2003 World Championships in Athletics

The 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held from August 23 to August 31, 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint Denis, Paris, France.

Results

100 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Kim Collins	Saint Kitts and Nevis	10,07
2	Darrel Brown	Trinidad and Tobago	10,08
3	Darren Campbell	Great Britain	10,08

Reigning World and Olympic Champion Maurice Greene was eliminated in the semi-finals, being out of shape all season, leaving the final without a clear favourite. The final was very close, with early leader Collins eventually edging out Brown, Campbell and Dwain Chambers, who all finished in 10,08.

The quarter-finals saw great controversy when American Jon Drummond refused to leave the track after being disqualified for a false start.

200 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	John Capel	United States	20,30
2	Darvis Patton	United States	20,31
3	Shingo Suetsugu	Japan	20,38

John Capel finished eight in the 2000 Olympic final when he thought there was a false start. He played American football for the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs, but wasn't very successful either. In Paris, he beat his friend Patton in a close finish.

400 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Jerome Young	United States	44,50
2	Tyree Washington	United States	44,77
3	Marc Raquil	France	44,79

Former Jamaican Young clearly beat compatriot and favourite Washington. Crowd favourite Raquil, who was in the back of the field with just 100 m to go raced to a bronze medal in the final metres. After the race, it was revealed that Young had tested positive for doping in 1999, but was let off by the United States Track and Field Association, allowing him to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal with the American 4 x 400 m relay team.

800 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Saïd-Guerni Djabir	Algeria	1:44.81
2	Yuriy Borzakovskiy	Russia	1:44.84
3	Mulaudzi Mbulaeni	South Africa	1:44.90

1500 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	3.31,77
2	Mehdi Baala	France	3.32,31
3	Ivan Heshko	Ukraine	3.33,17

World Record holder El Guerrouj took his fourth consecutive title in the event, holding of French challenger Baala with a high pace.

5000 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Kipchoge Eliud	Kenya	12:52.79
2	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	12:52.83
3	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia	12:53.12

10000 m Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia	26.49,57
2	Haile Gebrselassie	Ethiopia	26.50,77
3	Sileshi Sihine	Ethiopia	27.01,44

The race was totally dominated by the Ethiopians. 21-year-old four-time cross country World Champion Bekele showed he might become the next long-distance hero, beating Gebrselassie, a four-time winner of the event.

Marathon Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Jaouad Gharib	Morocco	2:08:31
2	Julio Rey	Spain	2:08:38
3	Stefano Baldini	Italy	2:09:14

110 m Hurdles Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Allen Johnson	United States	13.12
2	Terrence Trammell	United States	13.20
3	Liu Xiang	China	13.23

400 m Hurdles Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Felix Sánchez	Dominican Republic	47,25
2	Joey Woody	United States	48,18
3	Periklís Iakovákis	Greece	48,24

2001 World Champion Sánchez was the man to beat in this final, and out-ran the rest of the field by almost a second. South-Africa's Llewellyn Herbert was in silver medal position, but fell on the final hurdle and came in last.

3000 m Steeple Chase Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Saif Saeed Shaheen	Qatar	8.04,39
2	Ezekiel Kemboi	Kenya	8.05,11
3	Eliseo Martín	Spain	8.09,09

Kenyan runner Stephen Cherono became a Qatarese citizen just weeks before the World Championships, apparently for a good salary. He did not disappoint his new country, and won Qatar's first World Championship medal in an exciting duel with former compatriot Kemboi, whom he only beat in the final metres. Martín's medal was the first one won in the event by a European since 1993.

4 x 100 m Men

To be held.

4 x 400 m Men

To be held.

High Jump Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Jacques Freitag	South Africa	2.35
2	Stefan Holm	Sweden	2.32
3	Mark Boswell	Canada	2.32

Freitag, a 2.04 m tall 21-year-old, was one of the three jumpers to make 2.32. He was the only one to clear the next height, winning the gold in his first international final.

