The first thing that catches your eye is Josh Cole roaring, punching the air, adrenaline whizzing around him like a tornado. Thirty-four minutes later, Molly Caudery was crying and shaking her head, still getting used to the thrill of the new thing. Just like that, Team GB won two gold medals, two world indoor titles and a brilliant night for a traumatized sport.
Super Saturday? Not completely. But what a night it was. Edinburgh-born Kerr naturally grabbed much of the attention of his home crowd with a commanding victory in the 3000m. But Cowdery, 23, also stole their hearts with a stunning victory in the pole vault.
Cole, the reigning 1500m world champion, had spent the winter hesitating over whether to return to Scotland from his training base in the United States to compete in these championships. But when things really mattered, he was decisive.
In a race where speed surged frequently and when teams suddenly slowed down and huddled together, the Scot would throw in sharp elbows, bide his time and then strike with two laps remaining. No one wanted to catch him when he did it. American Yared Nuguse won the gold medal in 7 minutes and 42.98 seconds, finishing more than half a second behind to take the silver medal.
“That was the loudest sound I’ve ever heard in a stadium,” Kerr said. “I knew I needed to stay calm and keep my heart rate down. It’s an exciting day.”
Indeed, Kerr fully embraced victory. “I think I expend more energy celebrating than I expend during the game,” he added. “It was a little embarrassing. It wasn’t the cleanest race, but I finished it and it was great to win the world title. I feel excited.”
Cowdery’s 4.80m clearance beat a host of pole vault legends including 2020 Olympic champion and double world champion Katie Moon and 2016 champion Ekaterini Stefanidi (Aikaterini Stefanidi).
It wasn’t an easy night, especially considering French athlete Margot Chevrier appeared to sprain her ankle and was delayed for quite some time, but Cowdery held on – just fine.
“It was an absolutely crazy match,” she said after defeating New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney on countout. “I thought we had to jump higher to win, but a couple of the girls were injured or injured. Margot had ankle surgery. After she jumped, I cried to my coach, Scott Simpson. I cried for She was upset, and then I had to rally and execute her. I’m very proud of myself.”
What makes Cowdery’s story even more remarkable is that she nearly chopped off her finger while lifting weights at home in 2021, an injury that required three surgeries to repair.
“What’s the secret? It’s just not hurt,” she added. “Probably for the first time since I was 17, I was injury-free and gained some training and confidence. Mentally I was stronger, physically I was stronger. All of that combined made me higher.”
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Hopes were high for a third British medal of the night but Laura Muir had never competed in the lightning-fast women’s 3000m, won in devastating fashion by American Elle St Pierre.
Dairy farmer St Pierre, who gave birth to her first child last year, held on to the shoulders of favorite Gudaf Tsegay throughout the race before winning in 8 minutes 20.87 seconds. Tsegay finished second in 8.21:13, while Muir finished fifth in 8:29.76. She later admitted she had no excuse.
There was another surprise in the men’s 400m event. Karsten Warholm, the world record holder in the 400m hurdles, was defeated by Alexander Doom of Belgium. In a busy night on the track, Julien Alfred won the women’s 60m hurdles gold in 6.98 seconds, beating Ewa Swoboda by 0.02 seconds while Grant Grant Holloway extended his decade-long unbeaten streak in the indoor 60m hurdles with another world title.
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However, the performance that night came from Dutch star Femke Bol, who broke her own indoor 400m world record and won the gold medal with a time of 49.17. Britain’s Laviai Nielsen ran a lifetime best time of 50.89 and finished fourth.
Meanwhile, there has been controversy off the field, with men’s long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou attacking World Athletics’ proposal to scrap wooden springboards, calling it “shit”. “If the rules are enforced, I will stop long jumping,” he added. “Changing that removes all skill.”
