World Athletics Championships, Day Five - Asher-Smith through to 200m final, Gemili misses out on medal, strong day for USA

Dina Asher-Smith underlined her status as favourite for the 200m world title with an effortless semi-final win, while USA won three golds on day five.

Photo from Reuters India

Dina-Asher Smith effortlessly qualified for the 200m final, and underlined her title credentials in the process.
The Brit claimed 100m silver, and won her semi-final in 22.16 - the fastest time of the day - to further increase her chances of becoming the first British woman to win a world sprint title.
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson withdrew, while fellow Britons Jodie Williams and Beth Dobbin failed to qualify for the showpiece.
Asher-Smith qualified a third of a second faster than the next fastest qualifier, Brittany Brown of USA.

Anglerne Annelus won her semi-final, the American champion ran 22.49.

As well as Thompson, 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 100m bronze medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou and defending champion Dafne Schippers have pulled out.

In addition to that esteemed group, Shaunae Miller-Uibo decided to only run in the 400m due to scheduling issues.

The Bahamianwon the 200m Diamond League trophy, comfortably beating Asher-Smith in Zurich this year.

Photo from BBC Sport

World number four Nick Miller qualified for the hammer final, the British Commonwealth champion threw 76.36m to progress.
Miller was one of only three men to throw over 80m last year, and could become the first British male medallist in a throwing event for 23 years, when Steve Backley took javelin silver.

Rabah Yousif finished third in his heat to qualify for the 400m semi-finals.
The 32-year-old was the only Brit to qualify, with European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith suffering an ankle injury early on and had to be helped from the track.
2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James qualified fastest, the Grenadian ran 44.94 seconds.
The American duo of Michael Norman and Fred Kerley both qualified, having both run under 44 seconds this season.
World and Olympic champion and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk will not defend his title, having failed to recover from a knee injury in time.
Emily Diamonf and Laviai Nielsen were the only Britons in the women's 400m semi-finals, but failed to progress any further.
Olympic champion Miller-Uibo eased through and is firm favourite for the title.

In the 400m hurdles, Meghan Beesly and Jessica Turner qualifed for the semi-finals.
Running in separate heats, European bronze medallist Beesley and Turner both finished third, progressing with Americans Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin.
29-year-old Olympic champion Muhammad set a new world record of 52,20 at the national trials, and is therefore favourite.
Britain's sole representative in the 3,000m steeplechase Zak Seddon finished third in his heat and failed to qualify for the final.

Photo from PM News

USA increased their lead in the medal table, taking three gold medals today, most notable that of the men's 200m champion Noah Lyles.
Ending a fantastic season, Lyles ran 19.83 with Britain's Adam Gemili missing out on a medal after leading coming off the bend.
He was then picked off by the American, Canada's Andre de Grasse and Alex Quinonez to finish fourth.
25-year-old Gemili's time of 20.03 was only five hundredths of a second behind Ecuadorian Quinonez.
In the lead up to the final, the former European champion twice ran season's bests, matching his semi-final time in the showpiece, but it wasn't enough to walk away with a medal.
It follows the Rio Olympics 2016 final as a medal near-miss, where he was three thousandths of a second behind the bronze medallist's time.
Lyles was the clear event favourite, having run the fourth fastest time ever earlier this season.
His compatriot Christian Coleman's withdrawal meant that an outstanding performance by someone else would have been required if Lyles wasn't to take the title.
Lyles didn't need to be anywhere near the 19.50 he managed in Lausanne, collecting his first global title in 19.83.
Gemili's disappointment was abundantly clear, slumped over the advertising hoarding at the edge of the track.
Last year he saw his funding cut from that of an individual athlete to a relay athlete, stating that the reduction has given him extra desire to win.
His performance this year will surely increase the fire in him for next year's Olympics, while the wait goes on for a British male to win a medal in this event since John Regis took silver in 1993.

The men's pole vault final saw more success for the USA, with a great tussle taking place between defending champion Sam Kendricks and Sweden's Armand Duplantis.
19-year-old European champion Duplantis looked to have bagged the title when he cleared 5.97m on his third attempt, only for the American to match him.
Duplantis failed to clear 6.02m, handing Kendricks the victory on count-back, with Poland's Piotr Lisek taking bronze.

Donavan Brazier won the men's 800m final comfortably in 1:42.34, a new USA and championship record.
The 22-year-old world number two's bold tactics paid off, taking the lead with 300m to go and holding on for the gold medal.
World number one Nijel Amos of Botswana is injured and did not take part, with Amel Tuka of Bosnia-Herzegovina taking silver and Kenya's Ferguson Rotich finishing third.

Photo from BBC Sport

The heats for the women's 400m hurdles provided what could become one of the moments of the championships, with Qatar's Marian Mamdouh Farid running a personal best of 1:09.49 - finishing last, and nearly 12 seconds behind the next placed athlete.
The 21-year-old is one of two female athletes from Qatar taking part in the World Athletics Championships for the first time.

RESULTS
Day Five - 1st October
Men's Pole Vault
1. Sam Kendricks (USA) 5.97m 

2. Armand Duplantis (SWE) 5.97m 

3. Piotr Lisek (POL) 5.87m

Women's Javelin Throw
1. Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS) 66.56m 

2. Liu Shiying (CHN) 65.88m 

3. Lü Huihui (CHN) 65.49m

Men's 800m
1. Donavan Brazier (USA) 1:42.34 CR
2. Amel Tuka (BOS) 1:43.47 SB
3. Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (KEN) 1:43.82

Men's 200m
1. Noah Lyles (USA) 19.83s 

2. Andre De Grasse (CAN) 19.95s 

3. Álex Quiñónez (ECU) 19.98s

Key
CR - championship record
SB - season best

SCHEDULE
Day Six - 2nd October
14:35 - Men's 100m Decathlon
14:45 - Women's Shot Put - Qualification
15:05 - Women's 100m Hurdles Heptathlon
15:30 - Men's Long Jump Decathlon
15:35 - Women's 1500m - Heats
16:00 - Women's Discus Throw - Qualification Group A
16:15 - Women's High Jump Heptathlon
16:25 - Women's 5000m - Heats
16:50 - Men's Shot Put Decathlon
17:25 - Women's Discus Throw - Qualification Group B
18:05 - Men's 110m Hurdles - Semi-Final
18:30 - Women's Shot Put Heptathlon
18:35 - Men's 400m - Semi-Final
18:40 - Men's High Jump Decathlon
19:05 - Women's 400m Hurdles - Semi-Final
19:40 - Men's Hammer Throw - Final 
19:50 - Women's 200m Heptathlon
20:35 - Women's 200m - Final
20:55 - Men's 110m Hurdles - Final 
21:15 - Men's 400m Decathlon

World Athletics Championships Day One Report
World Athletics Championships Day Two Report
World Athletics Championships Day Three Report
World Athletics Championships Day Four Report

Never miss a post - enter your email address in the box on the right!

Follow me on Twitter
Check out my YouTube channel