The 11th World Championships in Athletics, (Japanese: 2007年世界陸上競技選手権大会) under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federations entered a total of 1,978 athletes, the greatest number of competitors at any World Championships to date.[1][2] Sarah Brightman, the world's best-selling soprano, performed her single Running at the opening ceremony.
Bidding process
Having bid unsuccessfully to host the 2008 Summer Olympics,[3] Osaka was one of three cities to express an interest in hosting the 2007 World Championships alongside Budapest, Hungary and Berlin, Germany. By the IAAF's October 1, 2002 deadline, Budapest and Berlin had both withdrawn their bids, and Osaka was announced as the host city on November 15, 2002, as the sole remaining candidate.[4] Berlin later bid successfully for the 2009 World Championships.[5]
Major themes
Doping concerns
The IAAF stepped up its "war on doping" at the Osaka games, and for the first time, the number of drug tests exceeded 1,000.[6] The IAAF lobbied the World Anti-Doping Agency to adopt stiffer penalties for first-time doping offences in WADA's code of practice.[7] Before the Championships, former Olympic champion Ed Moses had voiced concerns about the extent of doping in the sport, and had even predicted that a medallist at the event would be found to have taken a banned substance.[8] Despite these fears, the IAAF announced that only one of the samples taken over the course of the Championships was "suspicious" and required more examination.[9] The governing body refused to elaborate further until more was known, but the French hurdler Naman Keïta admitted to having failed a drug test.[10] The IAAF later confirmed that Keïta had tested positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test at a training camp, and labelled the World Championships 'drug-free'.[11]
Weather conditions
The Championships were held during an unseasonably hot summer in Japan, in contrast to the cool, wet and windy conditions of Helsinki two years earlier.[12] Temperatures earlier in the month had reached 40 °C (104 °F), killing several people.[13] Temperatures had eased somewhat by the start of the event,[14] but with early-morning temperatures around 30 °C and humidity high, the IAAF maintained a colour-coded advisory scale warning of the risk of heat stroke.[15] Casualties of the heat were not as high as initially feared, but dozens of athletes failed to finish the walks and marathons and a few did require medical treatment.[14] Some athletes in shorter events blamed poor performances on the difficult conditions.[16]
Attendance
Concerns had been raised in the week running up to the Championships about the low level of ticket sales – only 46% of seats had been filled by August 20.[17] The Nagai Stadium was less than half full for the opening ceremony, and there were around 15,000 empty seats on the night of the men's 100 m final.[18] A number of reasons were cited for the poor attendance, including high ticket prices (especially since the streets were lined during the marathons),[18][19] the hot weather[19] and the disappointing performance of the Japanese team.[19] IAAF vice-president Sebastian Coe also suggested that the length of the Championships may have to be shortened in future to sustain the public's interest.[20]
Notable performances
Despite no world records being broken, the Championships saw a number of significant personal and team achievements. The United States dominated the overall standings ahead of Kenya and Russia, equalling its best ever medal haul (first achieved in 1991) with 26, fourteen of them golds. The U.S. also set another Championship first by triumphing in all four relay races.[21] These accomplishments were highlighted by three individual performances: Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix collected three gold medals each (Gay in the 100 and 200 metres and the 4 × 100 m relay, Felix in the 200 m and the two women's relays), a feat previously achieved only by Marita Koch, Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene;[21] while Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat became the first man to win both the 1500 and 5000 m titles at the same World Championships.[22] Perhaps the most unlikely American medal came from 110 m hurdler David Payne, who as first alternate had not travelled to Osaka with the rest of the team. After Dominique Arnold withdrew from the event with an injury, Payne only arrived in Japan the night before the heats, and proceeded to move through the rounds before taking bronze with a personal best.[22]
Amongst prominent European successes were Swede Carolina Klüft's third consecutive world heptathlon title with a European record score, the victory of 39-year-old German Franka Dietzsch in the discus, which made her the second-oldest world champion ever[23] and Nelson Évora's win in the triple jump, beating world-leading Brazilian Jadel Gregorio and defending champion Walter Davis. Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain and Northern Ireland claimed a surprise gold in the women's 400 metres, less than a month after the expiry of a year-long ban imposed for missing three drug tests,[24] while high jumper Kyriakos Ioannou claimed the first ever medal for Cyprus in a World Championships.[25] Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva just missed out on an unprecedented long jump/triple jump double, but still ended up with a gold and a silver medal.[26]
African countries were typically well represented in the middle and long-distance events, with Kenyans claiming both the men's and women's marathon titles and Ethiopia winning three golds.
Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, the only sprinter of non-African origin to clock sub-13 second 110m hurdles, took the gold medal at this event with a time of 12.95 seconds.
World Record Holders for the 20 km Walk, Jefferson Pérez, and 50 km Walk, Nathan Deakes, both won their respective events, confirming their dominance of the event. In Perez's case, this was his third World Championship Gold Medal in a row.
Host nation Japan gained its only medal on the final day with a bronze for Reiko Tosa in the women's marathon.
-
From opening ceremony -
110 m hurdles heat in the men's decathlon -
Japanese athlete is carried away after the 50 km walk. -
American women's 4 × 400 m relay team celebrate.
Men's results
Track
2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Field
2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High jump |
Donald Thomas Bahamas (BAH) |
2.35 WL | Yaroslav Rybakov Russia (RUS) |
2.35 WL | Kyriakos Ioannou Cyprus (CYP) |
2.35 WL |
| Pole vault |
Brad Walker United States (USA) |
5.86 | Romain Mesnil France (FRA) |
5.86 SB | Danny Ecker Germany (GER) |
5.81 |
| Long jump |
Irving Saladino Panama (PAN) |
8.57 AR | Andrew Howe Italy (ITA) |
8.47 NR | Dwight Phillips United States (USA) |
8.30 |
| Triple jump |
Nelson Évora Portugal (POR) |
17.74 NR | Jadel Gregório Brazil (BRA) |
17.59 | Walter Davis United States (USA) |
17.33 SB |
| Shot put |
Reese Hoffa United States (USA) |
22.04 | Adam Nelson United States (USA) |
21.61 SB | Rutger Smith Netherlands (NED) |
21.13 |
Andrei Mikhnevich Belarus (BLR) |
21.27 | |||||
| Discus throw |
Gerd Kanter Estonia (EST) |
68.94 | Robert Harting Germany (GER) |
66.68 | Rutger Smith Netherlands (NED) |
66.42 |
| Javelin throw |
Tero Pitkämäki Finland (FIN) |
90.33 | Andreas Thorkildsen Norway (NOR) |
88.61 | Breaux Greer United States (USA) |
86.21 |
| Hammer throw |
Ivan Tsikhan Belarus (BLR) |
83.63 WL | Primož Kozmus Slovenia (SLO) |
82.29 | Libor Charfreitag Slovakia (SVK) |
81.60 SB |
| Decathlon |
Roman Šebrle Czech Republic (CZE) |
8676 | Maurice Smith Jamaica (JAM) |
8644 NR | Dmitriy Karpov Kazakhstan (KAZ) |
8586 SB |
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
| ||||||
Women's results
Track
2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Field
2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High jump |
Blanka Vlašić Croatia (CRO) |
2.05 | Antonietta Di Martino Italy (ITA) Anna Chicherova Russia (RUS) |
2.03 NR 2.03 PB | ||
| After an outstanding season, Vlašić was the big favourite coming into the final, and she did not disappoint. Di Martino and Chicherova gave the Croatian a run for her money though, as they both cleared 2.03 and shared second place. With Russians Slesarenko and Savchenko both clearing 2.00, this was the first ever women's high jump competition with 5 jumpers over 2.00 and also the first ever with 3 jumpers clearing 2.03. | ||||||
| Pole vault |
Yelena Isinbayeva Russia (RUS) |
4.80 | Kateřina Baďurová Czech Republic (CZE) |
4.75 NR |
Svetlana Feofanova Russia (RUS) |
4.75 |
| Isinbayeva was the only one to vault over 4.80 m. Then she attacked the world record trying to jump 5.02 m, but failed. Three athletes beat the height of 4.75 m, but only Baďurová succeeded with her first attempt, taking silver. Feofanova took bronze, beating Monika Pyrek thanks to her better first attempt on 4.70 m. | ||||||
| Long jump |
Tatyana Lebedeva Russia (RUS) |
7.03 | Lyudmila Kolchanova Russia (RUS) |
6.92 | Tatyana Kotova Russia (RUS) |
6.90 SB |
| Lebedeva twice jumped 7.03 m to head a Russian clean sweep of the medals. | ||||||
| Triple jump |
Yargelis Savigne Cuba (CUB) |
15.28 WL |
Tatyana Lebedeva Russia (RUS) |
15.07 | Marija Šestak Slovenia (SLO) |
14.72 |
| Lebedeva's dominance of the event and her hopes of an unprecedented long jump/triple jump double were ended by Savigne, whose opening jump of 15.28 m proved decisive. | ||||||
| Shot put |
Valerie Vili New Zealand (NZL) |
20.54 WL / AR |
Nadine Kleinert Germany (GER) |
19.77 SB |
Li Ling China (CHN) |
19.38 PB |
| Astapchuk lead throughout the rounds but Vili responded in the final round with a 20.54 throw. Astapchuk's last round effort of 20.48 was not enough to catch the New Zealander, who set a Commonwealth record. | ||||||
| Discus throw |
Franka Dietzsch Germany (GER) |
66.61 | Yarelis Barrios Cuba (CUB) |
63.90 PB |
Nicoleta Grasu Romania (ROU) |
63.40 |
| Dietzsch's opening effort of 66.61 m proved enough to secure the gold medal for the third time in her career. At 39, she became the second-oldest athletics world champion in history.[23] Darya Pishchalnikova initially finished second, but her silver medal was revoked in 2008 for manipulating drug samples. | ||||||
