Athletics: All the best performances at the World Athletics Championships

Nigerian 100 metre hurdler Tobi Amusan ran a world record 12.12 that had commentators doubting the timing system. Photo / AP

The World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon have been outstanding and have made for compelling viewing.

Now that I have time-zones and recording sorted and am back in one place for a few days, I have been able to watch the championships, and have been gripped by the Oregon action.

Last Tuesday was supposed to be Norway's day. Their two Olympic Champions from last year in Tokyo were scheduled to appear in the last two track events of the programme. Jakob Ingebrigtsen was first-up of the two. Ingebrigtsen had had an excellent build-up and carried high Norwegian hopes. Winning is about being at your very best when it matters most. Ingebrigtsen ran well and produced a season best of 3:29.47, but on the day Britain's Jake Wightman was better, running the perfect tactical race with the leading time of the year, 3:29.23. It was a popular victory following Wightman's disappointing 10th at last year's Olympics.

It was even more popular here in Scotland, as next week he will be wearing the blue singlet of Scotland when he joins Josh Kerr (bronze medal-winner in Tokyo – and 5th in Oregon) and Laura Muir, who took the bronze medal in the women's 1500 metres. I wish my athletes could have heard Wightman's interview. He was articulate and carried himself as a true champion, and highlighted how he put Olympic disappointment behind him in his preparation and whilst racing in Oregon.

The second part of the Norway show came only 20 minutes later, with world record 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm running in the final event of Day 5. Warholm had pulled out injured at the Diamond League at Rabat on June 5. Any doubts about recovery appeared to have been dispelled in the heats and semi-final. In the final, Warholm came into the home-straight in a strong position, from where he usually powers home, but the interrupted build-up became apparent as he finished 7th. Winning major Championships requires being in the best shape and executing when it matters.

Sydney McLaughlin produced a sublime performance in Oregon. Photo / AP

Sydney McLaughlin (USA) who, like Warholm, had won with a world record in Tokyo in the 400m hurdles, produced a sublime performance in Oregon. She had broken her own record on Hayward Field in Eugene at the USA trials. She again broke her own record in the final to become the first woman to run under 52 seconds in a sensational 50.68 seconds, a time that would be hugely respectable for one lap even without the inconvenience of 10 hurdles. It was one of, if not the most, impressive athletic performances I have ever watched.

McLaughlin had a part to play in an incredible final day at the Championships, a day that saw Kevin Mayer (France) retain his Decathlon title, though that was surely helped along by Olympic champion Damian Warner (Canada) being forced to withdraw. Mayer also battled many injuries and had an outstanding second day to take the title.

Nigerian 100 metre hurdler Tobi Amusan ran a world record 12.12 that had commentators doubting the timing system. Amusan's run in the final dispelled any doubts, as she ran 12.06 with a wind of 2.5 metres per second. Amusan's women's hurdles run was followed by an outstanding women's 800 metres, where two 20-year-olds, Athing Mu (USA) and Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) - gold and silver respectively at the Olympics - finished in the same order in Eugene, but this time only separated by hundredths of a second (1:56.30 – world-leading mark and 1:56.38).

McLaughlin then played her part anchoring the USA 4x400 team. The team won impressively, with a world-leading mark of 3:17.79. Just before the relay started, Armand Duplantis (Sweden), who had already broken the Championship pole vault record, had failed at his first attempt at a world record.

With the relay completed, Duplantis, as at the World Indoors, had the stadium to himself, and sailed over 6.21 metres to break his own World Championships record. The manner of his clearance suggests there is more to come. A perfect way to end a great Championships.

My thoughts this weekend will be with athletes even further away from the UK but closer to readers of this column, with a group of Whanganui athletes running at the New Zealand Cross Country in Taupo. New Zealand Schools internationals Amy McHardy (running for Wellington), Louise Brabyn and Daniel Sinclair will run in their respective under-18 races. They will be joined by Rosa Meyer and Toby Caro at under-18 level, and Mathew Sinclair at under-16 level. Paula Conder, Robert Conder, Nuala and Brian Dunne will compete in Masters races. I will hopefully report on the Cross-Country next week.