By Sevket F. ERBAY in Budapest

On the third day in Budapest 2023, athletics fans witnessed four medal events at the stadium. Burkina Faso became the third African nation to have gold in this championships and Daniel Stahl regained his title in discus. In the closing part of the session, United States' Grant Holloway and Sha'Carri Richardson made the headlines.

MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP

Two seasons ago, Burkina’s Hugues Fabrice Zango became Africa’s first world record breaker in a jumping event in history. Now, he has the first-ever world title for his home country. The powerful athlete beat the Cubans – not one but two – and one of the hottest favourites, Yaming Zhu from China to get the gold. Zango leapt 17.64 in his fifth attempt to secure the title by 20 centimetres. Meanwhile, world-leading mark owner Jaydon Hibbert injured himself in his very first try at the competition which left him empty-handed in the final. 

MEN’S DISCUS THROW

We witnessed yet another battle between the recent Daniel Stahl-Kristjan Ceh rivalry over the discipline. Ceh, the defending champion, threw 70.02 in his very last attempt to lead the contest. But the final word belonged to Swedish Olympic champion Stahl. The big man from Jarfalla swirled the disc to over 71 metres (71.46) to regain his position and title – which he lost to Ceh in Eugene. Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna, still 20, retained his place on the podium with a well-deserved third place by recording 68.85. Australia’s Matt Denny was the unlucky person in this battle after finishing fourth despite adding four centimetres to his national record with 68.24m. 

MEN’S 110M HURDLES

America’s super-talented Grant Holloway grabbed his third consecutive World Championships title in high hurdling sprint by joining the recently deceased all-time great Greg Foster who did the same 30 years ago. Holloway fired up the blocks by 0.135 seconds to enter the first hurdle very securely, before building a good rhythm which carried him to the title. He was the only athlete to break 13 seconds in the final by clocking 12.96, followed by Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaica (13.07) and Daniel Roberts who was disqualified in the heats during last year’s World Championships. 

WOMEN 100 METRES

United States’ out-of-control talent Sha’Carri Richardson finally secured her eluded international success with a booming effort. Richardson, 23, started the final at the outside lane (9) after her fragile semi-final run but came back to the track after 90 minutes as a monster. The tattooed rebel of women’s sprint clocked a personal all-time best 10.65 in the final, beating two of the greatest names in the sport, Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Also, she joined the fifth place on 100m all-time list nearby Marion Jones and Shericka Jackson. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won her 15th medal and passed Usain Bolt in the World Championships count, she is now only trailing Allyson Felix who has 20 podiums.