Hurrah and heartbreak for Dibabas

Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba won the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships after a thrilling sprint finish along the home straight of the Beijing National Stadium on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Mare out-kicked Kenya’s Helah Kiprop to win the gruelling event by just one second, crossing the finish line in two hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds.

The long-striding Kiprop briefly threatened to take the gold medal when she loomed up on the outside of Mare with 50 metres left to run but couldn’t get past the pint-sized Ethiopian.

Kiprop faded slightly and had to settle for the silver medal, while the bronze went to the reigning Asian champion Eunice Kirwa, who was born in Kenya but now competes for Bahrain.

Ethiopia has a long and proud tradition in marathon running but Mare was the first Ethiopian female to win the lung-sapping event at the World Championships.

“I’m so happy to get the first medal for my country,” she said through a translator. “Just after 40km, I tried to test them. I came out in front because I wanted to control. Then we came into the stadium, I just tried my best.

“I take off and I win the marathon.”

Meanwhile, in the women’s 5000m Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana trumped double world title-hunting teammate Genzebe Dibaba.

Ayana clocked a championship record of 14min 26.83sec, with Senbere Teferi, in 14:44.07, pipping Genzebe by 0.07sec on the line for an Ethiopian clean sweep of the podium places.

Genzebe had already won the 1,500m, but Ayana’s pace over the last five laps proved too rapid in her quest for a double.

Germany’s Katharina Molitor won the javelin gold with the final throw of the competition to deny host China a second title of the World Championships on Sunday.

The 31-year-old, who had never previously won a medal at a major championship, launched the javelin a world leading 67.69 metres with her sixth effort.

That relegated China’s Lyu Huihui, who had led the way after an Asian record 66.13m with her fifth throw, to the silver medal position, disappointing a noisy crowd at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

South Africa’s Sunette Viljoen, who had owned the previous best throw of the year, won a second World Championship bronze after her 2011 podium finish with 66.13m.

Jamaica stunned Olympic champion the United States to capture the women’s world 4x400 metres relay title.

Anchor leg Novlene Williams-Mills pulled out a stunning last 50m to catch Francena McCorory in Beijing as the Jamaicans clocked three minutes, 19.13 seconds — the best time in the world this year — to pip their rivals on the line.

American star Allyson Felix looked to have dug her team out of an early hole with a storming third leg to give McCorory a headstart into the last lap until Williams-Mills kicked coming into the home straight to win it for Jamaica. Britain took bronze in 3:23.62.

In the men’s competition, Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop won the 1,500 metres for the third time on Sunday, the 2011 and 2013 champion producing a late charge from 12th place to first in the last half-lap.

The tall and leggy Kiprop, 26, strode majestically to the finish and clocked 3 minutes 34.40 seconds, running the final lap in 51 seconds as his rivals battled and stumbled behind him to the line.

Kiprop won Kenya’s seventh gold medal of this World Championships, his teammate Elijah Manangoi took the silver in 3:34.63 and Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider threw himself across the line to secure the bronze in 3:34.67.

Canada’s Derek Drouin won the men’s high jump gold medal with a 2.34-metre clearance in a sudden-death finale.

Drouin went into a jump-off with defending champion Bogdan Bondarenko of Ukraine and China’s Zhang Guowei after all three had identical cards, no failures up to 2.33 metres but none able to clear 2.36.

After the trio had failed at 2.36 for a fourth time, the bar was lowered to 2.34.

The 25-year-old Drouin, a bronze medal winner at the 2013 championships, went first and cleared it before Bondarenko and Zhang failed to share the silver medal.

The results: Women:4x400m relay: 1. Jamaica (C. Day / S. Jackson / S. McPherson / N. Williams-Mills) 3:19.13s, 2. USA 3:19.44, 3. Britain 3:23.62. 5,000m: 1. Almaz Ayana (Eth) 14:26.83s, 2. Senbere Teferi (Eth) 14:44.07, 3. Genzebe Dibaba (Eth) 14:44.14. Marathon: 1. Mare Dibaba (Eth) 2:27:35s, 2. Helah Kiprop (Ken) 2:27:36, 3. Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Bah) 2:27:39, 18. O.P. Jaisha (Ind) 2:34:43, 19. Sudha Singh (Ind) 2:35:35. Javelin throw: 1. Kathrina Molitor (Ger) 67.69m, 2. Lu Huihui (Chn) 66.13, 3. Sunette Viljoen (RSA) 65.79.

Men: 4x400m relay: 1. USA 2:57.82, 2. Trinidad & Tobago 2:58.20, 3. Britain 2:58.51. 1,500m: 1. Asbel Kiprop (Ken) 3:34.40s, 2. Elijah Manangoi (Ken) 3:34.63, 3. Abdalaati Iguider (Mor). High jump: 1. Derek Drouin (Can) 2.34m, 2. Zhang Guowei (Chn) 2.33, 2. Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukr) 2.33. — Agencies