There were mixed fortunes for the Caribbean men in long jump qualifying, as a Jamaican trio of Wayne Pinnock, Carey McLeod and Tajay Gayle all progressed to the final, while Bahamian LaQuan Nairn missed out on day five of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

It is the first time ever that Jamaica will have three athletes in the long jump final at a global athletics championships.

It was one and done for Jamaica’s Pinnock and McLeod, while Gayle took his time to get going before hitting a reasonable mark to secure a spot in the final scheduled for Thursday at 12:30pm Jamaica time.

The 22-year-old Pinnock was poetry in motion where execution is concerned, as he was perfect off the board and that propelled him to a big world-leading mark of 8.54m in a positive 1.2 metres per second reading, which left him in shock.

“The first thing was just to execute as coach told me, push off on the first six steps, maintain my transition and then just run through the board which is what I did. But when I saw the distance, I was like ‘wow’, I wasn’t expecting that, but I’ve thought of this moment every night before I go to bed,” Pinnock said after his leap.

McLeod followed suit on his try, as he also cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m, cutting the sand at 8.19m in a positive 0.5m/s wind, on his first attempt.

Meanwhile, 2019 World Champion Gayle needed two jumps to find his rhythm, cutting the sand at 7.84m and 7.68m, respectively before leaping to 8.12m in a negative 0.7m/s wind, which was good enough to get him into the final.

Cuba’s Alejandro Parada (8.13m), will also line up in the medal event.

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Six Caribbean ladies will line up in Thursday’s 200 metres semi-finals, following contrasting performances in their respective heats on day five of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

The six, a Jamaican trio of reigning champion Shericka Jackson, Kevona Davis and Natalliah Whyte will be joined by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, St Lucian Julien Alfred and young British Virgin Islands sensation, Adaejah Hodge. Another Jamaican Ashanti Moore was the only Caribbean athlete to miss out.

Strachan, running from lane nine, got the show going in the first heat, where she was comfortable from start to finish, stopping the clock in 22.31s, ahead of Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.39s), with Jael Betsue (22.58s) of Spain taking the third automatic spot.

Moore, who was giving the opportunity to run the event following Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal, found herself in a tough second heat. Though she went out hard, Moore had to settle for fifth in 23.12s, which was not good enough for one of the six non-automatic qualifying spots.

The heat was easily won by newly minted 100m champion American, Sha’Carri Richardson in 22.16s, ahead of Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who clocked a season’s best 22.26s. Olivia Fotopoulou of Cyprus clocked a new personal best 22.65s for the third spot.

Jackson, the reigning 200m champion, expectedly made light work of rivals in heat three, as she cruised to 22.51s. Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, was second in a national record 22.57s, with Jessika Gbai (22.78s) of Ivory Coast in third.

Though Hodge was fourth, her time of 22.82s, was good enough to progress as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

St Lucia’s Alfred was tops in heat four, as she powered her way to 22.31s, ahead of Jamaica’s Whyte 22.44s, with Great Britain’s Bianca Williams (22.67s) in third.

The fifth and penultimate heat saw another young Jamaican Davis (22.49s), also booking her semi-final spot with a second-place finish behind American Gabrielle Thomas, who clocked 22.26s.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith justified favouritism in the final heat which she won in 22.46s.

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Jamaica’s pair of Natoya Goule-Toppin and Adelle Tracey both safely progressed to the women’s 800 metres semi-finals, as they had little problems navigating their respective heats on day five of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

Goule-Toppin, who entered the championships ranked second in the world, contested the last of the seven heats, where she bided her time in the early stages, before challenging and pushing America’s reigning World Champion Athing Mu in the homestretch.

In the end, Goule-Toppin finished second in 1:59.64, behind Mu, who stopped the clock in 1:59.59. Switzerland’s Lore Hoffman clocked a season’s best 2:00.14 to secure the third automatic qualifying spot.

Though she ran a national record of 3:58.77 in the 1,500m semi-finals, where she shaved 3.07 seconds off the previous mark set by Yvonne Graham in Monaco in 1995, Tracey was more at home in the two-lap event, and she performed accordingly to book her spot in the next round.

