Usain Bolt's farewell event -4x100meter relay- ended in a fiasco as the Jamaican star tumbled on the the track and was in great pain; giving a surprise victory for the British team. After Bolt took the baton from his teammate Yohan Blake to run the anchor leg of Jamaica's relay, their team was in third place. In years past, that would have been a minor obstacle for Bolt, the greatest sprinter in history. This time, he began to gather speed, only to pull up and shout in pain from what appeared to be a left leg injury about 60 meters from the finish line.
It was hardly the farewell party that Bolt had in mind when he decided to make this meet the final one of his career. His failure to finish would normally have cast a pall over the rest of the race, but it has been a frustrating meet for Britain, the host country. And with Bolt on the ground and the Jamaicans out of contention, the gold came down to a sprint for the finish between Christian Coleman of the United States and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain.
The Britons won by five one hundredths of a second, finishing in 37.47 seconds to the Americans' 37.52. As the official results flashed on the big screen, the crowd cheered for what was only Britain's second gold medal of this meet and its first-ever world championship in the men's 4x100 relay.
Mo Farah fails to get gold in 5,000m
Muktar Edris put an end to Mo Farah's dominance in the distance races at the world championships, and he crossed the line doing the move that Farah made famous at the Olympics five years ago. Edris out-kicked Farah down the stretch, beating the British runner at his own game in the final seconds of the 5,000-meter race. Farah won the long-distance double at the 2012 London Olympics. He continued to rule the track by again winning the 5,000 and 10,000 at last year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
American Reese wins fourth world long jump gold
American Brittney Reese won a fourth world gold when she claimed victory in the women's long jump. Reese, who previously won in 2009, 2011 and 2013 and was 2012 Olympic champion, managed a best of 7.02 metres. Russian Darya Klishina, competing as a neutral with her country's federation banned by the IAAF over doping, claimed silver with 7.00m. Reese's teammate Tianna Bartoletta, defending world champion, held off Serbia's Ivana Spanovic, for bronze (6.97).
Isaac Makwala's solo run in heats
Botswanan star Isaac Makwala was able to compete in the 200 metres, after the IAAF decided to allow him to run a solo timetrial after missing heats. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) offered the fastest man in the world another chance, as his quarantine period for the contagious norovirus had expired. The 30-year-old had been barred from running in the 400m final after being diagnosed with the stomach ailment - which under English health recommendations requires 48 hours' quarantine. This had provoked a row between the sport's governing body and the Botswana athletics bosses, with the former insisting it was sad but had to follow the recommendations from Public Health England, whilst the latter said he was perfectly fine to run.
The IAAF said he can run in the semis provided he first achieved the qualifying time of 20.53 seconds in an individual time trial before the main session. “Following a medical examination which has declared him fit to compete, we have agreed under our existing rules that assuming he makes the qualification time, he will run in the 200m semi-final round this evening,” the IAAF said in a statement. Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa won the 400m heat in the absence of Makwala and Turkish runner Ramil Guliyev won the the 200m race and thus denying Wayde's dream of winning both the 400 and 200 double in London.
The main medal winning countries are United States – 30; Kenya 11; South Africa 6; France 5; China 7 and Great Britain 6.
