DOHA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- World top ranked Ruth Chepngetich claimed the women's marathon gold medal for Kenya at the 2019 IAAF World Championships, which opened here on Friday, while Braima Suncar Dabo of Guinea-Bissau won a standing ovation from the stands with his heart-warming display of sportsmanship in the men's 5000m heats.
The 25-year-old Chepngetich clocked two hours, 32 minutes, 43 seconds to take the victory, which is the slowest one in the 36-year-history of the competition.
The race was started at 23:59 local time with the temperature soaring above 32 degrees and the humidity reaching 73.3 percent. Although the organizers have increased the number of refreshment points along the course in order to minimize the heat-related effects, athletes began to withdraw after 15 kilometers.
Defending champion Rose Chelimo of Bahrain trailed 63 seconds to take the silver medal. While Helalia Johannes clocked 2:34:15 to notch the bronze for Namibia.
The men's 5,000m heat 1 turned into a show of sportsmanship in the end when the 26-year-old Dabo, the only representative for Guinea Bissau in Doha, set aside competitive spirit to help Jonathan Busby from Aruba, who was stumbling along the track in the last lap.
Dabo held the arm of Busby and supported him to finish the race. The duo won a standing ovation from the stand as they crossed the finish line, in a little over 18 minutes, more than four minutes behind the rest of the athletes in their heat.
"My main goal here was to represent my country and improve my personal best. When I realize I could not achieve my goal, it made no sense to me to overtake him," said Dabo.
"I did not pay attention to the reaction from the crowd. I just focused on helping him to cross the finish line. It is a great experience to compete in my first world championships for Guinea Bissau," he said.
American sprinter Christian Coleman produced the only sub-10 seconds mark in the men's 100m heats, earning a convincing big Q in 9.98s. Defending champion Justin Gatlin clocked 10.06 as the US veteran booked his berth in the semifinal with ease.
China's Su Bingtian clocked 10.21 seconds, missing the top three of his heat but luckily making it to the semifinals as one of the next six fastest sprinters. Su's teammate Xie Zhenye fared better to stand in 16th in 10.19s.
"Actually, my starting and acceleration are still very good, but after 40 meters, I couldn't find the rhythm and the strength. After 40 or 50 meters, I could only follow the others and couldn't make my own strength, "said Su.
The Asian recorder holder is still feeling his way back to top form after a back injury sidelined him for more than two months this season. "I didn't have high-level competitions after my back injury recurred in May," added Su.
The men's long jump qualification saw wunderkind Echevarria flew to 8.40 meters in his first attempt to qualify. Wang Jianan became the only one to progress into Saturday's final among three Chinese long jumpers.
"I had a bad performance today and it is lucky for me to advance into the final. I had a narrow escape," said Wang, who jumped 7.89m to finish 11th of the 12-man final field.
China's London worlds runner-up Wang Zheng and Luo Na qualified for the women's hammer throw final where American DeAnna Price, leading the qualification in 73.77m, looks a strong contender for the title.
In other events Chinese athletes also got tickets for the next stage. Li Ling booked a berth in the women's pole vault final and Wang Chunyu moved into the women's 800m semifinal.
Fang Yaoxing and Wu Ruiting fought into the final of men's triple jump as Portugal's Pedro Pablo Pichardo led the field and Olympic titlist and defending champion Christian Taylor made the final too.
Local star Abderrahman Samba showed his sound form as he clocked 49.08 seconds to lead the men's 400m hurdles heats in front of a jubilant crowds in the Khalifa Stadium.