The 30-year-old occupied the inside lane for most of the way before finding space in between competitors in the home stretch to close fast for second in heat four.

She stopped the clock in a season’s best 1:59.92, behind Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi (1:59.68), with French athlete, Renelle Lamote (2:00.22, taking the third automatic qualifying spot from the heat.

Meanwhile, Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza, who contested heat six, placed sixth in 2:01.33 and failed to progress.

The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday.

You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.

Though disheartened by the manner in which Jaydon Hibbert’s debut showing at the World Athletic Championships ended, coach Travis Geopfert believes the minor setback is merely setting up his young charge for a major comeback next season.

Geopfert, like many Jamaicans and track and field enthusiasts at large, had high expectations about the gold medal prospects of the exciting triple jumper, who entered the Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with a world leading mark of 17.87m. Those expectations would have peaked when Hibbert topped the qualifiers in Saturday's first round with 17.70m.

However, Hibbert’s first appearance on the global stage ended in disappointment, as he suffered a right hamstring injury on his first attempt in Monday’s final and wasn't able to continue competing.

Geopfert, who works with Hibbert at the University of Arkansas, confirmed the injury as a Grade one hamstring strain. He pointed out that they have already started treatment and, by extension, processing the way forward, as he maintains a bright outlook for the 18-year-old.

“There is obviously a bright future ahead, I think one thing right now is that we have to make sure we do the right thing (going forward). We got the image last night, there is a small amount of swelling, but it is not a major injury which is a good thing. He is going to get treatment today; we have great medical support that is here, so we will do the things necessary to make sure that the healing process starts correctly,” Geopfert told journalists during a virtual press conference.

He continued: “The other thing that we are going to try to do is troubleshoot. There was no indication that there was going to be an issue yesterday (Monday), he was moving well, warm up was great, no cramping, no issue at all. So, what we need to do is go back and assess to get information, we need to do a sweat test to see how he sweats and what electrolytes and nutrients are being lost in his sweat so we can get some answers.

“We need to do some labs in terms of blood work and see if there are any deficiencies that we are missing…we often do labs, but we need to do it post exercise to see if there are any calcium deficiencies. From there we will then build for next year with a better plan in place to ensure that he continues to train and stays healthy and then we look for more exciting things through the NCAA season and into the Olympics.

Reflecting on the buildup to the final, Geopfert believes Hibbert’s warm-up alone, was a good indicator that he was very much on course to land what would have been a sensational gold medal, but for the heart-wrenching injury.

“His warmup was phenomenal…it (the gold medal) was very much on, I was excited as I thought the first attempt was going to be a monster jump, so this (injury) was out of the blue, this was not something that we never anticipated in any way at all,” Geopfert explained.

“When he came back, he said that the hamstring grabbed and so we were hoping for the best and that it was a cramp, so we went through what we needed to try to get it to release but there is only so much medical attention that is allowed at the moment in the stadium so there was very little that could really be done.

“He was trying to get ready to take the second jump, I was keeping an eye on whether he would have jumped out of order, but in a final you can’t jump out of order everything stays in order and then it became obvious that he couldn’t take the second jump,” he added.

While waiting for the jump cycle to come back around, Geopfert said he advised Hibbert to test the hamstring before going on the runway, but after being told that there is still a slight pain, the decision was taken to forgo the third jump as well.

“I tell athletes all the time that we can’t make emotional decisions, we have to deal with the information we have and make educated decisions. I understand being in the moment, but I also grasp a bigger picture for this young man, and I feel a sense of responsibility for him to always keep the bigger picture in mind,” the coach noted.

“So, I believe fully that it was the right call for him to skip that third jump, it wasn’t easy, but it was the right decision for him long term.  It wasn’t until after that the emotions hit me personally and it was tough, but the kid is tough, and he is handling it extremely well. I am proud of him for a lot of reasons, not just for the results but about his growth and how he handled the moment and how he communicated so effectively in that difficult moment,” Geopfert reasoned.

On that note, Geopfert recollected the remarkable season Hibbert enjoyed leading up to the championships and declared it an extreme positive to build on after recovery.

