American Tausaga wins discus throw gold at Worlds
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E-mail Xinhua, August 23, 2023
American Laulauga Tausaga delivered a surprise victory over a star-studded field in the women's discus throw at the World Championships on Tuesday.
Last year, Tausaga was at the bottom of the rankings, finishing last among the 12 finalists. However, she made a significant leap this year, improving her personal best by five meters and securing the world champion title with a throw of 69.49m.
"I'm just so happy. It's unbelievable to go from 12th to first," said an elated Tausaga. "I have a gold medal, I can't believe it. It's so unreal. When I saw my distance I just couldn't get to my coach fast enough to give him the strongest hug of my life. I'm so happy he made me a world champion."
Reigning Olympic champion Valarie Allman from the United States settled for second with a throw of 69.23m. Despite previously securing a bronze in Eugene and now a silver in Budapest, Allman remains the only athlete this season to surpass the 70m mark.
Allman had a strong start, leading from the first round. But Tausaga's impressive fifth-round throw changed the dynamics.
"I wanted to be the champion tonight, it is not a secret," said the 28-year-old. "I have been training very hard, putting everything in for the victory. It is tough when you are in a good form and you cannot reach the gold medal. I know I am capable of responding to this. I need to put one more year of work into it and try to find what seemed to be missing."
Defending world champion Feng Bin outdid her season's best four times, culminating in a throw of 68.20m in the final. This effort earned her a bronze, marking the Chinese team's first medal at the championships.
"My goal was to throw a season best and I made it in my first try," said Feng. "Then I just wanted to fight for a medal."
In men's high jump action, both Gianmarco Tamberi and JuVaughn Harrison managed to clear 2.36m but couldn't surpass 2.38m. Tamberi emerged victorious, achieving the height on his maiden attempt, while American Harrison took two attempts to register the season's best performance.
Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, who jointly won Olympic gold in Tokyo alongside Italian Tamberi, finished in third place with a jump of 2.33m.
"I wanted to write history by winning gold medals at all the major competitions. The feeling is amazing. It is worth all the sacrifices over the years," said the 31-year-old Tamberi, who harbors ambitions of becoming the first high jumper to defend an Olympic title.
Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon successfully defended her world champion title in the women's 1,500m, finishing in 3:54.87.
Concluding the day's events, Soufiane Elbakkali of Morocco clinched his second consecutive world champion title in the men's 3,000m steeplechase, clocking 8:03.53.