| Javelin throw |
Barbora Špotáková Czech Republic (CZE) |
67.07 NR |
Christina Obergföll Germany (GER) |
66.46 | Steffi Nerius Germany (GER) |
64.42 |
| The final was a battle between two pairs of German and Czech throwers which ended with a loss for this year unbeaten Obergföll. Špotáková improved the Czech national record (previously 66.21 held by herself since 2006) twice. She took an early lead for 66.40 m in her first attempt and secured the gold medal with her third throw (67.07) before Obergföll who reached 66.46 in the sixth attempt. Both Špotáková and Obergföl had a solid row of attempts over 60 m. Nerius (64.42) managed to get the bronze when she overcame Nikola Brejchová (63.73) in the fourth round. | ||||||
| Hammer throw |
Betty Heidler Germany (GER) |
74.76 | Yipsi Moreno Cuba (CUB) |
74.74 | Zhang Wenxiu China (CHN) |
74.39 |
| In a tight contest, Moreno's final round throw fell just 2 cm short of Heidler's 74.76, set in round two. Ivana Brkljačić failed to follow up on her qualification-leading throw of 74.69 and had to settle with 11th place. | ||||||
| Heptathlon |
Carolina Klüft Sweden (SWE) |
7032 WL / AR |
Lyudmila Blonska Ukraine (UKR) |
6832 NR |
Kelly Sotherton Great Britain & N.I. (Great Britain and N.I.) |
6510 SB |
| Klüft set a European Record and became the second highest scorer ever in taking her third consecutive World Championship title and 19th consecutive heptathlon win. Sotherton had to fight with Jessica Ennis for a medal in the 800 m, after a poor javelin. Ennis won the 800 metres by only 0.19 seconds which was not enough, giving her the fourth place after Sotherton. | ||||||
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
| ||||||
Medal table
* Host nation (Japan (JPN))
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 14 | 5 | 7 | 26 |
| 2 |  Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Russia (RUS) | 4 | 7 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 |  Ethiopia (ETH) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Germany (GER) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 |  Australia (AUS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Jamaica (JAM) | 1 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| 9 | Bahamas (BAH) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Cuba (CUB) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 11 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 12 | China (CHN) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 |  Bahrain (BHR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Croatia (CRO) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Ecuador (ECU) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Estonia (EST) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Finland (FIN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| New Zealand (NZL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Panama (PAN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Portugal (POR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 23 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 24 |  Canada (CAN) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| France (FRA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 27 |  Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 28 | Slovenia (SLO) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Dominican Republic (DOM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Morocco (MAR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Norway (NOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 34 |  Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 35 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 36 |  Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Cyprus (CYP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Japan (JPN)* | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Romania (ROM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Slovakia (SVK) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Sri Lanka (SRI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Tunisia (TUN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Uganda (UGA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (46 entries) | 47 | 48 | 46 | 141 | |
Broadcasting
The broadcasters of the 2007 IAAF World Championships were as follows:
Japan
- Broadcaster – TBS (Host broadcaster) and MBS (Cooperator)
- Caster – Yūji Oda and Miho Nakai
- Fieldcaster – Beni Arashiro
- Official song – All my treasures (Yūji Oda)
Worldwide
This list is non-exhaustive.
