Rogers Thrilled With Silver, Wilson 'Disappointed' With Bronze In Women's 800

By Brooklynn Loiselle, Special to DyeStat

DOHA, Qatar -- American Ajeé Wilson watched as Halimah Nakaayi and Winnie Nanyondo celebrated in a traditional Ugandan dance on the corner of the track following the women’s 800 meters at the 2019 IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Wilson walked over to the crowd, collected an American flag and smiled for a photo with her teammate and fellow American, Raevyn Rogers.

It was a position she knew far too well.

Third.

Wilson, unable to kick during the last 100 meters, fell from first to third. Nakaayi, who had hung on Wilson for the last 400 meters, saw Wilson struggling and surged to secure the gold at her first major world championship in 1 minute, 58.04 seconds. Rogers, Wilson’s training partner, followed, going from seventh to second over the last 100 meters to capture the silver in a season-best 1:58.18. Wilson finished in 1:58.84.

“I am disappointed in the result,” said Wilson, who has earned two bronze medals at worlds.

“Definitely wanted gold, so you know bronze, I am so proud that I was able to medal globally. You can’t take that for granted. It’s super hard, but definitely wanted gold this time around.”

This championship was supposed to be the American record holder’s chance at gold. For the last five world and Olympic championships, Wilson has run in the shadows of Caster Semenya of South Africa, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Margaret Wambui of Kenya, all of whom are ineligible for this world championship because of elevated natural testosterone levels.

“The last hundred, getting that last charge, I just didn’t have it in my legs today,” Wilson said. “So it’s definitely something to head back to the drawing board, figure out how to improve for next season. I definitely know I am better than that race.”

While Wilson was disappointed with her result, her training partner, Rogers, was thrilled with her performance. 

Rogers, who had never beaten Wilson in their 22 previous matchups, placed fifth at the Doha Diamond League event after going out too quick. She knew she had to do something different to beat her this time. 

“I just knew that as long as I stayed in striking range, the straights are so long that I just knew I would be able to power right through,” Rogers said. 

And that she did, finishing just 0.14 behind Nakaayi.

Nakaayi, who celebrated on the track by dancing and waving multiple Ugandan flags with her teammate Nanyondo, said that it was the first time that someone from central Uganda had made it to the finals in the event. She and Nanyondo have been training for the last 10 years in an attempt to bring back a medal for her country.

“I know people at home who will keep on dancing that dance more than me for four weeks, celebrating that medal,” said Nakaayi.

Earlier on Monday, world record holder Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech won the steeplechase in a championship record of 8:57.84. American Emma Coburn, the defending champion, won silver in 9:02.35, a new personal best.

In 2017, Chepkoech missed one of the water jumps and had to back track, falling out of medal contention. 

That did not happen this time around.

Chepkoech, took the lead in her traditional style within the first few meters of the race and never gave it up, running the first 1,000 meters in 2:52.95. 

“I thought there’s a chance she might come back, but I wasn’t worried about it,” Coburn said. “I knew I was running for the podium.” 

Coburn credits her time to the lessons that she took away from her previous meets this season. She kicked hard like she did at the U.S. championships. She did not push herself too early in an attempt to chase Chepkoech like she did in Zurich and she did not fall like she did at the Prefontaine Classic.

Coburn has now set a personal best at the last three major championships in Doha, London and Rio.

Rai Benjamin of the U.S. also claimed silver, finishing 0.2 seconds behind Norway’s Karsten Warholm in the men’s 400 meters. Warholm won in 47.42.

“It was a painful race,” said Warholm, now a back-to-back world champion.

“I was ready to dig deep, and I dug very, very deep, and I’m happy. I won, and that was the only thing in my mind.”

After the race, Benjamin revealed that during a 12-step practice recently, he had suffered a left heel bruise that almost prevented him from competing in Doha. He was on crutches for a few days, and he only ran a few days prior to the championships.

“I had a pretty tough conversation with my coaches about scratching,” Benjamin said. “We just decided to see how I feel in a few days, and I was good enough to run the first round. So, I just took it round by round. I was able to feel good enough to get through each round, so here I am — the silver medal.”

The faceoff between Warholm and Benjamin had been highly anticipated following the Zurich Diamond League final, where they ran the No. 2 and No. 3 times ever in the event.

In the high jump, Authorized Neutral Athlete Mariya Lasitskene won in 6 feet, 8.25 inches (2.04m). Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh set a new World U-20 record and national record at the same height but chose to not attempt the following height because it was “too high.” She lost on attempts, since Lasitskene was clean through her first eight heights.

Lasitskene, who won 12 of her 13 outdoor competitions this year, has now won the last three world championships in the event, the first athlete in either gender to do so in the high jump. 

American Vashti Cunningham tied her personal best at 6-6.75 (2.00m) and took the bronze, her first outdoor medal. She joined Chaunte Lowe as the only American female high jumpers to medal at both indoor and outdoor World Championships.

She expected to get her personal best after listening to her church sermon Sunday online. She also expects to be in Tokyo next year.

“I will be there,” Cunningham said. “I will be in Tokyo, and I cannot wait.”

Canadian Mohammed Ahmed of the Nike Bowerman Track Club ran to a bronze medal in the men's 5,000 meters. Ahmed, who paced three members of his training group to 13:00 or better earlier this month, ran 13:01.11 and was beaten on the last lap by Ethiopians Muktar Edris (12:58.85) and Selemon Barega (12:59.70). Edris became the third male athlete in history to win back-to-back world titles, joining Kenya's Ismael Kirui (1993-95) and Great Britain's Mo Farah (2011-13-15).

Noah Lyles qualified for the finals of the 200 meters by running the fastest time in the semifinals, 19.86 seconds.