During his debut season for Arkansas, Hibbert yielded numerous records. He won the NCAA indoor triple jump with a first attempt jump of 17.54m, a feat that earned him the World Athletics moment of the month award for March.

Additionally, he was named the SEC Indoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year in the same month.

His mark surpassed the indoor Under-20 record of 17.20m set by Melvin Raffin of France in 2017, as well as the outdoor Under-20 standard of 17.50m set by Germany's Volker Mai in 1985.

Heading into the SEC Outdoors, the World Under-20 champion was unbeaten in three indoor competitions and two outdoor competitions. In Baton Rouge, he surpassed his opening leap of 17.02m with an impressive jump of 17.87m, setting a new world Under-20 record.

“It has been an unbelievable year for Jaydon, as a freshman, the transition to university in a new setting, he just did an unbelievably good job and then you look at the results that he had through the year and the records that he set, the World Under-20 records, indoor and outdoor, the NCAA records he set…just an unbelievable year across the board,” Geopfert beamed.

“Just watching him grow in terms of his maturity and how he handles things in both good times and bad, it’s been amazing, and I think it’s just been a great year overall. I am just extremely proud of him and the way he navigated it all extremely well and I am excited for the future because of that,” the Razorbacks coach ended.

There were mixed fortunes for the Caribbean men in the 400m semi-finals on day four of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Tuesday.

Antonio Watson was first up and set the track ablaze with a massive personal best 44.13 to take semi-final one over the likes of South African world record holder Wayde Van Niekerk and American Vernon Norwood.

Norwood ran a personal best of his own with 44.26 for second while Van Niekerk ran 44.65 in third and Jereem Richards ran 44.76 in fourth.

Van Niekerk made it through to the final as one of the fastest losers while Richards was just beaten out Norway’s Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen who ran 44.70 in heat two.

Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson Smith won the second semi-final in a personal best, British and European record 44.26 ahead of 2011 World Champion Kirani James who ran 44.58.

Unfortunately, reigning Olympic Champion Steven Gardiner looked set to book his spot in the final before pulling up injured while leading with about 100m to go in the third semi-final.

The race was eventually won by American Quincy Hall in 44.43 while Jamaica’s Sean Bailey also made it through to the final with 44.94.

Three Jamaicans will contest the medals in the women’s 400m hurdles as the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest after producing excellent semi-final performances on day four on Tuesday.

Clayton was first-up in semi-final one with a personal best 53.30 to win and book her spot in the final. American Anna Cockrell also advanced to the final with a personal best 53.63 in second.

Andrenette Knight had to go up against a loaded field in semi-final two including Femke Bol and former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad. Bol took the win in an easy 52.95 while Knight ran brilliantly to finish second in 53.72. Muhammad ran 54.19 in third and failed to make it to the final.

The third semi-final saw four athletes make it through to the final. Shamier Little produced a season’s best 52.82 to win ahead of Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya (53.69). National champion Janieve Russell ensured that it would be three Jamaicans in the final with 53.83 in third while Italy’s Ayomide Folorunso ran a national record 53.89 to also advance.

Navasky Anderson failed to advance from the heats of the Men’s 800m on day four of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Tuesday.

Anderson, who ran a national record 1:44.70 in July to qualify for the championships, was only able to produce 1:45.81 for fifth in heat two.

After seven heats, Anderson’s time was just .05 slower than the final non-automatic qualifying time.

The 23-year-old also failed to advance from the heats at last year’s edition in Eugene.

Ackera Nugent, Devynne Charlton, Danielle Williams and Megan Tapper all progressed to the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles on day four of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Tuesday.

Nugent, the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion, was first up in heat one, producing 12.60 to narrowly win ahead of American Masai Russell who was credited with the same time. Ireland’s Sarah Lavin (12.69) and France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.71) completed the top four.

2019 World Champion, Nia Ali, ran 12.55 to win the second heat ahead of Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska (12.65), South Africa’s Marione Fourie (12.71) and Hungary’s Luca Kozak (12.71).

