Day 5 of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha will be highlighted by the men’s 200m final at the Khalifa International Stadium.
As has become the norm – a massive lights show and display will precede the race that will ultimately determine if Usain Bolt’s 200m record of 19.19 seconds set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin goes down.
American Noah Lyles has the ability and the flamboyance to fill the position left by Usain Bolt. The 22-year-old’s 19.50 seconds in Lausanne sent shockwaves around the athletics world and he will be the favorite for the title. Of Bolt, Lyles said: “The man ran incredible times… I’m going to break that, and then I’m going to get even bigger than him.”
Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev can also not be discounted – he showed his competition pedigree two years ago to take the title and this season finished second to Lyles in 19.86 in Brussels. Do not be surprised to see one of Zharnel Hughes, Adam Gemili and Miguel Francis in the final. Francis, 24, ran a time of 19.97 in London in July.
The men’s 800m finals is another event where another world record could be crashed. David Rudisha’s phenomenal time of 40;19seconds set at London 2012 could be ripped apart.
Watch out for American Donavan Brazier who has clocked a personal best of 1:42.70 this season and Canada’s Marco Arop who came into the competition in fine form.
In the men’s pole vault final, there may be a three-way fight between defending champion Sam Kendricks, Poland’s Piotr Lisek and Armand Duplantis of Sweden, who have all cleared six meters this season.
In all, day 5 will have four gold medals on offer in men’s pole vault, women’s javelin, men’s 800m, and men’s 200m.
Coverage of the World Athletics Championship is assured on social media platforms, On Joyfm and Joy news on Tv via Tournament Correspondent George Addo Jnr. The Coverage is sponsored by DBS industries and Adonko.
Source: George Addo Jnr/Joy Sports/Doha, Qatar