Moscow: Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva won the women’s pole vault title for a third time at the World Athletics Championships here on Friday.

The home favourite sent the Luzhniki stadium into raptures as she triumphed when American Olympic champion Jennifer Suhr and Cuban Yarisley Silva both failed to clear 4.89m. Suhr claimed silver on countback after both had cleared 4.82m.

With the gold medal secure, Isinbayeva tried but failed to set a new world record of 5.07m.

In the night’s main track event, Lashawn Merritt of the US won the men’s 400m title, with main rival Kirani James only able to finish seventh. Another American, Tony McQuay, was second, with Dominica’s Lugelin Santos in third

Earlier, German discus great Robert Harting won his third successive world title. The 28-year-old Olympic champion threw a best of 69.11 metres to take gold, while Piotr Malachowski of Poland was second (68.36m) and Gerd Kanter of Estonia took bronze (65.19).

Ethiopian Mohammed Aman won the men’s 800m title — the first ever medal for the country in the two-lap event.

Aman clocked a season’s best of 1min 43.31sec, with American Nick Symmonds taking silver in 1:43.55. Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman claimed bronze (1:43.76), the first medal for the east African country since Ahmed Salah’s silver in the marathon in the 1991 worlds in Tokyo.

Ukraine’s Ganna Melnichenko deprived Mr and Mrs Ashton Eaton of a famous multi-event double by claiming gold in the heptathlon.

The gruelling two-day event came down to the seventh and final event, the 800m, with Canada’s Brianne Theisen Eaton, wife of newly-crowned world decathlon champion Ashton Eaton of the United States, handed a mighty ask.

The Canadian had to beat the Ukrainian by 4.69sec to claim gold. It was not to be, however, as Melnichenko tracked Theisen Eaton around the strength-sapping 800m after the latter had shot to the front, tiringbadly late in the race.

Melnichenko amassed a total of 6,586 points, a personal best, while Theisen Eaton claimed silver with 6,530pts and was comforted by Eaton trackside. Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands took bronze in a Dutch record of 6,477pts.

Kenya’s Milcah Chemos won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 9:11.65 ahead of compatriot Lydia Chepkurui.