The 11th World Championships in Athletics, (Japanese: 2007年世界陸上競技選手権大会) under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federations entered a total of 1,978 athletes, the greatest number of competitors at any World Championships to date.[1][2]Sarah Brightman, the world's best-selling soprano, performed her single Running at the opening ceremony.
Bidding process
Having bid unsuccessfully to host the 2008 Summer Olympics,[3] Osaka was one of three cities to express an interest in hosting the 2007 World Championships alongside Budapest, Hungary and Berlin, Germany. By the IAAF's October 1, 2002 deadline, Budapest and Berlin had both withdrawn their bids, and Osaka was announced as the host city on November 15, 2002, as the sole remaining candidate.[4] Berlin later bid successfully for the 2009 World Championships.[5]
Major themes
Doping concerns
The IAAF stepped up its "war on doping" at the Osaka games, and for the first time, the number of drug tests exceeded 1,000.[6] The IAAF lobbied the World Anti-Doping Agency to adopt stiffer penalties for first-time doping offences in WADA's code of practice.[7] Before the Championships, former Olympic champion Ed Moses had voiced concerns about the extent of doping in the sport, and had even predicted that a medallist at the event would be found to have taken a banned substance.[8] Despite these fears, the IAAF announced that only one of the samples taken over the course of the Championships was "suspicious" and required more examination.[9] The governing body refused to elaborate further until more was known, but the French hurdler Naman Keïta admitted to having failed a drug test.[10] The IAAF later confirmed that Keïta had tested positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test at a training camp, and labelled the World Championships 'drug-free'.[11]
Weather conditions
The Championships were held during an unseasonably hot summer in Japan, in contrast to the cool, wet and windy conditions of Helsinki two years earlier.[12] Temperatures earlier in the month had reached 40 °C (104 °F), killing several people.[13] Temperatures had eased somewhat by the start of the event,[14] but with early-morning temperatures around 30 °C and humidity high, the IAAF maintained a colour-coded advisory scale warning of the risk of heat stroke.[15] Casualties of the heat were not as high as initially feared, but dozens of athletes failed to finish the walks and marathons and a few did require medical treatment.[14] Some athletes in shorter events blamed poor performances on the difficult conditions.[16]
Attendance
Concerns had been raised in the week running up to the Championships about the low level of ticket sales – only 46% of seats had been filled by August 20.[17] The Nagai Stadium was less than half full for the opening ceremony, and there were around 15,000 empty seats on the night of the men's 100 m final.[18] A number of reasons were cited for the poor attendance, including high ticket prices (especially since the streets were lined during the marathons),[18][19] the hot weather[19] and the disappointing performance of the Japanese team.[19] IAAF vice-president Sebastian Coe also suggested that the length of the Championships may have to be shortened in future to sustain the public's interest.[20]
Notable performances
Despite no world records being broken, the Championships saw a number of significant personal and team achievements. The United States dominated the overall standings ahead of Kenya and Russia, equalling its best ever medal haul (first achieved in 1991) with 26, fourteen of them golds. The U.S. also set another Championship first by triumphing in all four relay races.[21] These accomplishments were highlighted by three individual performances: Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix collected three gold medals each (Gay in the 100 and 200 metres and the 4 × 100 m relay, Felix in the 200 m and the two women's relays), a feat previously achieved only by Marita Koch, Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene;[21] while Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat became the first man to win both the 1500 and 5000 m titles at the same World Championships.[22] Perhaps the most unlikely American medal came from 110 m hurdlerDavid Payne, who as first alternate had not travelled to Osaka with the rest of the team. After Dominique Arnold withdrew from the event with an injury, Payne only arrived in Japan the night before the heats, and proceeded to move through the rounds before taking bronze with a personal best.[22]
African countries were typically well represented in the middle and long-distance events, with Kenyans claiming both the men's and women's marathon titles and Ethiopia winning three golds.
Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, the only sprinter of non-African origin to clock sub-13 second 110m hurdles, took the gold medal at this event with a time of 12.95 seconds.
World Record Holders for the 20 km Walk, Jefferson Pérez, and 50 km Walk, Nathan Deakes, both won their respective events, confirming their dominance of the event. In Perez's case, this was his third World Championship Gold Medal in a row.
Host nation Japan gained its only medal on the final day with a bronze for Reiko Tosa in the women's marathon.
From opening ceremony
110 m hurdles heat in the men's decathlon
Japanese athlete is carried away after the 50 km walk.
Powell got the best start and led the race halfway through, but Gay caught up and ran past Powell with some 30 meters left, being able to hold up his top speed longer. Powell seemed to get tense in the end and admitted to giving up when he realised he was out of contention,[27] as even Atkins ran past him in the last moments of the race.
Gay became only the third male athlete to complete the sprint double at a World Championship.[28] Spearmon finished one hundredth of a second ahead of Rodney Martin to win bronze.
The United States completed a clean sweep of the medals, with Wariner successfully defending his title. Merritt and Taylor claimed their first individual World Championship medals. Wariner moved up to no. 3 on the all-time lists and Merritt ran under 44 seconds for the first time.[29]
After a slow 55 second first lap, Reed of Canada held the lead, followed closely by Abraham Chepkirwok. The final 100 meters produced a frenetic sprint to the finish in which Kirwa Yego nipped Reed at the line.
