As good as gold: Highlights and takeaways from 2023 World Athletics Championships

The just concluded World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, saw some marvelous record-breaking performances from Indian athletes who are firmly finding their way among global track luminaries

By Madhu Kapparath

Published: Aug 28, 2023 07:35:26 PM IST

Updated: Aug 29, 2023 10:42:42 AM IST

Image: Reuters/Alina Smutko

Neeraj Chopra reacts during the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on August 27, 2023. Chopra, in a historic moment for India, became the first-ever Indian athlete to win a gold medal at this prestigious championship with a big throw of 88.17m in the men’s javelin final.

Image: Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Mary Moraa of Team Kenya dances with joy after winning the Women's 800m gold at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary on August 27, 2023. Many Kenyan fans in the stands danced along with her to celebrate Moraa, who grew up an orphan in a remote area of Kenya. Discovering that her mother, who passed away when Moraa was only two, was a runner, led Moraa to pursue a career in running herself.

Image: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

Australia's Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon of the US celebrate after winning the joint gold in the women's pole vault final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on August 23, 2023. Both flew over the bar on their final attempt at 4.90. Kennedy was quoted asking Moon, “Hey, girl, you maybe wanna share this?” They both agreed to stop jumping and share the win. "It's funny because, until the Olympics, I never realised you could split a gold medal," said Moon.

Image: Jewel Samad / AFP

India's Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi passes the baton to Rajesh Ramesh in the men's 4x400m relay heats during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 26, 2023. The relay team, which consisted of Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, Amoj Jacob, and Muhammed Anas Yahiya, finished finishing fifth in the final, breaking the Asian record with a time of 2:59:05.

Image: Reuters/Marton Monus

Sha'carri Richardson of the US celebrates after winning the women's 100m final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on August 21, 2023. Richardson also earned a bronze in the 200m and then turned in a clutch performance to anchor the winning US 4×100-meter relay. “This journey for me is just knowing that no matter what happens, you never lose sight of yourself,” she told NBC Sports. “Never lose sight of your faith. Always remember why you started.”

Image: Reuters/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Netherlands' Femke Bol falls on her face (seen here mid-fall) a few metres from the finish line during the fourth and final leg of the mixed 4x400 metres relay final at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on August 19, 2023. But redemption came her way five days later, when she flawlessly won the 400-meter hurdles in 51.70 seconds, the second-fastest time in history. Then Bol anchored the Dutch women's 4×400-meter relay team to a gold-medal finish in a national record and world-leading time of 3:20.72.

Image: Jewel Samad / AFP

The US's Noah Lyles celebrates after his team won the men's 4x100m relay final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 26, 2023. Lyles blazed the field in the 100 final in 9.87 seconds, then won his specialty event 200m in 19.52 seconds and ran the anchor leg on Team USA's 4×100-meter relay. Lyles is multi-faceted: a musician, rapper, and an artist. Fashion, however, is his passion.

Image: Ferenc Isza / AFP

Kenya's gold medallist Faith Kipyegon celebrates with a national flag after the women's 5000m final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 26, 2023. The 29-year-old mother is arguably the greatest women's middle-distance runner in history, becoming the first woman ever to win 1500m and 5000m double, capping a remarkable season in which she broke three world records in the 1,500m, mile, and 5,000m.

Image: Reuters/Marton Monus

As Slovakia's race walker Hana Burzalova got off the finishing line of Women’s 35km race, Slovakia’s Dominik Cerny (also a men’s 35km race walker) got down on a knee and proposed to her at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 24, 2023. According to reports, Burzalova, paused, only briefly to stop her watch, before saying yes.

Image: David Ramos/Getty Images

India’s Parul Chaudhary competes in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase Heats during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 23, 2023. Chaudhary broke the national record in women’s steeplechase with a timing of 9:15:31 and qualified for the Paris Olympics, a testament to her perseverance and dedication, despite her modest beginnings as the daughter of a farmer from Iklauta village near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Image: Sam Mellish/Getty Images

Ben Pattison of Great Britain in the men's 800m semi-final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 24, 2023. The 21-year-old athlete won a bronze, overcoming his rare heart condition known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, in which an extra signaling pathway between the heart’s upper and lower chambers can cause an exceptionally fast heartbeat.

Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

India’s Kishore Jena competes in the Men's Javelin Throw Final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 27, 2023. Jena finished fifth, his career's best performance, with a throw of 84.77m. After Jena’s visa application for Budapest was earlier cancelled, his counterpart Neeraj Chopra had for rallied support and helped get Jena to Budapest on time.