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B4 SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, October 5, 2019 Track: A world record, and a win for home team By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer DOHA, Qatar — The message American hurdler Dalilah Muhammad kept tell- ing herself when her career was running into roadblocks: Why not me? The message Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim kept receiving from an ador- ing home crowd yearning to celebrate a champion: We love you! On a thrill-filled night at the track and field world championships Friday, Muhammad answered her own question — again — by setting her second world record in 10 weeks, while Barshim loved everyone back by becoming a repeat world champion, winning this one on home turf. “I’ve won a lot of gold medals, but this one is home,” Barshim said. “It feels differ- ent. I just felt love.” The late-blooming, 29-year-old Muhammad smoothed her way through the 400-meter hurdles in 52.16 to break, by 0.04 sec- onds, the world record she had set at U.S. national cham- pionships in July. Both she and Barshim — they call him “The Qatari Falcon” — will head into the Tokyo Games next year as reigning world champi- ons. Muhammad will also go in as the defending Olym- pic champ — and almost cer- tainly as the world record holder, too. “I didn’t even know who won the race,” Muhammad said. “I was looking to see who won, and then I noticed, when they said ‘world record,’ that I had broken it.” Simply winning the race has become more difficult because of the rapid rise of Sydney McLaughlin, the 20-year-old phenom who juggles, rides a unicycle and seems destined to win a gold medal one day. McLaughlin also finished second to Muhammad at nationals — but that one was by 0.68 seconds. This one was by 0.07, and her time of 52.23 would have been the world record had she run it 10 weeks ago. “We came into this season knowing who the main oppo- nent was going to be,” said McLaughlin’s coach, Olym- pic gold medalist Joanna Hayes. “It’s not a surprise. AP Photo/David J. Phillip Dalilah Muhammad, of the United States, poses for a photo with the clock after winning the women’s 400 meter hur- dles final, setting a new world record at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Friday. Dalilah has experience over Syd, so all I wanted her to do was get some experience. And run her best. And she’s surpassed that.” How close did Muham- mad come to missing out on this? Shortly after graduat- ing from Southern California in 2012, she went to Olympic trials and completely flopped. Out in the first round, she had neither a spot at the London Games nor a sponsor. Things changed: She won nationals in 2013, then a sil- ver medal at worlds. Then they changed again: She fal- tered in 2015 and watched those world championships from home. “I had an epiphany one day, ‘Why not me?’” Muham- mad said. Now, she has an Olympic title and a world championship. She barely broke stride in clearing the 10 hurdles. It was, she said, much closer to the perfect race that she decidedly did not think she had run at national champi- onships in the rain, in Des Moines, Iowa. And yet, this race still came down to a lean at the line against an opponent who’s only getting better. “Next year’s going to be amazing,” Hayes said. Close as the race was, though, the men’s steeple- chase was even closer. Conseslus Kipruto and Lamecha Grima rambled over barriers and through the water over 3,000 meters, and as they approached the finish, there was nothing separating them. With fans in the jam- packed crowd screaming, they sprawled as they reached the line. A photo finish showed Kipruto had crossed in 8 minutes, 1.35 seconds. That was one-hundredth of a second faster than Grima. “I was praying, ‘Let me be faster than him,’” Kipruto said. “I waited. I prayed. I saw the screen and saw it said ‘Conseslus.’ It was my name. I was definitely happy.” In the men’s 400 meters, Steven Gardiner of the Baha- mas won gold over Anthony Zambrano of Colombia and American Fred Kerley. Fin- ishing 1-2 in the discus were Cubans Yaime Perez and Denia Caballero, who ran to the stands to share hugs with their small group of fans. But no win brought more joy throughout the stadium than Barshim’s. He brought the fans out of their seats every time he cleared a height, and not long after it was over, he was shar- ing a hug with the ruling emir of his country, talking about how Qatar’s first gold medal of these championships was won. Much has been made about the heat and poor atten- dance, the efficacy of air-con- ditioned stadiums and the legitimacy of the bid pro- cess that brought not only these championships, but the 2022 World Cup, to a country that’s striving to raise its pro- file beyond that of a mere oil supplier. For one night, at least, Barshim’s victory set all that aside. Qatar looked like a sports country, and nothing could ruin that — not