Kenyan-born Lagat outkicked the field in a close finish (eight athletes were within a second of first place), holding off Ramzi to win the first championship 1500 m gold for the United States since the 1908 Olympics.
A slow, tactical race saw the athletes remain bunched until Mo Farah tried to pull away at the beginning of the final lap. The Briton dropped to fifth position around the last bend, however, and Lagat surged past Kipchoge on the home straight to become the first ever winner of a world 1500/5000 m double.
Zersenay Tadese set a fast pace for most of the race (because he knew he could not outsprint Bekele, according to SBS commentators), gradually reducing the pack to 4. Mathathi took the lead with two laps to go, and Tadese fell back to finish fourth. The two Ethiopians went past Mathathi at the bell, with Bekele sprinting away in the last 100m to win his third consecutive title.
KenyanWilliam Kiplagat, who had held a medal position for much of the race, faded badly to finish 8th, in a race where 57 out of 94 starters finished. Swiss Röthlin ran a well-paced race to take a surprise medal. EritreanYared Asmerom, along with three Japanese athletes, was unlucky to finish without medals, despite well-timed surges. Japan won the World Cup race, with Korea and Kenya also picking up medals in the team event.
Olympic champion Liu came from behind to claim his first World Championship gold. Trammell, leader for much of the race, took silver, while Payne won the bronze despite only arriving in Osaka as an alternate the day before the event began.[22]
After having led for most of the way, Italy's Ivano Brugnetti was disqualified after 12 km. Fernández was disqualified after having lifted inside the stadium, to overtake Ghoula metres before the line and fourth-place Eder Sánchez was awarded the bronze. However, the Spaniard was later reinstated. This was world record-holder Pérez's third straight title.
China's Yu Chaohong took an early lead in hot conditions, but was overtaken before the halfway mark by the leading group. Nathan Deakes broke away from the leading group around the 35 km mark and was never headed to secure the global title and add to the 50 km world record he set 10 months earlier. Deakes slowed in the final kilometre looking for family lining the route and to savour the win.
The United States led throughout to win, giving Gay his third gold medal of the Championships. Powell received the final baton in fifth place but powered ahead of second-placed Lewis-Francis on the home straight to win silver for the Jamaicans in a national record time.
With the three individual 400 m medallists on their team, the U.S. were strong favourites going into the race and duly led from start to finish. Jamaica held second place after three legs, but anchor Sanjay Ayre was passed by Brown on the back straight and Kozłowski on the home straight.
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Thomas won the gold with his first attempt at 2.35 m. Olympic champion Stefan Holm failed to clear this height – his best of 2.33 was good enough only for fourth. Ioannou's bronze was the first ever for Cyprus at any World Championships.
Saladino moved into the outright lead with his third round jump of 8.46. This distance looked set to win the title until Howe went 1 cm further in the final round. However, with the last jump of the contest, Saladino flew at 8.57 to seal a dramatic gold for Panama.
Évora assumed the lead from the very first jump and truly consolidated his victory with a second-best world leading mark at the third attempt. Gregório, the 2007 world leader, was only able to surpass Évora's first jump with his penultimate effort, leapfrogging defending champion Walter Davis, who had held second place since the opening round.
Hoffa held the lead throughout the competition making the four longest throws of the final. Defending champion Nelson had only two legal throws, in the first two rounds. DutchmanRutger Smith finished a close fourth and Dane Joachim Olsen was disappointed not to record a mark. In 2013 it was revealed that Andrei Mikhnevich, the original bronze medalist, tested positive for a prohibited substance at the 2005 World Championships. Since this was his second offense, he was given a lifetime ban and all his results from August 2005 on were annulled.[30] As a consequence, Rutger Smith, was awarded the bronze.
Double Olympic, European and double defending champion Virgilijus Alekna disappointed, finishing fourth with 65.24 m. With his bronze, Dutchman Smith set a new record, becoming the first person to win a World Championship medal in both shot put (a silver in 2005) and discus throw.
Pitkämäki's second round throw of 89.16 proved enough for victory. With the title already won, he went further still with the final throw of the competition.
Tsikhan left it late to win his third consecutive world title. Lying fourth going into the final round, he produced a throw of 83.63 which none of the three remaining competitors could better.
Olympic champion Šebrle, World Championship runner-up in 2003 and 2005, won his first world title in a close contest. Smith led the standings through eight events, but the medals were then decided in the javelin discipline. Despite season best throws from Smith and Karpov, veteran Šebrle moved up from third to first in the overall standings thanks to a personal best of 71.18. The Czech then did enough to hold onto his lead in the concluding 1500m. Smith's score of 8,644 points was a huge improvement on the previous Jamaican record. Defending champion Bryan Clay withdrew injured after four events.
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
It was arguably the closest World Championship 100 metres final for women (to date, the 1993 final is the only other race where the top two athletes clocked the same time).[31] With the top five finishing within five hundredths of a second, and with both gold and silver medalists, Veronica Campbell and Lauryn Williams, respectively, finishing at 11.01 seconds, it took some minutes for the judges to determine who had won.
