Heat, hope and heroics: The final word from the IAAF World Championships
DOHA, Qatar — The air-conditioning ducts fell silent Sunday as the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships reached its conclusion in the unrelenting heat of Doha.
Sure, it can be unfair to compare one championship with its predecessors. Memorable moments, when history is written, are what truly distinguishes each one. Remember Usain Bolt’s extraordinary 9.58 seconds 100-meter magic moment, which electrified Berlin in 2009, followed days later by his 200m dash? Or Mike Powell’s flight of fancy in the long jump in Tokyo in 1991? Then there was Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 47.99-second 400-meter performance at the inaugural worlds that seemed implausibly quick. All world records that remain untouched.
This year’s event was the first outdoor global athletics champions to venture to the Middle East, and it ended with mixed reviews: too hot outside the stadium, too late in the calendar and too spartan in the stands. Initially yes, although the festive atmosphere Friday when Mutaz Barshim — the Doha native — won the high-jump gold gave the event some energy.
That moment came during packed house, a mix of Qataris, banks of immigrant workers and pockets of visiting supporters. If only local organizers had not left it so late to put tickets in people’s hands.
“The first two days were really hectic, and we know it was difficult,” Admitted Dahlan Juma Al-Hamad, head of the organizing committee. “But I hope that within the last three days, we now see it full up.”
Biggest surprise
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas is the Olympic champion in the 400 meters and is prioritizing a single event over pursuing a grueling double in the 200m. But then Salwa Eid Naser, Nigerian-born but representing Bahrain, ran 48.37 seconds, the third-fastest mark of all time, an incredible improvement. The loss was Miller-Uibo’s first at any distance in more than two years.
Australia rejoiced for Kelsey-Lee Barber in women’s javelin gold. She shook off a poor qualifying round to unleash a final round throw of 66.56m to move from fourth to first.
Biggest disappointment
If you wanted to have a beer and watch the championships in a local bar, then you were out of luck. Not because of the strict alcohol laws. But because the Qatari broadcast rights were held by the Abu Dhabi TV channel, a state-owned broadcaster in the United Arab Emirates, which declined to screen the biggest sporting event ever held in the Middle East.
UAE happens to be one of several countries currently imposing a travel blockade on its neighbor because of its links with Iran.
Not without controversy
The four-year suspension handed out to Alberto Salazar, head of the Nike Project, announced mid-championships, stirred the pot of doping once again. And there was Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who is coached by Salazar. She secured golds in the 1500 and 10000 meters, a feat without precedent. But that race was tainted according to some of her competitors. “This makes me so mad,” the double champion said. “I have been clear all my life.” The International Olympic Committee has asked the World Anti-Doping Agency to closely investigate all the athletes who have come under Salazar’s wing. Questions will continue.
Moments of the championships