Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir produced a lung-busting final 100m sprint to win a dramatic women’s marathon at the world championships on Sunday, but there was heartbreak for Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
In the sole final of the second morning session at the National Stadium, Jepchirchir edged Ethiopa’s Tigst Assefa for gold by just two seconds after an epic tussle.
The pair were neck-and-neck coming into the final kilometre of a gruelling marathon run in hot and humid weather.
Former world record holder Assefa chanced her arm as she bolted down the back straight.
But Jepchirchir dug deep to battle back past her stuttering Ethiopian rival for a breathless gold.
Jepchirchir, Olympic champion at the same venue in the Covid-delayed 2021 Olympics, timed 2hr 24min 43sec for victory.
“It was not my ultimate plan to sprint in the final metres, but when I saw I was 100m from the finish, I just started to kick. I found some hidden energy there,” said Jepchirchir.
Ingebrigtsen touched down in Japan as one of the best known faces in track and field.
But the 24-year-old Norwegian ran what he called a “terrible” heat in the 1,500m and failed to advance to the semi-finals of the ultra-competitive event.
Ingebrigtsen, who won Olympic 1,500m gold in the Japanese capital in 2021 but was searching for a first world title over the distance, has been laid low with an achilles injury that has seen him miss all of the outdoor season.
That showed as he could only finish eighth in a heat won by Britain’s Jake Wightman.
Only the top six from each of the four heats qualify for Monday’s semi-finals, with the final set for Wednesday.
“It’s a first-time experience that I haven’t got to the next round,” rued Ingebrigtsen.
“Of course, it’s very disappointing but at the same time it is a reality check.”
The question now is whether Ingebrigtsen, who picked up his injury after completing a rare world indoor double over 1,500m and 3,000m in Nanjing in March, bids for a third world title in the 5,000m, with heats scheduled for Friday and final on Sunday.
But the Norwegian remained as optimistic as he could in the immediate wake of such a disappointing outing.
“I think I’m probably closer for the 5,000m race right now,” he maintained.
“I’ll recover and have a couple of good days until I go again (in the 5,000m heats) and try again. Everything is a test. I was trying to do my best to advance to the semi-final but it was terrible.
“You have to start and you have to try.”
Sunday’s evening session is a loaded one, notably with finals in the men and women’s 100m.
Defending champion Noah Lyles, who is also Olympic 100m gold medallist, will pit himself against Jamaican Kishane Thompson and Botswanan Letsile Tebogo.
The women’s 100m pitches Olympic champion Julien Alfred against in-form American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
Retiring veteran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica and defending champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States should be in the mix for a podium finish.
The other finals are the men’s 10,000m, and in the long jump and discus for women.
American star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone also goes in heats for the women’s 400m, having opted to race just the one-lap flat rather than the 400m hurdles, in which she is Olympic champion and world record holder.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon races the semi-finals of the 1,500m, a fourth title in which would draw her equal with Moroccan legend Hicham El Guerrouj’s event record.