has become the first man to win three world track and field titles in a single event since the “Emperor” Usain Bolt (37-Jamaica).
Liles anchored Team USA in the men’s 400-meter relay final at the 2023 World Championships at the Budapest National Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday (July 27) and was the first runner to cross the line.
The U.S. men’s team of Christian Coleman, Fred Curley, Brandon Carnes and Liles won in 37.38 seconds, ahead of Italy, who finished in 37.62 seconds.
Jamaica was third in 37.76 and Japan was fifth in 37.83, behind Great Britain (fourth) in 37.80.
Liles held up three fingers as he crossed the finish line. It was a ceremonial gesture signifying “triple gold.
After winning his first major men’s 100-meter title on Sept. 21 in 9.83, he won his third straight on Sept. 26 in the men’s 200 meters in 19.52.
He also won the 400-meter relay, making him the first triple world champion in eight years after Bolt in Beijing in 2015.
Bolt, who holds the men’s world records of 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters and 19.19 seconds in the 200 meters, won the triple (100, 200 and 400 meters) in Berlin in 2009, Moscow in 2013 and Beijing in 2015. In Daegu in 2011, he was disqualified for a false start in the 100 meters and only won gold in the 200 and 400 meters relays.
Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships in London, and has not won a single event title since, with two individual titles and three team titles in London 2017, Doha 2019 and Eugene 2022.
Liles won the men’s 100 and 200 meters in a single event and became the first man since Bolt to win three consecutive 200 meters titles.
He wasn’t done, however, as he came from behind to win the 400-meter relay in his final event of the meet.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he told the World Association of Athletics Federations and the Associated Press after the race. “I couldn’t be happier,” he said, adding, “In the relay, athletes who compete in individual events come together. There’s a lot of trust in the baton exchange. I’m happy with the result.”
After finishing second to Canada in Eugene last year, the U.S. men’s 400-meter relay team returned to the top of the standings for the first time since Doha in 2019 and won the event’s ninth world championship gold medal.
The U.S. also won the women’s 400-meter relay.
Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, Gabrielle Thomas, and Shackary Richardson ran a meet record of 41.03 seconds.
The U.S. women won their ninth title in the event and their second straight at the Games, shaving 0.04 seconds off the previous record of 41.07 set by Jamaica in Beijing in 2015.
Richardson, who won the women’s 100 meters in a meet record time of 10.65, was also a member of the relay team that won two medals.
“We knew what we had to do,” Richardson said, adding, “We ran with a common goal and we got what we wanted.”
Jamaica finished second in 41.21 and Great Britain third in 41.97.
Faith Kipyegon (Kenya) was also a double winner.
Kipyegon won the women’s 5,000 meters in 14:53.88, holding off a late charge from Sifan Hassan (14:54.11 NED) and Beatrice Chebet (14:54.33 KEN).
Kipyegon, who won gold in the 1,500 meters on March 23, also struck gold in the 5,000 meters to win his first back-to-back world titles.
He won in London in 2017 and Eugene in 2022, competing only in the 1,500 meters. This was his first time competing in the 5,000 meters and he came out on top.
After the race, Kipyegon said: “This year I set world records in the 1,500 meters (3:49.11) and 5,000 meters (14:05.20) and won two world titles. It’s been a year of dreams,” he said.
Armond Duplantis (SWE) cleared 6.10 meters to win his second consecutive men’s pole vault world title.
His attempts to break his own world record (6m22) failed on all three attempts at 6m23, confirming his status as the ‘all-time number one’.
Duplantis shared a sweet kiss with his girlfriend, Desiree Englander, a model, after the race.
“I’m happy to win back-to-back gold medals,” he said, “and I’ll try to make it two in a row in Paris.”
John Oviedo (PIL), who became the first Asian medalist in the men’s pole vault at the World Championships last year with a third-place finish in Eugene, set a new milestone for Asian athletics with a silver medal, breaking his own Asian record of 6.00 meters.
Marco Arop (CAN) won the men’s 800 meters in 1:44.24, ahead of Iman Wanyoni (KEN) in 1:44.53.
Arop was born in Sudan but moved to Canada with his family to escape the civil war. Arop, who finished third in Eugene last year, became the first Canadian to win gold in the men’s 800 meters at a world championships.
“Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” he said, “and I’m grateful to everyone who helped me and my family settle in Canada and make it possible for me to pursue athletics.”
Pierce Ruffage also became Canada’s first men’s decathlon world champion. Ruffage finished with a 10-event total of 8,909 points, ahead of Damien Warner (CAN), who scored 8,804 points.
In the women’s shot put, Chase Ealy (USA) won her second straight title with a throw of 20.43 meters.
Sarah Mitton (CAN) was second at 20m28, while Gong Lizhao (CHN), who won back-to-back titles at London 2017 and Doha 2019, 먹튀검증토토사이트 was third at 19m69. Gong Lijiao has won eight consecutive medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) dating back to Berlin 2009.