India finish 58th as US top medal tally

Doha : India ended its campaign at the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships here at the 58th spot in the medal tally which saw US finishing at the top.

While the 27-member Indian contingent was not expected to win any medals at the 10-day event which ended on Sunday, it produced three finalists in the mixed 4x400m relay, men's 3,000m steeplechase and women's javelin throw.

Out of these, steeplechaser Avinash Sable and the mixed 4x400m team secured quotas for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Javelin thrower Annu Rani finished eighth and thus missed out on qualification.

24-year-old Avinash clocked 8:21:37 minutes in the final race of the men's 3000m steeplechase event and finished at the 13th spot to secure the Olympic quota.

In the 4x400m relay event, the Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas, V.K. Vismaya, Jisna Mathew and Tom Nirmal Noah clocked 3 minute 15.77 seconds in the final race to finish seventh in the field of eight countries.

Before that, the Indian team had finished third in its heat and seventh overall to qualify for the finals, which had ensured them a berth for next year's Tokyo Olympics berth.

US collected a total of 29 medals to reinforce its dominance of world athletics, with most of its 14 gold, 11 silver and four bronze medals coming from track events.

US was followed by Kenya (5 golds), Jamaica (3 golds) and China (3 golds).

Speaking after the final evening session, IAAF President Sebastian Coe noted that six championship records had been set during the course of the event, 43 countries had won medals, and athletes from 68 different nations had achieved at least one top-eight placing.

"The world's athletes have put on the best show in the history of the IAAF World Athletics Championships, according to the competition performance rankings which are used as an objective measure of the quality of international competition," Coe was quoted as saying by IAAF.org.

"We are proud of the fact we reach more countries than any other sport," added Coe. "Just look at the breadth and depth - 43 countries on the medals table and 86 national records set.

We want our athletes to experience different cultures and different conditions. It's what makes our sport so accessible."

Sprint hurdler Nia Ali led a final day gold rush for the United States as she powered to victory in the 100 metres hurdles to upset world record holder Keni Harrison with a time of 12.34sec at the Khalifa Stadium on Sunday.

"I've been training really hard, especially coming back from having my kids," said 30-year-old mother-of-two Ali, who was accompanied by both of her children on her lap of honour.

"These ladies have been raising the bar all year so I knew what I had to do." Ali's win was one of three final day gold medals for the USA.

Kenya, meanwhile, finished in second spot with five golds, two silvers and four bronze.

The final day's action drew a line under 10 days of competition at the championships, held in the Middle East for the first time.

Despite problems at the start of the championships with sweltering heat and humidity and swathes of empty seats, Sunday's action played out to a packed house.

"It is pretty clear to us that on athlete performance, this is the best world championships that we've ever had," International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe told reporters.

The United States' other gold medals came in the 4x400m relay events, with comfortable victories for their men's and women's quartets.

The women's relay victory meant a second gold medal for Dalilah Muhammad, who swept to victory with a world record-breaking display in the 400m hurdles on Friday.

Muhammad ran a blistering third leg for the USA to help set up a win in 3min 18.92sec.

The USA win also saw Allyson Felix extend her record tally of world championship gold medals. The 33-year-old American, who did not run in the final but featured in the heats, now has 13 golds.

The US men meanwhile were similarly convincing winners in the 4x400, with hurdler Rai Benjamin anchoring their team to gold in a world-leading time of 2:56.69.

Elsewhere Sunday, Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot produced one of the performances of the games with a superb win in the 1,500m.

The 23-year-old conjured a lung-busting display of front running to win gold, hitting the front in the opening lap at a ferocious pace and not letting up.

Cheruiyot won in 3min 29.26sec, banishing the memory of a string of silver medal performances which included a second place in London two years ago.

Algeria's 2012 Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi took silver in 3:31.38 whilst Poland's Marcin Lewandowski took the bronze in a time of 3:31.46. Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda was another silver to gold convert in the 10,000 metres.

Cheptegei raced home in 26min 48.36sec after a thrilling final lap battle with Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia. The win came two years after Cheptegei won silver in London.

In the field events, Anderson Peters won only the second ever gold medal for Grenada with victory in the javelin.

The 21-year-old US college student stunned the field with a winning throw of 86.89m, bettering his personal best by more than two metres.