World titles, shot put legends and three little birds

Five things we learned from day three at the World Athletics Championships.

French Renaud Lavillenie clears the bar in the men's pole vault final Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler

• It’s tough being a favourite. The Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie was supposed to waltz - well, not literally - to the world title. The 26-year-old Frenchman had jumped 6.02 metres a fortnight ago during the Anniversary Games in London. Ah, but that was London where he’d won Olympic gold last year. Here in Moscow , the pole vault competitors had to start the approach for their jumps on the running track in the Luzhniki – they didn’t have to do that in London . And they also had to wait for races on the track to start or pass by – they didn’t have to do that in London either. To cut a long story short, Raphael Holzdeppe from Germany is the world champion and Lavillenie is the silver medallist. They both jumped 5.89 metres but Lavillenie took more attempts to do so. C’est la vie.

• Mon dieu…there’s Franglais afoot, mon capitaine. Headline for Lavillenie’s setback ? ‘Brothers in larmes’ Ooh la la, that’s really too tempting to miss. After finishing second in the pole vault, a disconsolate Renaud Lavillenie was embraced by his younger brother, Valentin, who’d finished last in the competition. It was the first time since Stuttgart in 1993 that two brothers had contested the pole vault final. Back then Sergey and Vassily Bubka were in action. Sergey won the title – the fourth of his six consecutive world crowns. Still some way to go, Renaud.
  It’s good to lead by example. Christine Ohuruogu was named captain of the British team for the championships and is therefore responsible for pepping up the despondent and doing the PR for the squad. With all that external stuff, it’s easy to forget that the athlete has got to go and perform. She was fourth as she came into the home stretch in the 400 metres final but she kept going and forced a photo finish with defending champion Amanle Montsho from Botswana . They were both clocked at 49.41. But judges said that the Londoner had crossed the line in 49.404, while Montsho finished in 49.408. It was Ohuruogu’s second world title – six years after her first triumph in Osaka. When told after the race that she’d also broken Kathy Cook’s British national record over the distance, she quipped: “It’s as old as me. August 1984 and I was born in May 84. I’ve got everything else … you can’t be an Olympic gold medallist, an Olympic silver medallist and not have a national record. It’s like everyone else has a national record ... I want one as well.” You can see why she’s captain.

• Valerie Adams is a shot put legend. The 28-year-old from New Zealand claimed a fourth consecutive title on day three to eclipse the German Astrid Kumbernuss who won a paltry three on the trot between 1995 and 1999. Adams winning mark of 20.88 metres came in the third of her six throws.
• There is some kind of subliminal weighting going on. When Usain Bolt appeared for his 100 metres races on day one and day two, the stadium sound system controllers played the opening strains from Three Little Birds which is on Bob Marley’s Exodus album.
  The song trills: “Don't worry about a thing,
  'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
  Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
  'Cause every little thing gonna be all right! "
  And as we all – including the burly ex-special forces security guards start to get jiggy with it – the second verse chimes on …
  “Rise up this mornin',
  Smile with the risin' sun,
  Three little birds
  Each by my doorstep
  Singin' sweet songs
  Of melodies pure and true,
  Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou: ")
• I thought it was a Jamaican sprint thing. And since four Jamaicans were in the men’s final – you could say it was apt. But the track wasn’t played as the Jamaican women were battling their way to the final. On day three when Shelley-Ann Fraser-Price and Kerron Stewart lined up for the 100 metres showdown, there was nothing from Marley. Then again four of the contestants were from the United States so theoretically something more American should have been blaring through the sound system. Ultimately it was all academic as they ended up playing the Jamaican national anthem yet again after a sprint race. Fraser-Price pulverized the field in 10.71 seconds to claim her second world title.