Jacob Ingebrigtsen became only the second athlete in history to win two titles at a single world indoor championship after he won first place in the men's 1500 meters in Nanjing, China. The Norwegian is also the Olympic champion in the event at Tokyo 2020.
Before Ingebrigtsen, only Haile Gebrselassie had won two indoor gold medals in a single tournament. The Ethiopian did it in 1999 in the 1500 and 3000 meters. The Norwegian won his first title yesterday.
Ingebrigtsen controlled the race from the start and finished in 3:38.79 minutes, with Britain's Neil Gorley taking silver in 3:39.07. American runner Luke Hauser was third with 3:39.17 minutes.
Ethiopian track and field athlete Gudaf Tsegay improved her own tournament record with 3:54.86 minutes and won the women's 1500 meters title in Nanjing. This is her second gold medal at the world indoor championships. It was won with the fourth fastest time in history and 4:44 seconds ahead of her compatriot Diribe Weltegi. Britain's Georgia Bell was third with a personal best of 3:59.84 minutes.
Tom Walsh became the world champion in the shot put and won his sixth medal at the indoor tournament. This is the third title for the New Zealander. He led from his first attempt and did not leave the top spot until the end of the final, finishing with a season record of 21.65 meters and three centimeters more than American Roger Steen. The United States made a double podium finish as Adrian Piperi took third place with 21.48 meters.
Italy's Mattia Furlani won the first title of his career in the long jump, clearing 8.30 meters in a personal best in Nanjing. The 20-year-old Italian, who has four podium finishes at continental and global events, edged Jamaica's Wayne Pinnock by 1 centimeter. Australia's Liam Adcock finished with 8.28 meters for a personal best and the bronze medal.
Reigning European heptathlon champion Sander Skottheim of Norway won the first indoor world title of his career. He finished with 6475 points, 38 ahead of Estonian Johannes Erm, and third with 6275 was German Till Steinfort.
Skotheim recorded 6.97 seconds in the 60-meter dash, then led the standings with an attempt at 8 meters in the long jump. The 22-year-old Norwegian continued with 14.68 in the shot put, and in the fourth event he covered 2.13 meters in the high jump. Today, Skotheim recorded 7.93 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, and in the shepherd's jump he made an attempt at 5 meters. In the final event, the Norwegian ran 1000 meters in 2:36.08 minutes, enough for 6475 points and the title.
Josh Howie was considered a big favorite in the 800 meters after his title at the US state championships, and he lived up to expectations. The American failed to break Wilson Kipketer's world record, as had been expected, but he won with a time of 1:44.77 minutes and earned the first international title of his career.
Belgian Elliot Crestan was second with a deficit of 0.04 seconds, and Spaniard Elvin Canales was third with 1:45.03 minutes.
South African Prudence Sekgodiso recorded the best time of the indoor season and won her first title in the women's 800 meters. The Olympic finalist covered the distance in 1:58.40 minutes and won the gold ahead of Ethiopia's Nigist Getachew. Portugal's Patricia Silva finished third.
All three competitors set personal bests, with Getachew finishing in 1:59.63 minutes. Silva even recorded a best performance for Portugal with 1:59.80.
World record holder Devine Charlton defended her world title in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 7.72 seconds. Ditaji Kambunji of Switzerland took the silver by one hundredth of a second, while Akera Nuget of Jamaica was another hundredth behind in third place.
The difference between the winner and sixth in the race was only 4 hundredths of a second, and for the first time in history, the sprinters in the top 6 finished under the 7.80-second mark. Until now, the record had been held by three sprinters. Pia Skrzyszowska set a national record for Poland in 7.74, Grace Starks finished fifth in the same time, and Nadine Visser finished sixth in 7.76.
In a tournament filled with debut titles in a number of disciplines, the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays offered nothing new with two titles for the United States.
The Americans, consisting of Elijah Godwin, Brian Faust, Jacorie Patterson and Christopher Bailey, won the men's event in a season-best time of 3:03.13. Jamaica's relay team finished in second place with a time of 3:05:05, while Hungary set a national record of 3:06.03 for third place.
China was trailing Jamaica for a long time, but a strong final run by champion Attila Molnar for the Hungarians took bronze.
In the women's event, Quanera Hayes, Bailey Lear, Rosie Efion and Alexis Holmes took first place for the United States in 3:27.45. Poland remained in second place with a time of 3:32.05, and Australia earned bronze in the final event of the tournament with a time of 3:32.65.