World Championships: Josh Kerr stuns Jakob Ingebrigtsen to take 1500m gold, Karsten Warholm wins 400m hurdles

Great Britain’s Josh Kerr stole the headlines on day five of the 2023 World Championships as he stunned Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen to clinch gold in the men’s 1500m final in Budapest.

Ingebrigtsen was the heavy favourite and set a strong early pace as he looked to lead from the front, but the 22-year-old Norwegian was powerless to hold off Kerr, who drew alongside him on the final bend before taking a thrilling victory and GB’s second gold medal of this year’s Championships.

Kerr’s time of 3:29.38 was a season’s best as he crossed the line more than two tenths clear of Ingebrigtsen, with Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordas taking the bronze.

“It’s been a long time coming. It’s quite an overwhelming experience. I’m so proud of myself,” Kerr said afterwards.

“I’m so proud of my team and my family who got me here. I didn’t feel like I ran the best race either. I just threw my whole 16 years of this sport in that last 200m and didn’t give up until the end.”Marileidy Paulino

While there was disappointment for Ingebrigsten, Karsten Warholm gave Norwegian fans something to cheer about in the 400m hurdles final.

The 27-year-old was the favourite but looked under pressure from USA’s Rai Benjamin on his inside approaching the bend. But Warholm found an extra gear to surge clear on the closing straight and take the gold, with Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands coming through to pinch silver and relegate Benjamin to bronze.

In the women’s 400m final, Marileidy Paulino strode to a commanding victory in a time of 48.76 seconds, finishing almost a second clear of Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek in second, with Sada Williams of Barbados clinching bronze.

Paulino of the Dominican Republic showed why she is ranked No. 1 in the world, running an incredible bend before stretching her lead and taking the line to become the World champion.

There was drama in the women’s pole vault final, which came down to a sudden death shoot-out for gold between Australia’s Nina Kennedy and America’s Katie Moon, who were the only competitors to clear 4.8m.

They both scraped over 4.9m at the third time of asking before neither could clear 4.95m, meaning they shared the gold medal after deciding against a jump-off.

Finland’s Wilma Murto took bronze after clearing 4.8m but failing at 4.85m.

Britain’s Molly Caudery set a new personal best en route to finishing fifth. Caudery cleared 4.5m and 4.65m with no trouble and then beat her previous best of 4.71m on her third attempt at 4.75m. She skipped 4.8m after one failure to go all out for a medal but couldn’t make it stick at 4.85m.