It was barely five minutes, but it was so conspicuous that a rumble ran through Hayward Field. He had finished the first set of jumps in the triple jump final and Yulimar Rojas she wasn’t the leader. The Venezuelan had jumped 14.60 in that initial jump that clearly fell short despite being the sixth best mark of the season. But then the Jamaican came Shanieka Ricketsfourth in Tokyo, displaced from the podium by that brutal 14.87 of Ana Peleteiro, and flew in Eugene up to 14.89, suddenly the best record of the year.
The unjustified rumor arrived in the stands, since the distance that separates the Venezuelan from each and every one of her rivals is so stark that it was a matter of time before she restored the natural order of things. In her second jump, much more technically polished, Yulimar went up to 15.47 meters, the sixth longest jump in history. An outrage with a legal wind of +1.9. Although it still went on for a while, the final had ended there. Rojas did not need more to guarantee her third world gold, one more notch in an increasingly impressive list of winners, which also includes three other consecutive indoor world championships, Olympic gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio 2016.
Rickets was also worth that 14.89 to take the silver. More competitive was the bronze, which finally fell to the American Tori Franklin with a jump of 14.72, just two centimeters more than the one that left Cuban Leyanis Pérez Hernández fourth.
With the matter of the medals finalized, it remained to be seen if Rojas could undertake the assault on a new world record, an almost obligation that has been imposed on the Venezuelan for her fondness for feats.
His third attempt also went over fifteen meters (15.24), but later he deflated the spirits with two consecutive failures. He was left with the task for the sixth jump, the one of glory, the one of big dreams. Yulimar performed the usual ritual, she shouted at herself, gave herself encouragement and also asked for the support of the public before starting a race that was looking for the 16 meters. It couldn’t be this time. The Venezuelan adjusted poorly and did not take a table, and even so she went to 15.39 to sign that third World Cup.
The other great winner of the evening sessions in Eugene was the Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim, who also added his third consecutive World Cup with an impeccable contest. The also Olympic champion was eliminating rivals jumping to the first in each and every one of the bars up to 2.37, a height that already gave him gold. Silver went to South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo, who finished at 2.35. The Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko achieved the bronze with 2.33, the same height in which he stayed, although with one more mistake, the Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, also gold in Tokyo, who in the final, despite his effort, became notice the lack of form.
Eugene’s afternoon had three finals left, all of them with Spanish representation. Claudia Conte She took part in the 800, the last test of the heptathlon that took her to 6,194 points, her best mark ever, and to a ninth place finish, which is a huge result for her.
Daniel Arce also finished ninth in a slow final of the 3,000 obstacles that ended in an accident due to the nerves of a tight finish. The man from Burgos held on in the front group until he came out reinforced with a ninth place that left him as the best European in the competition and on the verge of finalist place. Moroccan won. Soufiane El Bakkali, who emerged unscathed from the festival of elbows and falls that caused the group to arrive on the last lap. Ethiopia, with Lamecha Girma, and Kenya, with Conseslus Kipruto, shared the silver and bronze. Sebas Martos, the other Spaniard in the final, finished fourteenth.
And the day ended with a prodigious duel in the women’s 1,500 between the Kenyan Faith Kipyegon and the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay. Tsegay tried in every way to end the supremacy of his rival, but Kipyegon once again demonstrated the strength that has led him to win four world titles and two Olympics.
The two escaped from the group, imposing a brutal rhythm from the initial moments together with the British Laura Muir and the also Ethiopian Hirut Meshesha. They spent the first 400 minutes below the minute and continued without letting up until when they reached the first thousand Meshesha said enough and gave in.
Tsegay’s objective was to burn Kipyegon, but the Kenyan resisted and gave a new change of pace, now definitive, with 200 meters to go.
Martha Perezspectator from the track of this phenomenal fight, finished eleventh in her first World Cup final, again running in 4:04 as in the semifinal.
