PORTLAND, Oregon — There was no doubt Trayvon Bromell won. The American even ran backward down his lane in his exuberance. Still, he had to wait and wait some more for it to become official.
Bromell captured the 60-meter title at the world indoor track and field championships Friday night in a race that was so close that it took several minutes to determine the rest of the medalists.
Bromell finished in 6.47 seconds and had the flag draped around him as he waited to see who would join him in celebration. When everything was sorted out, Asafa Powell of Jamaica was moved up to second and Ramon Gittens of Barbados third, just ahead of China’s Xie Zhenye and Su Bingtian.
A nearly 40-year-old Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis was originally announced as the runner-up before slipping to eighth in a field that was missing Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin.
Those two were absent by choice. The Russians weren’t here because of pending doping and corruption charges. The absence of one of track’s top nations could be a glimpse of what the Rio Olympics might be like, should the country not be reinstated in time to compete.
[caption id="attachment_42724" align="alignright" width="300"]
Brianne Theisen Eaton of Canada celebrates with her country’s flag after winning the gold medal in the women’s pentathlon during the IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships in Portland, Oregon, Friday. — Reuters[/caption]
Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada had the race of the night, making up major ground in the 800 meters to win pentathlon gold. Her husband, Ashton Eaton, leads the heptathlon after the first day, but is slightly off his world-record pace.
In other finals, Nia Ali of the US defended her title in the 60-meter hurdles by holding off teammate Brianna Rollins, while Brittney Reese of the US used a powerful final leap to capture the long jump.
Tomas Walsh of New Zealand won the shot put, ending an American domination in the event at the world indoors that began in 2004.
Bromell is a rising talent in a deep US sprinting pool. He captured a share of the bronze medal at the world outdoor championships last season in Beijing.
It was a little bit of a heartbreaker for Collins, who tumbled from a silver medal all the way to last place after the review. He still became the oldest male to make a final at the world indoors, taking over the honor from American Bernard Lagat, who was a few months over 39 when he made the final of the 3,000 meters in 2014, according to the IAAF.
The home crowd had witnessed a nerve-jangling finish to the women’s pentathlon.
Theisen-Eaton’s hopes of winning a first gold medal in a major championship had looked to be over after she trailed by more than 100 points to Ukraine’s Anastasiya Mokhnyuk heading into the race.
But Theisen-Eaton blasted clear of the field in a duel with American Barbara Nwaba before powering home to win in 2min 9.03sec as Mokhnyuk faded badly.
The Canadian’s husband roared support from inside the track as she came down the home straight to claim a memorable win before embracing her at the finish line.
Eaton meanwhile remained well-placed to secure an unprecedented hat trick of indoor gold medals when the heptathlon concludes Saturday.
The reigning world and Olympic champion leads the heptathlon after four events with 3,564 points, ahead of Germany’s Kurt Felix (3,501) and Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine with 3,420.
