Sandra Perkovic earned sweet revenge over the American who took her Olympic women’s discus title last year, Valarie Allman, as she beat her to world silver in Eugene with a season’s best of 68.45m.
That was not quite enough to prevent China’s Bin Feng earning a surprise win after adding more than three metres to her personal best with her first-round throw of 69.12m.
But it clearly meant a huge amount to the 32-year-old Croatian, Olympic champion in 2012 and 2016, who thus became the first athlete in the women’s discus to win five world medals - starting at Moscow 2013, where she won the first of her two world titles.
Perkovic, who has been like a tigress robbed of its cubs since Tokyo, is now heading with renewed confidence towards next month’s Munich 2022 European Championships, where she will be in pursuit of a sixth consecutive title to further extend her record streak.
And who knows just how many medals Perkovic will have accrued when she eventually departs from the throwing circle? After the final, Perkovic said she is committed to competing for at least another decade.
“I will continue until Brisbane 2032. This event is just love of my life and I enjoy every moment of it,” said Perkovic.
Gega excels with fifth-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase final
In the other final on day six, there was an outstanding performance by Albania’s Luiza Gega who was the top European finisher in fifth place in a national record of 9:10.04 – shaving four seconds off her previous mark of 9:14.29 set recently at the Mediterranean Games in Oran.
It was yet another landmark achievement for the 33-year-old from Diber, who became Albania’s first ever European medallist when she won silver behind Gesa-Felicitas Krause at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam. Can she go one better next month in Munich?
Gega, who finished 13th at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games, has also won 3000m steeplechase gold at the Balkan Championships as well as the Mediterranean Games this season.
Two places behind Gega, Aimee Pratt lowered the British mark to 9:15.64. This was the best ever finish by a British athlete in a global women’s 3000m steeplechase final.
Hassan, Klaver and Bol qualify on the track
Meanwhile Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, who missed a medal by one place as she defended her 10,000m title, was the fourth fastest qualifier for Saturday’s final of the 5000m, an event she won at last year’s Olympic Games.
Meanwhile Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, who missed a medal by one place as she defended her 10,000m title, eased through to Saturday’s 5000m final in 14:52.89, an event she won at last year’s Olympic Games.
Hassan was one of four European qualifiers from the second heat of the 5000m alongside Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (14:53.07) and Brits Eilish McColgan (14:56.47) and Jessica Judd (14:57.64).
Matthew Hudson-Smith, who beat the 25-year-old British 400m record in running 44.35 this season, was second fastest qualifier for the final. He scaled both his national record (44.35) and the long-standing European record of 44.33 by clocking 44.38 behind home favourite Michael Norman in 44.30.
Lieke Klaver’s dream campaign continued. After silver in the mixed 4x400m relay, Klaver set her second individual Dutch record in the 400m, qualifying for the final in 50.18. Her training partner Anna Kielbasinska from Poland also made the final with a 50.65 clocking.
Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was the fastest qualifier for the final courtesy of a 49.55 clocking.
Meanwhile, Femke Bol sauntered through to the 400m hurdles final with a relaxed 52.84 clocking. Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad, also part of The Big Three in the event, won their semifinals in 52.17 ad 53.28 respective.y