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Five things we learned on Athletics World Championships day 3 - sprinting Americans and the Bolt succession

Americans reclaim the sprints, shot putters throw tantrums, Thiam is hip to the heptathlon and Van Niekerk takes the Bolt succession in his stride on day three of Athletics World Championships 2017.

Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa in the men's 400-metres semi-final
Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa in the men's 400-metres semi-final Reuters/Phil Noble
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  • The Americans are back

After years of playing second fiddle to the Jamaicans in the sprints, the United States took the men’s and women’s golds in the 100 metres. They haven't done this since 2005 when Justin Gatlin and Lauryn Williams were the triumphant duo. In 2017 Gatlin claimed the 100m crown on day two at the expense of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and on day three it was the young American Tori Bowie - sorry couldn’t resist that one – who won the women’s 100m on day three. Bolt at least got on the podium with a bronze. The Jamaican Olympic champion Elaine Thompson was fifth.

  • Dive another day

The name’s Bowie, Tori Bowie. The young American – we liked the quip the first time - hurled herself at the finishing line in the women's 100 metres and pipped Marie-Josée Ta Lou to the world title. It was such a spectacular dive that some footballers would have been proud of it. Bowie was a heap on the floor and Murielle Ahouré tripped over her. To the purist of yore it would all have looked very unseemly. But this isn’t yesterday. This is the sponsor-drenched, fan-friendly festival of today. And the modern athlete’s lust for glory overrides the old decorum. In any case Bowie has form. She flung herself at the line at the end of the 200m final in Rio last year. There she came up with a bronze. This time it was gold. "The only thing I knew was that I was going to lay it all on the line,” said the 26-year-old. With that kind of drive, clearly the swimming pool awaits.

  • Who you gonna call? Shot putters

Since the daily review is into cinematic references, there was a testosterone-charged temper tantrum at the end of the men’s shot put competition. Tomas Walsh from New Zealand was leading the field with an effort at 22.03m and all set to seize gold. Joe Kovacs, the defending champion, was in second place and with his last throw flung the 7.26kg metal ball way past the 22-metre mark. In triumph, up went his arms. But so did the red flag signalling a foul throw. Cue one angry 134-kilogramme man. But the judge with the flag didn’t look at all perturbed because there to defend him in case of any trouble was the 125kg shape of Walsh and a few other well nourished guys.

  • No fun being hunted

Nafi Thiam conceded she was under the radar when she won gold in the women’s heptathlon at the Olympics in Rio in 2016. Coming to a major international meeting with pressure to win, she said, had been difficult. However, the 22-year-old Belgian held her nerve to claim her first world championship title. Not a bad haul. She harvested 6,784 points from the seven events while Carolin Schafer from Germany finished with 6,696 points to get the silver. There was an edgy moment after the final event of the 800m while the points were being calculated. It seemed that Thiam’s time of 2:21.42 might have cost her the shiniest bauble. But it was all fine. Later she admitted that the 800m was her least favourite event. “You want it to be over,” she said. “But then you have two laps to go.”

  • No fun being the next Usain Bolt

Wayde van Niekerk has been touted as the next big thing of world athletics. The 25-year-old South African is supposed to fill the void left by Usain Bolt who is retiring after the world championships. Van Niekerk is a soft-spoken lad and he is taking it all in his stride. More importantly he is putting himself in medal-winning positions – a prerequisite for becoming the next big thing. On day three van Niekerk moved into the final of the 400m which takes place on day five. On day four he has heats of the 200m. The idea is to win the double. This hasn’t been done at the world championships since Michael Johnson in Gothenburg in 1995. No pressure then.

To read our coverage of the 2017 Athletics World Championships click here

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