Doha: Jamaican sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce surged to a record fourth 100m crown at the World Championships here Sunday as US legend Allyson Felix added another gold to her glittering career tally.
The rainbow-haired 32-year-old Fraser-Pryce, who skipped the the 2017 championships to give birth to her first child, delivered a barnstorming run to take the tape in 10.71sec at the Khalifa Stadium.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith took silver with a time of 10.83sec while Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou claimed bronze in 10.90sec.
“To be standing here as world champion again after having my baby, I am elated,” said Fraser-Pryce.
“The females keep showing up. We love to put on a performance and for me I am just really happy to come away with the win.”
Fraser-Pryce was in control from the gun, rocketing out of the blocks and taking the lead in the opening 20 metres.
From that point there was only going to be one winner, and the veteran Jamaican swept over the line majestically to add to the world titles won in 2009, 2013 and 2015 before setting off on a victory lap in a near-empty stadium carrying her two-year-old son Zyon.
The two-time Olympic champion’s dominant display was the highlight of a day three which also saw US track darling Felix add yet another medal to her career tally.
Felix, who failed to qualify for the individual competition in Doha after making her comeback earlier this season, took gold in the 4x400m mixed relay as the United States motored to victory in a world record-breaking time of 3min 09.34sec.
The 33-year-old Felix ran the second leg alongside team-mates Wilbert London, Courtney Okolo before anchor runner Michael Cherry brought home the win.
Record haul
Felix’s win took her tally to an incredible 26 medals, a dazzling haul that now includes six Olympic golds and 12 World Championship crowns.
Felix, competing in her ninth straight world championships, has accumulated more World Championship and Olympic honours than any other track and field athlete in history.
Elsewhere Sunday, there was another gold medal for triple jump king Christian Taylor of the United States.
The 29-year-old completed a superb hat-trick of World Championship titles after surviving near elimination in a nerve-jangling final.
The two-time Olympic champion and now four-time world champion clinched gold with a leap of 17.92m.
That was good enough to fend off the challenge of compatriot Will Claye, who took silver with a best jump of 17.74m. Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango claimed bronze with a jump of 17.66m.
Taylor, the world champion in 2011, 2015 and 2017, had flirted with elimination at the start of the final after fouling his first two jumps.
Taylor, needing to complete a jump to stay alive, finally got on the board with a leap of 17.42m on his third attempt.
The 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion then took the outright lead with his fourth jump of 17.86m before tightening his grip with an effort of 17.92m.
In the women’s pole vault, Anzhelika Sidorova - competing under the Authorised Neutral Athlete banner due to the IAAF ban on Russia over the doping scandal - won with a vault of 4.95 metres.
America’s Sandi Morris took silver with 4.90m while Greece’s Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi took bronze.
Day three’s action will conclude with the women’s 20km race walk later Sunday, which got under way at 11.59pm local time.
The start of the race was pushed back by 29 minutes in anticipation of expected heat and humidity, the IAAF said in a statement.
