Doha Worlds an oasis of thrills

A World Athletics Championships that had looked like a desert mirage initially came to life with an oasis of thrills and packed houses before the curtain came down on Sunday.The 10-day event had attracted criticism when it started but as the action unfolded, it produced an atmosphere that was worthy of a global extravaganza.The athletes responded with memorable performances in the air-conditioned Khalifa Stadium, with temperatures kept at 21 degrees, highlighted by local hero Mutaz Barshim on Friday soaring to victory in the men’s high jump for Qatar’s only gold.On the same night American Dalilah Muhammad broke her own world record to win the women’s 400 metres hurdles while the sport’s big men seized the spotlight on Saturday as the shot putters gave a show hailed as the greatest ever in the event.The United States again topped the medals table, their 14 golds almost triple the next best of Kenya on five while Jamaica and China each had three.No other nation got more than two.“It is pretty clear to us that on athlete performance this is the best world championships we have had,” said International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) chief Sebastian Coe. The head of the global governing body had spent a good amount of time during the opening days vigorously defending the decision to bring the championships to the Middle East.“It is the athletes themselves who have come here better prepared for a championship that will be remembered for a long time.... maybe in a large part to the almost perfect conditions that these guys have created in the stadium.”Coe had little sympathy for those athletes who were complaining, saying at the midway mark of the meeting that they would be the ones leaving without winning titles.“The athletes talking about externalities are probably not the ones who are going to be walking home with medals from here,” he said.The rousing end to the championships provided an upbeat note for a sport that continues to wrestle with complex issues, including a Russian doping scandal that looks set to linger, with the country’s federation banned from the event.If that was not enough, the championships were hit with another unwanted distraction when renowned American coach Alberto Salazar was banned for four years for doping violations, the news landing in the middle of the IAAF’s biggest event.Salazar has denied any wrongdoing and said he would appeal.Track and field’s focus now turns to next year’s Tokyo Olympics before the 2021 world championships in Eugene, Oregon, home of the Nike Oregon Project which has been caught up in the sport’s latest doping scandal.The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Salazar was punished for “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct” as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), a camp designed primarily to develop US endurance athletes.Nike has denied any role in administering performance-enhancing drugs and said in a statement on Tuesday that it does not condone the use of banned substances.“Nike is not a part of the organising committee, it’s just not, so the issue around Eugene is very clear,” said Coe, already defending the choice of Eugene as the next host city.“There is the organising committee, and there’s the (US) federation who will be working closely together.”