The 2023 Track & Field Championships in Budapest, Hungary completed this past Sunday the 27th of August. The nine-day event was filled with great performances and a number of memorable moments.
The United States ended up finishing once again at the top of the medal table. They won a total of 29 medals, including 12 gold medals, 8 silver and 9 bronze. Jamaica came second in the number of medals with 12. Kenya and Great Britain tied for third with 10 medals each.
Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Number of Medals |
1 | United States | 12 | 8 | 9 | 29 |
2 | Jamaica | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
3 | Kenya | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
4 | Great Britain | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
5 | Ethiopia | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
6 | Canada | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
7 | Australia | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
8 | Spain | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
9 | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
10 | Norway | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
- Noah Lyles Wins Double Crown
- Richardson Claims Fastest Woman
- Faith Kipyegon Wins Easily
- Other Big Performances
- Upcoming Paris Olympics
Noah Lyles Wins Double Crown
American Noah Lyles had a terrific showing, winning his first ever 100m world title and his third consecutive in the 200 meters.
His time for the 100-meters was a personal best of 9.83 seconds, beating Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain. It was no surprise that he won his primary event, the 200-meters, finishing with a time of 19.52 seconds. Lyles is the first American to win both the 100 and 200 meter sprint double since Tyson Gay in 2007.
Lyles went on to win his third gold medal in Budapest by anchoring Team USA’s winning 4×100-relay team.
Richardson Claims Fastest Woman
Another American, Sha’Carri Richardson, claimed the title of fastest woman in the world by winning the 100 meters in a personal best 10.65 seconds. Richardson is the first American woman to win a 100-meter world title since Tori Bowie in 2017.
Richardson had earlier failed to finish in the top two in the 100-meter semifinal and had to rely on her time to advance. This was the first time a woman has won a 100-meter world title after not finishing in the top two in her semifinal.
Like Lyles, Richardson added another gold by anchoring Team USA’s in the women’s 4×100-meter relay team. She also won a bronze in the women’s 200-meters.
Faith Kipyegon Wins Easily
Faith Kipyegon won the women’s 1500-meter and 5000-meters with ease to add to her record-breaking year. She became the first woman ever to win both the 1,500 and 5,000 at the world championships. With the wins she makes a claim for being the greatest long distance runner of all-time.
This year has been exceptionally good for Kipyegon, after already setting the world record for the 1,500 meters, 5,000 and the mile in 2023.
Other Big Performances
Shericka Jackson from Jamaica won the women’s 200-meter title, coming close to Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 200 world record. Jackson’s gold-medal-winning time of 21.41 was just .07 seconds off the record.
Laulauga Tausaga threw a huge personal best of 228 feet to beat fellow American Valerie Allman in the discus. She is the first American woman to ever win a world title in the sport.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships with a big throw of 88.17m in the men’s javelin final.
Ryan Crouser won his second world gold in men’s shot put despite almost missing this year’s world championships due to blood clots. The world record holder won with a toss of 77 feet, 1¾ inches which won by more than three feet.
Upcoming Paris Olympics
The 2024 summer Olympics are just 11 months away. With less than a year to go, you can expect many of the same names to be on the podium for Olympic gold. America seems to be leading the way in the short distances while Kenya and Ethiopia have taken over the longer races.
Overall, the Budapest championships were a big success and much will be expected from the Olympics next year.