Kenya’s Julius Yego saw his bid for a long-awaited World Athletics Championships medal end in heartbreak this afternoon after suffering an ankle injury during the men’s javelin final in Tokyo.
The 2015 world champion, who was in resurgent form, produced a powerful second-round throw of 85.54m that briefly put him in medal contention.
But his night came to an abrupt end when he appeared to pull up injured before his third attempt, forcing him out of the competition and dashing Kenyan hopes of a podium finish.
The title went to Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, who threw a season’s best 88.16m on his fourth attempt to secure gold in style.
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Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada settled for silver with 87.38m, while American Curtis Thompson clinched bronze after an early 86.67m effort. India’s Sachin Yadav set a lifetime best of 86.27m to finish fourth, with Germany’s Julian Weber rounding out the top five at 86.11m.
The high-quality final saw six men surpass the 85m mark. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India struggled to find his rhythm, finishing eighth with 84.03m, while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem placed 10th at 82.75m.