- Arab World – Al Jazeera Sports
- Australia – SBS TV
- Belgium – Sporza
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – BHTV1
- Brazil – SporTV
- Bulgaria – BNT
- Canada – CBC
- Caribbean – CMC
- China – CCTV
- Croatia – HRT2
- Czech Republic – ČT2
- Denmark – DR2
- Estonia – ETV
- Europe – Eurosport
- Finland – YLE
- France – France Televisions
- Germany – ARD and ZDF
- Greece – ET1
- Israel – Channel 1
- Italy – RAI
- Latvia – LTV7
- Lithuania – LTV
- New Zealand – Sky Television
- Norway – NRK
- Philippines – NBN
- Poland – TVP
- Portugal – RTP2
- Russia – Sport-RTR
- Serbia – RTS2
- Slovakia – Dvojka
- South Korea – KBS
- Spain – TVE2
- Sweden – SVT1, 2, HD
- Switzerland – SRG-SSR
- Turkey – TRT
- United Kingdom – BBC
- United States – NBC, Versus and WCSN
- Venezuela – Meridiano TV
References
- ^ "President Diack proudly signs off Osaka 2007" (Press release). IAAF. 2007-09-02. Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ "WCH History". IAAF. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ "Beijing handed Olympic Games". BBC Sport. 2001-07-13. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Osaka to host Worlds". BBC Sport. 2002-11-15. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Berlin named host of 2009 Worlds". BBC Sport. 2004-12-04. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Drug testing to increase at Osaka". BBC Sport. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Osaka Statement on Doping Penalties" (Press release). IAAF. 2007-08-23. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Moses warns of more drugs trouble". BBC Sport. 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "'Suspicious' Osaka test revealed". BBC Sport. 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "French athlete 'fails' drugs test". BBC Sport. 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Athletics 'is winning drugs war'". BBC Sport. 2007-09-21. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ "Clay reigns supreme in decathlon". BBC Sport. 2005-08-10. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Heatwave sweeps Japan, kills at least seven". Reuters. 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b Wade, Stephen (2007-08-25). "Steamy heat in Japan not a factor for athletes at World Championships, organizers say". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ IAAF. "Advisory Note" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ McAsey, Jenny (2007-09-04). "Humid weather disrupts Buster". The Australian. Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Low ticket sales worrying IAAF ahead of athletics worlds". Associated Press. 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b Mettam, Greg (2007-08-27). "World Athletics Championships threaten to melt into oblivion". Mainichi Daily News. Retrieved 2007-09-04.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Cram, Steve (2007-09-04). "Osaka was well-organised but somebody forgot to sell the tickets". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Coe, Sebastian (2007-09-04). "Osaka's high notes fail to reach enough ears". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b Baum, Bob (2007-09-02). "American Runner Felix Earns 3rd Gold". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-09-04.[dead link]
- ^ a b Clarey, Christopher (2007-09-03). "In the Arena: The best and the worst of 9 hot days in Osaka". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b "Golden oldies defy age barrier in Osaka world championships". Agence France-Presse. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-31.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ohuruogu claims gold for Britain". BBC Sport. 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2006-08-31). "Ioannou soars to first ever medal for Cyprus". IAAF. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Cuban Savigne upsets Lebedeva in triple jump". Reuters. 2006-08-31. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
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