history

In the women's marathon, Reiko Tosa, taking advantage of the intense Osaka heat, showed amazing tenacity to win the only bronze medal of the event.

U.Bolt stunned the world at the Beijing Olympics the previous year with a series of new world records of 9.69 seconds for 100m and 19.30 seconds for 200m, and improved on those records to 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds at this event.

Koji Murofushi, the world's iron man in men's hammer throw, won the gold medal at the age of 36 years and 325 days, breaking the previous record by 17 days and earning him praise from around the world. U.Bolt, the fastest man alive, unexpectedly went flying in the 100m final, and the new rule of "one flying stroke disqualification" was applied from this competition, causing a stir around the world.

U. Bolt and S-A. Frazier-Pryce achieved a great feat in the men's and women's short distance triple crowns (100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay), respectively; Y. Isinbayeva of Russia won her first gold medal in the women's pole vault after three Games; Kayoko Fukushi of Japan won the bronze medal in the women's marathon; and the bronze medal in the women's track and field event was won by U. Bolt of Japan.

U.Bolt repeated his triple crown, winning the 200m for the fourth year in a row, while M. Farah, who along with Bolt has made a name for himself in the long distance, won back-to-back titles in the 5000m and 10,000m.

U.Bolt, who had announced his retirement, finished bronze in the 100 m and vowed revenge in the 4 x 100 m relay, but fell with a leg injury when he took the baton at the anchor and finished the race.

After Bolt's retirement, the men's short distance field was dominated by American athletes: C. Coleman and 37-year-old J. Gatlin won gold and silver in the 100 m. In the 200 m, 21-year-old N. Lyles became the first world champion; S-A. Fraser-Price (Jamaica), now a mom again, won the 100 m for the fourth time in her history; her winning run with her 2-year-old son brought out the biggest smile; S. Hassan (Netherlands) won an exceptional double title, the 1500 m and 10,000 m. The women's race ushered in a new era.

In the men's 4x100m relay, the team of Shuhei Tada (1st), Ryoryo Shiraishi (2nd), Yoshihide Kiryu (3rd), and Yusuke Suzuki (4th) set an Asian record, winning a bronze medal for the second consecutive time.

As befitting the first event to be held in the United States, three new world records were set by S. McLaughlin (USA) in the women's 400m hurdles, T. Amusan (Nigeria) in the women's 100m hurdles, and A. Duplantis (Sweden) in the men's pole vault, while N. Lyles (USA) was 0.12 seconds shy of Bolt's world record in the men's 200m and S. Jackson (Jamaica) was 0.11 seconds shy of Joyner's in the women's 200m, making the immortal record breakers a reality.

In the men's 100m, Sanibrowne A. Hakeem made a long-awaited appearance in the final and finished 7th, and in the women's javelin, Haika Kitaguchi won Japan's first bronze medal at the Olympics and in the final six throws, bringing excitement to Japan.

記録もさることながら、記憶に残る結果となった今大会。N.ライルズ(アメリカ)は、ボルト以来の短距離3冠を達成。アンカーを務めたリレーのフィニッシュでは指を3本立てて偉業をアピールした。しかし、それ以上にインパクトを残したのがF.ボル(オランダ)。大会初日の混合4×400mリレーでアンカーを走り、金メダルへ残り5mまで迫りながらまさかの転倒。無念の途中棄権に頭を抱えた。だが、そこから立ち直ったボルは、本職の女子400mハードルで金メダルを獲得。その後、大会最終日最終種目の女子4×400mリレーに挑み、再びアンカーを激走。バトンをもらった時点では3位と厳しい状況だったが、最後の直線で一気に追い込むと、初日に転倒した「残り5m」の地点で奇跡の大逆転。見事に金メダルを獲得した。レース後、今度は嬉しさのあまり頭を抱えるボル

女子としてマラソン以外では初めてとなる世界陸上の金メダルを、オレゴンと同じ最終6投目の大逆転劇で、ついに北口榛花がつかんだ。涙ながらに「今日だけは、世界で1番幸せです」と答えたインタビューとともに、日本人の心に深く刻まれた瞬間となった。またサニブラウン A ハキームは2大会連続の100m決勝を着順で確定。田中希実は5000mの日本記録を15秒近く更新。三浦龍司が3000m障害でメダルまで1秒72の走りを見せれば、泉谷駿介は110mハードルで日本初となる決勝&5位入賞を果たした。他にも、競歩では男子35kmの川野将虎の2大会連続メダルに加え入賞2つ。女子10000mの廣中璃梨佳、男子走高跳の赤松諒一、さらには新生リレー侍も入賞を見せ、過去最多11の入賞(内メダル2個)が記録された。世界との差が確実に縮まっていることを、知らしめる大会となっ