Following the conclusion of the World Athletics Championships Jack Wynne decided to take a look back and pick out five moments that stood out.
Great Britain win sprint gold
The hosts of the 2017 World Athletics Championships were set a target of between six and eight medals but before the start of the relay races they still only had a couple to show – Mo Farah had defended his 10,000m crown before picking up a silver medal in the 5,000m race.
There was a real sense of disappointment hanging over London Stadium as Farah had lost a global final for the first time in six years. The mood was transformed almost instantaneously as the British quarter of Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita beat Jamaica to claim silver in the 4x100m relay.
More British success caused the place to erupt as CJ Ujah, Adam Gemili, Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake combined brilliantly to become the first group in history to win world sprint gold for their country.
Their achievement was even more special by the fact they had held off strong favourites USA, who have claimed top spot a record seven times since the first world championships in Helsinki.
Congrats to all @BritAthletics - 6⃣ medals & much promise for the future.
#REPRESENT
#London2017
Usain Bolt beaten in 100m
Sprinter Usain Bolt had enjoyed complete domination in the 100m for the past nine years, claiming three Olympic gold medals as well as a trio of World Championship crowns.
After lighting up running tracks around the world with his scintillating performances - including when he broke his own world record at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to claim first place - the Jamaican admitted he would hang up his running trainers for the last time following the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London.
After labouring through the heats and finishing second behind America’s Christian Coleman in the semi-finals the possibility of the 30-year-old becoming a four-time world champion seemed far from a forgone conclusion.
Bolt had been frustrated with the starting blocks at the London Stadium and they continued to cause him problems in the final as he had to settle for a bronze medal in his last individual race. Coleman picked up silver whilst fellow countryman Justin Gatlin, who has twice been found guilty of doping, recorded a time of 9.92 to finish first.
BBC pundits analyse his final race #London2017
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Van Niekerk denied historic 200-400m double
Rewind 22 years. American sprinter Michael Johnson had treated the crowd inside Goteborg’s Ullevi Stadium to a truly special performance on the track, claiming gold in both the 200 and 400m races.
South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk had a chance to follow in Johnson’s footsteps, after putting in an excellent performance to defend his 400m crown.
Securing first place in the 200m was all that was needed to secure Van Niekerk’s place in history but his dreams were left in tatters by Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev.
The 27-year-old was suddenly a hero in his homeland, becoming the first Turk to win gold at a World Championships.
Warholm ends Norway’s 30-year wait for World Championship gold
Karsten Warholm was used to competing in a variety of different events as a former decathlete but he had recently switched to the 400m hurdles, ahead of the World Athletics Championships.
The 21-year-old wasn’t expected to feature amongst the medals but ran a near-perfect race to take gold by a comfortable margin, causing one of the upsets of the tournament.
The Scandinavian athlete’s triumph was even more remarkable in the fact that he finished ahead of current Olympic champion Kerron Clement and Turkey’s Yasmani Copello, who finished first at last year’s European Championships in Amsterdam.
Just as Guliyev will be adorned by his fellow countrymen and women, Warholm is also likely to receive similar adulation from fellow Norwegians as he ended a 30-year wait without a gold at the Worlds – Ingrid Kristiansen was the previous gold medal winner after his 10,000m triumph in Rome.
Chelimo is crowned women’s marathon champion at debut tournament
After coming eighth during her first Olympic games in the women’s marathon last year, Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo looked to be another athlete that might struggle to finish amongst the medals in London.
The 28-year-old was also up against the likes of current world champion Mare Dibaba and Kenyan athlete Edna Kiplagat, who won gold at successive World Championships in 2011 and 2013.
Despite being surrounded by a whole bunch of athletes, who had a lot more experience at this level, Chelimo ran 2:27:11 to upset the odds and edge past Kiplagat to finish first.
The way that the Kenyan-born athlete has progressed dramatically since the disappointment in Rio and claimed top spot at her first World Championships was a remarkable achievement.