2015 World Champion Danielle Williams and 2022 World Indoor Champion Devynne Charlton both lined up in heat three. Charlton and Williams were second and third with 12.44, a new Bahamian national record, and 12.51, respectively, as the race was won by American former world record holder in a blistering 12.24. Great Britain’s Cindy Sember was fourth in 12.83.

Puerto Rico’s Olympic Champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, was next up in heat four. She continued her unbeaten run this season with 12.50 to comfortably win the heat ahead of the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser (12.68) and Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji (12.71). Celeste Mucci of Australia also made it through with 12.90 in fourth.

Jamaican national champion, Megan Tapper, finished second in the fifth and final heat in 12.51 to advance. Nigerian World Champion and world record holder Tobi Amusan ran 12.49 to win the heat while Australia’s Michelle Jenneke and Cyprus’ Natalia Christofi ran 12.71 and 12.90 in third and fourth, respectively.

Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson must take her chance to become a world beater, according to Sally Gunnell.

The 1992 Olympic 400m hurdles champion believes Hodgkinson has the right mentality to secure her first global title at the World Championships.

Hodgkinson opens in the 800m heats on Wednesday with defending champion Athing Mu expected to compete after doubts over whether the American would travel to Hungary.

Kenya’s Mary Moraa also remains a threat to Hodgkinson – who has already won world and Olympic silver at the age of 21 – and Gunnell feels the Brit has the perfect chance in Budapest to top the podium.

“She’s still got many more years to go but sometimes you have to take these opportunities and now’s the time to do it,” she said.

“This week is going to be the big test of that, isn’t it? The last few years it has been about ‘wow, this new person is getting medals’.

“The stages you have to go in to be a top athlete, you’ve got to do your apprenticeship and this week is about going in as one of the favourites.

“She’s got massive competition in there, don’t get me wrong, so it’s not going to be an easy walkover by any means.

“These athletes don’t come by very often. It’s that outstanding talent and ability that somebody has, that natural ability she’s got.

“On top of that, she’s got a great mindset. She’s competitive. She’s focused, she trains hard. She’s got absolutely everything.

“She’s still young but she’s mature enough to be able to hold that and you almost feel like she has to take the opportunity because you don’t know what the next four years is going to be like.”

Gunnell’s husband Jon Bigg trains Jemma Reekie, who is also set to race in the 800m on Wednesday.

The 57-year-old, who won 400m hurdles gold at the World Championships in Stuttgart 30 years ago, believes this generation of athletes has the platform for success.

“It’s a very different era. Then we didn’t have the support of the National Lottery and being a full-time athlete,” she said.

“Now the support they have, the funding and the team that’s around them, has allowed us to have more depth and more are getting to finals.

“The pathway has been put in place. That’s the bit that is really showing us the difference.”

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Mo Farah put a summer of speculation behind him to make it half a dozen global titles as he again proved unbeatable over 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Beijing, on this day in 2015.

Farah was ruthlessly focused amid all the off-track distractions as he burst away from the twin Kenyan challenge of Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and Paul Tanui down the home straight.

The 32-year-old has endured a tumultuous year, caught up in the doping allegations surrounding his coach Alberto Salazaar, but had not lost his aura of invincibility on it as he came home in 27 minutes 01.13 seconds.

The double Olympic champion was back at the Bird’s Nest stadium, the scene of the biggest disappointment of his career when he failed to make the final of the 2008 Olympics.

Farah’s victory on this occasion meant he continued his Games and World Championships winning streak since his second-placed finish at Daegu, South Korea in 2011.

Farah was in a pack of five, well clear of the field for most of the race, also including American Galen Rupp, his training partner at the Nike Oregon Project in Portland, and, ominously, three Kenyan team-mates.

Farah kicked to the front with a lap to go and, although the Kenyans tried to respond, they simply could not match his finishing speed as the Briton came home with more than half a second to spare.

The double Olympic champion has admitted his name has been dragged through the mud over his links to Salazar- although he himself had been accused of no wrongdoing – and this win was the ideal way to answer his critics.

“I want to keep doing what I’m doing and serve my country and win as many medals as I can,” Farah told the BBC.