even the fact that the sound system malfunctioned at the end of the evening, thus postponing Barshim’s medal ceremony to Saturday night. “I did it for them,” Bar- shim said of his fans and countrymen. “They’re the champions tonight.” Whittaker, Adesanya headline UFC 243 Down Under Associated Press MELBOURNE, Austra- lia — Robert Whittaker says he’s in the best shape of his career for his UFC middle- weight world title defense against Israel Adesanya. Whittaker, a New Zea- land-born Australian, and New Zealand-based, Nige- rian-born interim cham- pion Adesanya, meet in a much-anticipated 185-pound unification bout which head- lines UFC 243 at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium. The early Sunday after- noon time slot for the main bout in Australia will trans- late into a Saturday evening television viewership in United States. It will be Whittaker’s first fight in Australia in almost three years and the first UFC world title defense by an Australian. “It’s a milestone for my career, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Whit- taker said. “I’m given the moment to get out there, defend my title and I’m just making history.” Whittaker last fought in June 2018 in Chicago. He was scheduled to fight in Melbourne in Febru- ary but pulled out with an undisclosed illness. So the 28-year-old has put himself through the hardest prepara- tion of his career. “On the back of what happened last time I just jumped back into train- ing with a fervor,” Whit- taker said. “I focused on my strength, my conditioning, focused on my health, on my fitness and just honestly, I’ve thrashed myself this camp.” Adesanya said Whittak- er’s lengthy layoff could be an issue. “For ring rust, he can say what he has to say to keep him believing, but there’s a difference between fighting in front of 50 people in some hall and fighting in front of 60,000 people in a stadium,” Adesanya said during a con- ference call two weeks ago. “I’ve been active, he hasn’t. I have momentum on my side, he hasn’t.” On Friday, Adesanya said Whittaker will be feel- ing the pressure of fighting in his home country. “He doesn’t want to let everyone down,” Ade- sanya said. “Pressure is an acquired taste, like cav- iar. He’s not going to like the way it tastes. I think it’s delicious.” Officials said ticket sales are on track to match, if not exceed the world record attendance of 56,214 at the previous Melbourne UFC card in November 2015. Whittaker won on the undercard that day behind the Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm headliner won by Holm. Holm was sched- uled to appear on Sunday’s card, but was forced to pull out with a hamstring injury. Sunday’s lineup also fea- tures a fight between two world-ranked lightweights, American Al Iaquinta and New Zealand’s Dan Hooker. Hooker is the most estab- lished Kiwi in the UFC ranks with 12 fights for the organization over the last five years. Hooker fought in both UFC Fight Nights in Auck- land in 2014 and 2017, but New Zealand has yet to host one of UFC’s pay-for-view shows. Whittaker is currently rated ninth and Adesanya 14th in the pound-for-pound ratings. “You look at the win- ner of this fight in the top five pound-for-pound in the world,” UFC chief Dana White said. When asked what he planned for the next few days, Whittaker replied: “I’m going to make the weight on Saturday. I’m going to fight on Sunday, and I’m going to go back to my kids on Monday.” Own UMATILLA COUNTY history in a hardcover book $29.95 $44.95 plus tax & shipping • offer expires Oct.16, 2019 SAVE $15 TODAY! Pre-order this collector’s book today and save! The East Oregonian is pleased to announce an all-new hardcover coffee-table book: “Umatilla County Memories: A Pictorial History of the mid-1800s through 1939.” We are thrilled to include photos of Umatilla County from our readers, in addition to photos carefully selected from local partners from the mid-1800s through 1939. Pre-order your 136-page commemorative book now and save $15.00 off the $44.95 retail price. Books ship Nov. 22, 2019. Learn more and pre-order at Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Pre-order by mail now (discount expires 10/16/19). Select an option: ☐ Ship my order to me ☐ I’ll pick up my order $29.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. $29.95 per book. Order will be shipped to the address below Pick up order at the East Oregonian off ice after 11/22/19. (211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton) after 11/18/19. Quantity: ___ x $36.90 = $______ total Quantity: ___ x $29.95 = $______ total Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Name Send form and payment to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or call 800-522-0255 Address City State Phone E-mail Zip From the archives of Athena Public Library, City of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society, Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society