Felix claimed a convincing victory with a personal best of 21.81, the fastest World Championship time since Inger Miller's gold medal run in 1999. Jayasinghe edged Torri Edwards for third to claim her first World Championship medal in ten years.
Williams led the field approaching the home straight with the Russian Natalya Antyukh and American athlete Dee Dee Trotter ahead of the two Britons at this point. However, Ohuruogu and Sanders closed quickly on the other athletes. Williams held the lead up until the final five metres, where she tied up quickly, allowing the two British athletes to take the first two medals on a dip. Ohuruogu surprised the field to take the gold medal with a personal best, just 24 days after her 12-month suspension for missing three out-of-competition doping tests expired.[24][32]
World number one Soboleva led from the gun until passed by Jamal on the back straight of the last lap. Jamal's sprint failed to break the field, but she just managed to hold off Soboleva for the win. However, Soboleva's medal was taken away in 2009 because of doping. Lishchynska participated in the 2017 ceremony for her medal upgrade. With a 2008 doping offense in her history, the IAAF did not welcome Daniela Yordanova to take part in the 2017 ceremony.[33]
Defar added the world title to her Olympic gold medal. A personal best of 14:59.26 by Kenyan Sylvia Kibet left her in fourth, just five hundredths of a second outside the medals.
Dibaba fell behind the leaders halfway through the race, with obvious stomach trouble, however she managed to pull back to the front and take historic back-to-back 10,000 m titles. Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, was one of two athletes, who lost her shoe, and then had to stop to put it back on her foot before rejoining the race. Great Britain's Joanne Pavey went into third place in the penultimate lap, leading until the home straight, when Goucher went back to claim the medal.
In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken from Abeylegesse during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'.[34] The IAAF confirmed the finding, and expunged the records of Abeylegesse, on 29 March 2017. Goucher and Pavey were promoted to silver and bronze respectively, with the ceremony taking place ten years later.[33]
Ndereba pulled clear over the final two kilometres to win her second world title. Tosa delighted the home crowd by passing Zhu Xiaolin over the closing stages to claim the bronze.
The initial celebrations of Ennis-London[35] proved premature as defending champion Perry was confirmed the winner of a close race after an anxious wait.
Both Kaniskina and Shemyakina held on to their final places since they left the stadium for the first time, with the winner performing a very strong and consistent race. María Vasco raced from behind surpassing Tatyana Sibileva to prevent another Russian clean sweep.
Felix pulled past Lloyd on the second leg to put the United States into first place, where they remained. The gold was Felix's third of the Championships. Sanders ran down Russian Natalya Antyukh on the finishing straight to win bronze for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
After an outstanding season, Vlašić was the big favourite coming into the final, and she did not disappoint. Di Martino and Chicherova gave the Croatian a run for her money though, as they both cleared 2.03 and shared second place. With Russians Slesarenko and Savchenko both clearing 2.00, this was the first ever women's high jump competition with 5 jumpers over 2.00 and also the first ever with 3 jumpers clearing 2.03.
Isinbayeva was the only one to vault over 4.80 m. Then she attacked the world record trying to jump 5.02 m, but failed. Three athletes beat the height of 4.75 m, but only Baďurová succeeded with her first attempt, taking silver. Feofanova took bronze, beating Monika Pyrek thanks to her better first attempt on 4.70 m.
Lebedeva's dominance of the event and her hopes of an unprecedented long jump/triple jump double were ended by Savigne, whose opening jump of 15.28 m proved decisive.
Astapchuk lead throughout the rounds but Vili responded in the final round with a 20.54 throw. Astapchuk's last round effort of 20.48 was not enough to catch the New Zealander, who set a Commonwealth record.
Dietzsch's opening effort of 66.61 m proved enough to secure the gold medal for the third time in her career. At 39, she became the second-oldest athletics world champion in history.[23]Darya Pishchalnikova initially finished second, but her silver medal was revoked in 2008 for manipulating drug samples.
The final was a battle between two pairs of German and Czech throwers which ended with a loss for this year unbeaten Obergföll. Špotáková improved the Czech national record (previously 66.21 held by herself since 2006) twice. She took an early lead for 66.40 m in her first attempt and secured the gold medal with her third throw (67.07) before Obergföll who reached 66.46 in the sixth attempt. Both Špotáková and Obergföl had a solid row of attempts over 60 m. Nerius (64.42) managed to get the bronze when she overcame Nikola Brejchová (63.73) in the fourth round.
In a tight contest, Moreno's final round throw fell just 2 cm short of Heidler's 74.76, set in round two. Ivana Brkljačić failed to follow up on her qualification-leading throw of 74.69 and had to settle with 11th place.
Klüft set a European Record and became the second highest scorer ever in taking her third consecutive World Championship title and 19th consecutive heptathlon win. Sotherton had to fight with Jessica Ennis for a medal in the 800 m, after a poor javelin. Ennis won the 800 metres by only 0.19 seconds which was not enough, giving her the fourth place after Sotherton.
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
