TOKYO; All six winners on day two at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo earned their first ever individual gold medals at the World Championships, performing in front of an evening crowd of 57,528 spectators.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden stole the show, producing a dominant run to win the women’s 100m and breaking the championship record with 10.61.

The Olympic bronze medallist produced a flawless run, powering away from Olympic champion Julien Alfred and Jamaica’s Tina Clayton to win by 0.15, the second-biggest winning margin in World Championships history. Her performance also equals the fastest ever time at a global championships, tied with Elaine Thompson-Herah’s Olympic record from the Tokyo Games in the same stadium in 2021.

Clayton came through to take silver in a PB of 10.76 while Alfred took bronze in 10.84.

Jamaica’s Oblique Seville ran the race of his life to lead a Jamaican 1-2 in the men’s 100m.

Storming away his rivals, he was chased by Kishane Thompson but couldn’t be caught – dipping over the line in a PB of 9.77 to earn gold ahead of his compatriot who clocked 9.82.

Defending champion Noah Lyles took bronze in 9.89 and they avoided the challenge of Letsile Tebogo as the Olympic 200m champion was disqualified for a false start.

History repeated itself for Peres Jepchirchir and Tigist Assefa in what was a thrilling finish to the women’s marathon to highlight the morning session.

They were locked in battle for several kilometres in the closing stages and were still inseparable as they entered the stadium. Jepchirchir, who won Olympic gold in her last outing in Japan four years ago, kicked hard with 100 metres to go and strode to victory in 2:24:43. Assefa, who lost out on Olympic gold last year in a sprint finish, once again had to settle for silver in 2:24:45.

But perhaps the biggest surprise came from Julia Paternain, who came through to take bronze in 2:27:23, earning Uruguay’s first ever medal at a senior global championships.

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