Gianmarco Tamberi finally filled the space in his trophy cabinet which had been there since he made his first World Athletics Championships appearance in 2015 by winning at Budapest 23 on Tuesday night.
The charismatic Italian, who is the defending Olympic and two-time European champion, frustratingly finished fourth in Eugene last year but made amends on the global stage with a winning clearance of 2.36m.
Despite a sloppy failure with his first attempt of the competition at his opening height of 2.25, which fortunately didn’t ultimately prove to be costly, he then went cleanly over 2.29m, 2.33m and then 2.36m at the first time of asking.
He was the only man to do so at the latter height – to the sounds of a huge cheer of fans barely 20 metres away in the stands – and it meant he moved into pole position.
Tamberi then had the luxury of being able to watch the other six men still in the competition attempting that height and despite superb conditions for the event in the end only the USA’s JuVaughn Harrison also succeeded, doing so on his second attempt.
With Harrison jumping ahead of Tamberi, when the bar was raised to 2.38m there was always the sense that the Italian could respond if Harrison went clear but the American had three failures, which clinched the gold for Tamberi and elicited another massive roar for Italy’s first gold medal of the championships.
Gianmarco Tamberi’s Grand Slam of major high jump titles. 🙌
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 22, 2023
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2019 🥇#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/bA3kcgIZ1k
Tamberi just ran through his final attempt at 2.38m but it was the cue for the celebrations to ratchet up another notch further and the party continued well after the evening session on the fourth day had ended.
"I just went for it. I wanted to write history by winning gold medals at all the major competitions.," said Tamberi, who had reverted in Budapest to the half-beard 'look' he had sported earlier in his career.
"The feeling is amazing. It is worth all the sacrifices over the years. After the qualifications I was a little scared because I did not feel as good as I wanted, but I knew I always change in the final. The new me comes out and my strength is that I always give 100 per cent.
"I am looking forward to the European Athletics Championships in Rome, my home country, next year. I have never competed in Italy at such a level wearing the Italian uniform," he added.
With a stunning run of 44.26 in his 400m semi-final, Matthew Hudson-Smith finally took down the ancient European record which had belonged to Thomas Schonlebe at 44.33 since the German won at the 1987 World Athletic Championships.
Hudson-Smith, joint second quickest in the semis, could also become the first European winner since Schonlebe 36 years ago, and add to his bronze over one lap of the track at the last world championships in Eugene last summer.
“I am obviously going for a medal. That is what I want,” said Hudson-Smith after his race, although his sights are likely to be significantly higher than just a place on the lower steps of the podium.
Hudson-Smith gets European 400m record
Hudson-Smith ran 44.35 last year to get the British record and move up to number two on the European all-time list.
However, in the Hungarian capital he finally achieved what had eluded so many European sprinters but especially Britons like former European champions Roger Black, Du’aine Ladejo, Iwan Thomas and Martyn Rooney.
The 36-year-old European 400m record of 44.33 falls to @mattonthefloor!
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 22, 2023
44.26 in the 400m semifinals at the #WorldAthleticsChamps! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/d6YJFWWH9a
Sifan Hassan added to her burgeoning world championships medal collection with third place in the 1500m, the same hue of medal that she won last year in Eugene over the same distance.
She was fifth at the bell and moved up steadily down the back straight but didn’t quite have enough in the tank down the home straight to quite challenge the two women in front of her for gold, crossing the line in 3:56.00 as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon took the honours in 3:54.87.
With 1500m and 10,000m gold in 2019, 5000m bronze in 2017 and another 1500m bronze in 2015 the Dutchwoman has now won medals at the last five world championships.
"Just a couple of weeks ago I was coming from the marathon and I was struggling to get my speed back. I was talking with my coach about not doing 1500m as I am now a marathon runner, I guess.
"Before I decided to these three events I did not look at how fast the girls are this year. When I looked at the start list for my heat I was wondering why I put myself in this position. I would never have imagined that I would win a medal," said Hassan.
Ciara Mageean set an Irish record of 3:56.61 in fourth place after a terrific run on the last lap and was still in contention for a medal until the last 80 metres.
The women’s discus saw Europe out of the medals for the first time ever but the Netherlands’ 2021 European U23 champion Jorinde van Klinken got close to the podium, finishing fourth with a season’s best of 67.20m and was briefly second with her fifth effort before other throwers overtook her later in that round.
Croatia’s venerable Sandra Perkovic was able to add to her venerable collection of two world titles – in 2013 and 2017 – and two silver medals, her last one coming in 2022, but still finished a creditable fifth in 66.57m.
"Maybe it was unreal to expect a medal here after the season of injuries. My first and third throws were the ones for the medal, if not for the golden one. I will come back stronger,” said Perkovic.
Bol impresses in semi
Femke Bol made running under 53 seconds for 400m hurdles look ridiculously and the European champion and record holder appeared barely to break sweat on a stifflingly humid night that has come to typify these championships.
She was clearly ahead of a classy semi-final field by the second hurdle and then just flowed around the track.
If her heat run on Monday, when she ran the fastest ever time in a world championships first round with 53.39, was about exorcising any demons that existed after her distressing collapse at the end of the mixed 4x400m final, then her semi-final run was about stamping her authority on the rest of the 400m hurdles field and confirming her status as the gold medal favourite for Thursday’s final.
Running in the outside lane in her semi, she stopped the clock in 52.95 but would have certainly run considerably faster if she had not opted to jog home over the final 30 metres once the last barrier had been cleanly negotiated.
“I did not feel the pressure of running in a different lane. I ran in lane four yesterday and in lane eight today, both lanes work for me. I tried to save energy, which is always tough because you do not want to spend a lot of energy yet you still want to win,” reflected Bol.
Italy’s 2017 European U23 champion Ayo Folorunso will join Bol in the final after setting a national record of 53.89 when finishing fourth and progressing as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers in the quickest heat won by USA’s Shamier Little in 52.81 although, in sharp contrast to Bol, the American never had the luxury of being able to ease up.
Spain’s Daniel Arce was the first European home in the 3000m steeplechase final, finishing ninth in 8:18.51 in a race won by Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali in 8:03.53.
World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 full results and timetable can be found here.
Phil Minshull for European Athletics