JOIN USNirmala Sheoran’s semifinal qualification in the women’s 400M was the saving grace in another disappointing day for India at the World Championship.
In the men’s marathon, T Gopi finished 28th while Siddhanth Thingalaya crashed out in the first round, finishing seventh in his heat of the 110M hurdles.
The 22-year-old Nirmala clocked 52.01 seconds to finish fourth in her heat in the 400M first round to qualify as one of the six fastest losers. Top three in each of the six heats plus the next six fastest qualified for the next round on Monday.
National record holder in the men’s 110M hurdles, Thingalaya was 31st overall in a 39-man field, clocking 13.64sec, well outside his season’s and personal best of 13.48 secs.
Gopi, who was 25th in the Rio Olympics, clocked 2:17:13 on this day. At Rio, he had timed a personal best of of 2:15:25.
In heptathlon, Asian champion Swapna Barman was at 27th place among 28 contestants with just one event to go. She now has 4610 points. She finished 16th in javelin throw (43.49M) and 29th in long jump (5.53M) on Sunday.
Kirui triumphs
Kenya's Geoffrey Kipkorir Kirui prevailed in a compelling east African duel with Ethiopian Tamirat Tola to win the men's marathon on Sunday.
Kirui clocked 2 hours 8 minutes 27 seconds, finishing one minute and 22 seconds ahead of Tola (2:09:49). Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo won the women’s event in 2:27:11.
Marathon results: Men: Geoffrey Kirui (Ken) 2:08:27, 1; Tamirat Tola (Eth) 2:09:49, 2; Alphonce Simbu (Tanz) 2:09:51, 3.
Women: Rose Chelimo (Bah) 2:27:11, 1; Edna Kiplagat (Ken) 2:27:18, 2; Amy Cragg (U S) 2:27:18, 3.