BEIJING (AP) β The Latest from the world championships (all local times):
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Justin Gatlin won his heat in the 100 meters in 9.83 seconds on the first night of competition at the world championships.
Gatlin, who won the 100 at the 2004 Olympics before serving a four-year suspension for doping, had the season-leading time of 9.74 heading into the championships. The 33-year-old American took bronze behind Usain Bolt at the 2012 Olympics and silver at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
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7:40 p.m.
Jessica Ennis-Hill held on to the lead in the heptathlon after three events despite a mediocre showing in the shot put. After runner-up finishes in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump, her lack of sheer power showed early in the evening session.
Ennis Hill threw 13.73 meters and British teammate Katarina Johnson-Thompson fared even worse with a mark of 12.47, dropping her second spot overall to ninth.
Moving up in the ranking was Nafissatou Thiam, with the Belgian setting a personal best of 15.24 to win the shot put and second position overall. Ennis-Hill had 2,968 points for a 34-point lead over Thiam.
Nadine Broersen was in third place with 2,930.
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5:15 p.m.
Spanish hurdler Josephine Onyia did not travel to Beijing for the world championships amid reports that she has failed a doping test.
Spanish team spokesman Ignacio Mansilla Calzo said Saturday the “the federation has not received any official notification on the (doping) issue.”
The IAAF declined to comment.
The 29-year-old Onyia, who was born in Nigeria and became a Spanish citizen in 2007, has twice served two-year bans for doping infringements.
The Spanish record-holder was suspended in 2008 and again in 2011. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected her claim in the second case that a positive test for clenbuterol was because she ate contaminated meat.
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2:35 p.m.
Sergei Bubka has explained that an illness in the family is why he had to leave Beijing and miss the world championships after losing to Sebastian Coe in the election for the IAAF presidency.
“As a competitor and IAAF official I have attended every world championships since 1983,” Bubka, an Olympic gold medalist and six-time world pole vault champion from Ukraine, said in a statement Saturday. “However, a serious illness to a very close family member means that, on this occasion, it is my duty to be with my immediate family at this most difficult and stressful time. I am sure members of the athletics family will understand.”
Bubka retained his position as an IAAF vice president and has pledged his support to Coe.
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2:20 p.m.
Guor Marial had an airline ticket available and, finally, a country to represent at the world championships. He didn’t make history for South Sudan in Beijing, though, because he didn’t start the marathon on Saturday morning.
Marial, who made headlines as the runner with no country when he ran at the 2012 London Olympics under the IOC flag because South Sudan was not a member federation, didn’t fly to China and wasn’t in touch with organizers, the IAAF said. A place in the marathon was left open for him.
South Sudan was officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations earlier in the week, and is allowed to send teams to the Olympics and track and field world championships.
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1:05 p.m.
After two events in the heptathlon, Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill is in the lead ahead of British teammate Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Favorite Brianne Theisen-Eaton was back in fifth place after a disappointing showing in the high jump, Saturday’s second event.
Ennis-Hill was off her high marks from the 2012 London Games but finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump for 2,192 points, an edge of 30 points over Johnson-Thompson.
After a personal best in the 100 hurdles, Theisen-Eaton only scaled 1.80 meters in the high jump, nine centimeters off her best, to slip in the standings. Johnson-Thompson has been showing strong form recently and underscored it by winning the high jump with 1.89, edging Ennis-Hill by 3 centimeters.
Nadine Visser of the Netherlands was in third place with 2,131 points after she won the opening 100 hurdles race.
The two-day competition continues with the shot put and the 200 meters later Saturday. The last three events will be Sunday.
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10:05 a.m.
Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill was in second place behind Nadine Visser of the Netherlands after the opening 100-meter hurdles of the women’s heptathlon on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Visser set a big personal best of 12.81 seconds for a 0.10-second lead over Ennis-Hill. Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada had the third-best time with 12.98 while Anastasia Mokhnyuk of Ukraine was in fourth place with 13.07 seconds.
Even though Ennis-Hill was in second place, her time was well off her best β she ran 12.54 to start her Olympic competition in London three years ago.
The women later moved on to their second morning event of the two-day competition, the high jump.
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10:00 a.m.
Teenager Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea won the men’s marathon at the world championships on a sweltering Saturday.
The 19-year-old Ghebreslassie finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 27 seconds to hold off Yemane Tsegay of Ethiopia by 40 seconds. Munyo Solomon Mutai of Uganda was third.
Defending world champion and 2012 London Olympic gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda wound up sixth.
Ghebreslassie grabbed his country’s flag as he entered the Bird’s Nest and waved it as the crowd cheered. It was his first marathon win.
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9:30 a.m.
Now this is a surprise: Tsepo Ramonene of Lesotho is leading at the 30-kilometer mark of the men’s marathon. This is a runner who wound up last at the 2012 London Olympics among those who finished.
Ramonene doesn’t even have his name on his bib, just his number β 724.
The 24-year-old Ramonene is 13 seconds ahead of Ruggero Pertile of Italy.
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8:55 a.m.
Daniele Meucci of Italy is leading more than halfway through a tightly bunched men’s marathon on a sweltering Saturday in Beijing.
There were 17 runners within eight seconds of Meucci through 25 kilometers, including teammate Ruggero Pertile and defending world champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda.
The temperature is already 28 degrees Celsius (83 degrees Fahrenheit). The field tried to find shade whenever possible, hugging the side of the road to gain cover from the trees if only for a few steps. They also ran under coolers spraying water in the second half of the race.
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7:50 a.m.
The men’s marathon started on a sunny Saturday as a pack of nearly 70 runners hit the streets of Beijing.
The air quality was listed as “good” by the U.S Embassy Beijing Air Quality Monitor, with temperatures at 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit).
Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda is in the field and looking to defend his world title from Moscow.
Much of the concern around the marathon had to do with pollution levels. But the local organizing committee took steps to improve air quality during the world championships by cutting down on pollution from nearby factories and limiting the amount of cars on the road in the lead-up to the competition.
