World Athletics Championships 2017: Phyllis Francis takes shock gold as Shaunae Miller-Uibo stumbles
The Olympic champion tripped when seemingly certain of victory and dropped to fifth place
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.American Phyllis Francis won the World Athletics Championships 400m final on Wednesday as Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo stumbled when seemingly certain of victory and dropped to fifth place.
Francis looked out of it with 80 metres to go but maintained her form amid the carnage to post a personal best time of 49.92 seconds and take a shock gold medal.
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser, 19, claimed a brilliant silver in 50.06 as defending champion Allyson Felix of the United States faded to get bronze in 50.08.
Bahamanian Miller-Uibo, who famously dived over the line to pip Felix to Olympic gold last year, was clear with 20 metres left but as she tired and tied up she tripped on her own foot, stumbling almost to a standstill as her rivals stormed past her.
Felix's bronze took her world championship medal haul to 14, matching the record of Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Merlene Ottey. The American's tally includes nine golds.
Meanwhile, Botswana's Isaac Makwala reached the World Championship 200 metres final against all the odds on Wednesday, negotiating a solo heat before coming through his semi-final via the difficult inside lane after gaining a reprieve from the IAAF.
South African Wayde van Niekerk, bidding for a double after his 400 metres gold, sneaked into the final as second of the two fastest losers after edging third place in his heat from Christophe Lemaitre by two hundredths of a second.
Jamaica's Yohan Blake, double Olympic silver medallist on the same London Stadium track five years ago, failed to qualify after finishing third in his heat in 20.52.
Makwala, one of the leading contenders for a race left wide open by Usain Bolt's absence, was pulled out of Monday's heats by the IAAF for medical reasons after he was struck down with a stomach virus.
Having also been barred from Tuesday's 400 metres final, he was given an unexpected reprieve on Wednesday when the IAAF said he was fit to run as he no longer considered an infection risk. But he still had a lot to do.
First, he had to run alone in the rain inside 20.53 seconds - the slowest of Monday's qualifiers - to reach the semi-finals.
Although conditions were much worse than the competitors had in the first round two days ago with the rain teeming down in the London Stadium, Makwala sped round the wet track in 20.20 seconds.
Barely two hours later, he had to run again in the semi-finals where he was given the inside lane, made even more difficult than usual by the accumulation of rain water.
But he still managed to finish second in 20.14 seconds, two hundredths of a second behind American Isiah Young who was the fastest qualifier.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments