Devon Allen finishes seventh in 110 hurdles at world champs...
Allen, who had not run the hurdles since the Toyota USA Outdoor Championships, advanced to the finals earlier in the evening as the final time qualifier out of the three semifinal heats, placing fourth in heat 2 of 3, running 13.36, as Jamaica’s Omar McLeod won the heat in 13.08.
In the finals, Allen got out to an outstanding start, but was hindered by what he considered technical mistakes.
He told reporters in the mixed zone that he had an issue with his Achilles tendon in the buildup to Doha, which hampered his training.
Allen plans to take a few weeks off before starting the buildup to 2020.
In the semifinals of the women’s 400 hurdles, University of Washington alum Gianna Woodruff, representing Panama, ran a season best time of 55.61, 1/100th of a second off her lifetime best and national record, but it was not enough to advance to Friday’s finals, as she finished sixth in her heat.
American Olympian Sydney McLaughlin won the heat in a time of 53.81.
University of Washington volunteer coach Tim Duckworth of Great Britain’s world championship bid in the decathlon ended before the first event, the 100 meter dash started.
Duckworth suffered an unspecified injury during pre-race warmups at the warmup track to his leg, and the decision was made by him, along with University of Washington associate head coach Toby Stevenson to pull the plug on the world championships.
Publisher Paul Merca talked briefly to the two after the decathlon 100, then noticed that Duckworth, the 2018 NCAA decathlon champ while attending the University of Kentucky, was limping noticeably.
In a statement released by British Athletics, Duckworth said, “I am absolutely gutted to have withdrawn myself from my first World Champs decathlon.”
“It was not an easy decision but I didn't want to start the comp and not be able to finish.”
“It would have been a special competition for me and I wish the rest of my British teammates and my fellow decathletes the best of luck.”
Thursday, all of the action surrounding athletes with Washington ties centers around the men’s 1500 meters, as Josh Kerr of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts, and 2019 University of Washington volunteer coaches Amos Bartelsmeyer (Germany) & defending Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, all run in the first round of the event.
Centrowitz and Bartelsmeyer will run together in heat 1 which starts at 10:00 pm local time (noon in Seattle), while Kerr runs in the second heat, which starts 12 minutes later.
Complete day 6 results of the IAAF World Track & Field Championships are available here.
NOTE: The IAAF, British Athletics and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
Comments