TOKYO :Racewalkers Evan Dunfee of Canada and Spain’s defending champion Maria Perez took the opening gold medals at the Athletics World Championships on Saturday, while the big beasts of the women’s discus and men’s shot advanced safely through qualifying.
Despite an early morning start, the humidity made for testing conditions for the walkers, but 34-year-old Dunfee battled through in two hours, 28 minutes and 22 seconds for his first global title.
“My coach and I have been together since I was 10 years old, and back then we sat down and set goals to become world champion and to set the world record. We managed to do both this year and it really is a dream come true,” Dunfee said.
World record holder Perez, who did the 20km-35km double in Budapest two years ago, is on course to repeat it after a dominating victory in 2.39.01.
Once the walkers had departed, the field events took centre stage at the magnificent stadium, with a totally different atmosphere to when it hosted the COVID-delayed Olympics in 2021 athletics with no fans present.
American double Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman threw 66.07 metres to qualify comfortably for Sunday’s final, where she will hope to end her frustrating world title drought.
Allman has won five consecutive Diamond League titles and has not lost a competition in two years. Her world-leading throw of 73.52 metres in Ramona in April was the longest by anyone for more than 35 years, albeit aided by the wind-assisted “weather doping” of the venue.
Allman, who won Olympic gold in the same Tokyo stadium four years ago, has back-to-back bronzes in the world championships and will be desperate to top the podium this time.
Teammate Laulauga Tausaga, who beat her to gold in Paris, also advanced with 64.99.
Croatia’s two-times world and Olympic champion Sandra Elkasevic, 35, who served a doping ban in 2011, is seeking a sixth medal at her seventh world championships. She needed two throws, but her second of 66.72 was the longest of the morning.
Ryan Crouser, double world and triple Olympic shot put champion, arrived in Tokyo on a wing and a prayer after not competing all season due to an elbow injury. However, he shook off the rust impressively with a 23.37-metre opening effort to sail into Saturday night’s final.
Crouser was joined by Josh Awotunde and Adrian Piperi as the U.S. seeks a 12th gold in the last 16 championships.
New Zealand’s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh was the best qualifier with 21.74 metres.
Defending champions the United States qualified fastest for the mixed 4×400 relay, an event making its fourth appearance at the championships.
Olympic champions the Netherlands also progressed, less impressively, as did South Africa in an African record and, much to the excitement of the home fans, Japan after a national record to finish fifth in their heat.
The always-entertaining and often moving preliminaries of the men’s 100 metres also gave the crowd plenty to cheer. Athletes a million miles away from the likes of Olympic champion Noah Lyles enjoyed their brief, sometimes not-so-brief, moment in the spotlight as some of the sport’s lesser nations are allowed to send a competitor who has not reached the qualifying standard.
Abdul Rahim Abdullah of Brunei managed only 40 metres of his big day before pulling up injured, while Gibraltar’s Sean Penalver produced a season’s best of 11.87 seconds, a time that would see him cross the line 20 metres behind the leaders when the big boys get involved later on Saturday.
Haiti’s Christopher Borzor – perhaps inspired by the exploits of his near-namesake Valeriy Borzov, the Soviet Union’s double Olympic sprint champion in 1972 – was the fastest of the qualifiers in 10.41 seconds.
