This is Sam Fariss’s column on the second day of the 2022 World Athletics Outdoor Championships.
A sweeping finish for day two
By Sam Fariss
On the second day of the first-ever World Athletics Championships on United States soil, there was quite a bit to write home about – with a load of semifinals and many medals dispersed, it was quite the day for spectators to experience.
However, most likely, the most viewed event of Saturday was the men’s 100-meter races – the semifinals and the final race, which were scheduled for late in the evening. This race, every season, determines who the fastest man in the world is while lasting a mere 10 or 11 seconds at most.
There were four runners who entered into the final for the United States, and they responded with resounding finishes going first, second, and third to sweep the race.
Fred Kerley, finishing in 9.86, earned gold for Team USA. Marvin Bracey finished just 0.02 seconds after Kerley earned silver for the trio. And last but certainly not least, Trayvon Bromell, who was a minuscule 0.002 milliseconds behind Bracey, earned the bronze.
“It’s a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep. We all put the work in,” Kerley said.
Kerley is on the quieter side for the normally boisterous sprinters who he completes with, frequently sharing on social media with the hashtag “#SayNoMore.”
With the race taking place in the United States, the athletes definitely felt the love of a home crowd as the fans in Hayward field roared a USA, USA, USA chant to bring the runners across the finish line.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to do this,” Bromell said. “So, we just hope we gained some respect tonight.”
Beyond the show-stopping men’s 100-meter race to cap off day two of the World Athletics Championships, the men’s hammer throw and long jump saw medals awarded, as well as the women’s shot put and 10,000-meter race.
Paweł Fajdek from Poland earned his fifth World Championship gold for his country in the men’s hammer throw with a massive toss of 81.98 meters.
The current world record holder, Letesenbet Gidey, pushed to the finish of 25 laps in order to win Ethiopia’s first gold of the meet in 30:09.94 – the new world-leading time.
Jianan Wang from China won gold in the men’s long jump competition, jumping 8.36 meters and upsetting the crowd-favorite Murali Sreeshankar from India.
Lastly, Chase Ealey won gold for the United States in the shot put with a throw of 20.49 meters – this prevented China’s Gong Lijiao from earning a third consecutive gold medal at the world championships.