Pole Vault Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Giuseppe Gibilisco	Italy	5.90
2	Okkert Brits	South Africa	5.85
3	Patrik Kristiansson	Sweden	5.85

Gibilisco, who had never placed better than 10th at a major tournament, upset the field with a new National Record of 5.90. Two of the pre-tournament favourites, Aleksandr Averbukh and Romain Mesnil, were already eliminated before the final, while defending World Champion Markov placed fourth in the final.

Long Jump Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Dwight Phillips	United States	8.32
2	James Beckford	Jamaica	8.28
3	Yago Lamela	Spain	8.22

The winning mark in the long jump final, which did not include four-time World Champion Iván Pedroso and 2001 silver medallist Savanté Stringfellow (both eliminated in the qualification), was the shortest in the history of the event. The competition heated up in the 5th round, when the lead changed three times.

Triple Jump Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Christian Olsson	Sweden	17.72
2	Yoandri Betanzos	Cuba	17.28
3	Leevan Sands	Bahamas	17.26

World Record holder and double World Champion Jonathan Edwards announced his retirement after the Championships. He qualified for the final, but had to give up after two jumps due to an injury. The title was won by 2002 European Champion Olsson, who started triple jumping after seeing Edwards win the 1995 World Championship in Gothenburg.

Shot Put Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Andrey Mikhnevich	Belarus	21.69
2	Adam Nelson	United States	21.26
3	Yuri Bilonog	Ukraine	21.10

Mikhnevich threw five of his six throws over 21 metre, and his winning mark was a new personal best. He had been suspended until August 6 after a doping offence in 2001. Triple World Champion John Godina made the final, but placed 9th after a foul throw - heavily disputed by Godina - meaning he couldn't get three more attempts.

Discus Throw Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Virgilijus Alekna	Lithuania	69.69
2	Róbert Fazekas	Hungary	69.01
3	Vasili Kaptyukh	Belarus	66.51

Five-time World Champion Lars Riedel of Germany was looking for a record-tying sixth title, but he placed fourth behind Alekna, the 2000 Olympic Champion.

Hammer Throw Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Ivan Tikhon	Belarus	83.05
2	Adrián Annus	Hungary	80.36
3	Koji Murofushi	Japan	80.12

Murofushi, who threw close to 85 m earlier in the season, was the red hot favourite prior to the event, but Tikhon was the class of the field, and won by a large margin.

Javelin Throw Men

...

20 km Walk Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Jefferson Pérez	Ecuador	1:17.21
2	Francisco Javier Fernández	Spain	1:18.00
3	Roman Raskazov	Russia	1:18.07

Pérez, the 1996 Olympic Champion overtook long-time leader Fernández in the final kilometres of the race to set a new World Best Mark (no World Records are recognised in this event) by a second. His gold medal was the first World Championship medal for Ecuador.

50 km Walk Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Robert Korzeniowski	Poland	3:36.03
2	German Skurygin	Russia	3:36.42
3	Andreas Erm	Germany	3:37.46

Korzeniowski, one of the best race walkers in recent years, lead throughout the race, with competitors dropping off because of disqualification or because of the high pace. His final time was a new World Best Mark.

Decathlon Men

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Tom Pappas	United States	8750
2	Roman Šebrle	Czech Republic	8634
3	Dmitri Karpov	Kazakhstan	8374

The surprising leader after the first day was Karpov, who had no previous international tournament experience. A weak pole vault meant Pappas overtook the lead to keep it until after the final event, holding off World Record Holder Roman Šebrle. Olympic Champion Erki Nool pulled out of the event due to an injury

Heptathlon, Women

Pos	Athlete	Nation	Mark
1	Carolina Klüft	Sweden	7001
2	Eunice Barber	France	6755
3	Natalya Sazanovich	Belarus	6524

Swedish Carolina Klüft won with big margin following a breaking of her personal best in four of the seven events and the totals. She was the third woman to score more than 7000 points.

References

http://www.iaaf.org/WCH03/results/raceDate=08-23-2003/byDate.html