“I want to be remembered as someone who did something for their country.

“It’s been good to have so many people behind me on Instagram and Twitter, sending me messages.

“It’s a great atmosphere. It’s important I started the team well. I’m one of the oldest. So hopefully people look at that and say ‘I can do it’.”

Farah feared a last-lap stumble had killed his hopes of victory, but branded the challenge the toughest of his career.

He added: “The last lap, that was close. At one point, I honestly thought I was gone as I stumbled and I was thinking,
‘Not 24 laps into it, the last lap’.

“I was trying to go round and the Kenyan guy Geoffrey caught my leg. So I almost stumbled and managed to stay on my feet, go round to the front and make sure I had something left at the end. It was close, it wasn’t easy.”

2019 World Championship silver medallist, Fedrick Dacres, produced a 66.72m effort to finish fifth in the final of the Men’s discus throw on day three of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Monday.

The event was won by Sweden’s Daniel Stahl with a championship record 71.46m while Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh threw 70.02m for second and Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna threw 68.85m for third.

It was an exciting end to the competition as Ceh took the lead with his final round effort before Stahl produced the championship record throw with the very last throw of the competition.

Traves Smikle finished 11^th with a best throw of 61.90m.

Sha’Carri Richardson produced a breathtaking performance to claim her maiden World 100m title on day three of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Monday.

Richardson, running from lane nine after a shaky performance in the semi-finals earlier on Saturday, produced a personal best and championship record 10.65 to take the gold.

Shericka Jackson followed up her 10.79 in the semis with 10.72 to take her second consecutive silver medal in the evet while defending champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, was third with a season’s best 10.77.

Olympic Champion Hansle Parchment once again showed himself to be a man for the big occasion with a silver medal in the Men’s 110m hurdles final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Monday.

Parchment produced 13.07 to take silver behind American Grant Holloway who ran a season’s best 12.96 to claim his third consecutive World title. Holloway’s American teammate Daniel Roberts was third with 13.09.

This is Parchment’s second World Championship silver medal after running 13.03 at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

Marileidy Paulino, Candice McLeod and Sada Williams all successfully made it through the semi-finals of the Women’s 400m on day three of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Monday.

Paulino, the reigning Olympic and World Championship silver medalist, produced 49.54 to win semi-final one.

Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke (49.87) also automatically advanced through to the final from semi-final one while Belgium’s Cynthia Bolingo ran 49.96, a new national record, to advance as one of the non-automatic qualifiers. Jamaica’s Candice McLeod ran 50.62 for fourth to advance as the final time qualifier.

The second semi-final was won by Lieke Klaver in 49.88 while Talitha Diggs also made it through with 50.86. Jamaican champion, Nickisha Pryce, was in a qualifying spot after running a hard first 300m before fading down the stretch and eventually running 51.24 for fifth.

Sada Williams, the defending World Championship bronze medallist, ran a personal best and national record 49.58 for second in semi-final three to advance. Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek ran 49.50 to take the win.

Defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson are through to the finals of the 100m. So, too, was Julien Alfred of St Lucia who continued her unbeaten run this season by taking her semi-final heat to advance to her first global final.

American medal hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson and the dangerous Marie Jose Ta-Lou are also through into what is expected to be a cracking final.

Fraser-Pryce who is going for her sixth world 100m title but whose preparation this season has been interrupted by a long-running knee injury, eased out of the blocks but rushed past the field to win her heat in 10.89.

The USA’s Tamari Davis secured her spot in the final by finishing second in 10.98.

Jackson, meanwhile, was more impressive getting a good start and cruised to victory in 10.79, just ahead of an impressive Ta Lou, who was just as easy finishing second on 10.79. Richardson, who was left in the blocks managed to take third in 10.84, a time that eventually got her into the final.

Alfred, who is unbeaten in the 100m this season, survived a scare in her heat after receiving a yellow card for a faulty start. However, having dodged a repeat of her fate at the 2022 World Championships, she started cautiously but stormed past the field to win in 10.92.

Britney Brown of the USA booked her finals berth after running 10.97 for a second-place finish.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith made it into the final having finished third in 11.01.