All hail the Berlin comeback kids
Phillips Idowu wears a lot of metal jewellery. There's the bar through his eyebrow, the hoops through the ears and the red stud through his tongue. And now, to top it all off, to hang round his neck, too.
Almost exactly a year after , Idowu proved himself a true champion in Berlin on Tuesday night.
Behind again to Portugal's Nelson Evora, the man who destroyed his hopes in Beijing and out-jumped him at the last Worlds in Osaka, he produced a lifetime best when he needed it most to finally fulfil a talent that has sometimes threatened to go unrealised.
"It's been a long time coming," he admitted afterwards, relief smeared across his pierced face, before bursting into a big dopey-eyed grin. "Calm down, Mum..."
While he was referring to his own personal journey, he might just as easily have been describing that of his country. Eight barren years have gone by since a British male last won a World Championship gold.
Poetically enough, that was also in the triple-jump, although when he can't have imagined that it would take so long to see a repeat. At those championships, an 18-year-old Mark Lewis-Francis was being touted as the future of 100m sprinting, 21-year-old Christian Malcolm looked like dominating the 200m, and Idowu himself had finished sixth at the previous summer's Olympics, again at the precocious age of 21.
"He's always had huge physical potential," said Edwards, watching on in the Olympiastadion as Idowu jogged a lap of honour with the Union flag tied in a cape around his shoulders.
"He was a very tough competitor for me, very intense in competition, and the surprise is really that it's taken him this long, because he is so talented."
What does Idowu have this year that has been lacking in the past? "He seems to have a lot more humility," responded Edwards. "He doesn't seem to feel the need to tell everyone how far he's going to jump, he just gets on and does it. I think his achievement in Beijing would have given him a lot of confidence."
Idowu, unlike Edwards, has never seemed to enjoy having to come from behind to win. In the past he has preferred to nail a big leap early on and then sit happily on his lead.
This time that was not an option. Evora went out to 17.54m right at the start while Idowu's first response fell three centimetres short. As he pulled his tracksuit top hood over his dyed-red hair and chewed his bottom lip, it seemed as if the disappointment of Beijing was about to be repeated.
Then, on his third jump, it all came right.
"He ran through the board," explains Edwards. "He had been tentative on his approach for his last few competitions, but he really ran through that one - he wasn't even thinking about the board. That allowed him to keep his speed through the phases.
"Evora's was a decent jump, but it wasn't huge. Phillips would have known that it wasn't the killer blow.
"He would have known through that third jump that it was going to be a big one, too. He will have felt from the hop to the step that he was carrying lots of speed, and that this would give him a big final phase."
Idowu then had to wait for a further nerve-shredding 56 minutes for his triumph to be confirmed. Cuba's Alexis Copello gave the British fans dotted around this famous old stadium palpitations when he appeared to sail out dreadfully close to Idowu's mark, only for the officials to call it a foul by just two centimetres.
Evora, who had smiled wistfully when Idowu first overtook him, then went for broke with his fourth jump, only for that, too, to red-flagged. In the seats adjacent to the sandpit, his coach Joao Ganca grimaced. Across the other side of the stadium, Idowu's golden team-mate Jess Ennis let out a sigh of relief.
Copello failed to get close with his final two attempts, and so it came down to the penultimate jump of the night. If Evora found a PB of his own, he would snatch the gold away.
Phillips pulled his red hoodie off over his head and prepared to go again. Evora raised his arms to the crowd, began the rhythmical clapping and sprinted down the runway.
It started big, looked horribly like getting bigger but then fell short - by 15cm. Evora held up his hands to acknowledge defeat. We expected Idowu to go ripe bananas, but for a long time there was no reaction. He simply looked stunned. Only when Evora came over to give a gracious hug did the first smile cross his face, and only when he was handed a flag did any animation reach his long limbs.
Four days in and Britain has two gold medals. On Wednesday, in a nice touch from the IAAF, Edwards will award the second of those to Idowu.
It is turning into a rather better World Championships for Charles van Commenee's beleaguered squad than most expected. Not since 1993 has the team won more than one gold medal at a Worlds.
Hopes were high that Christine Ohuruogu might also find the form to win another medal, even if she could not defend her world title, but for once the Olympic champion found herself up against opponents who refused to wilt under the pressure of her famous late charge.
If Idowu has endured too many near-misses, has made a career out it.
That she finally took her first major outdoor title, after being ranked the world's top 400m runner for the last four years, warmed the cockles of even the patriotic Brits watching on.
Richards has spent her life battling Behcet's Disease, a rare immune system disorder with no known cure that has in the past left her exhausted and struggling to train, with blotches on her skin and with mouth ulcers so bad that she has sometimes struggled to breathe.
The disease gets worse the more stressed she gets, and, as she herself admits, she gets stressed pretty easily.
Nerves were at least partly to blame for her capitulation to Ohuruogu in Beijing last year. To keep her mind off the pressure this time around, she has focused on planning her forthcoming wedding to .
Watching her in Berlin, a few excited seats to the left of where I was perched, were her parents Sharon and Archie. Both have dedicated their lives to their eldest daughter, first moving the family from Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale to improve her education and then running her athletics career, Sharon as her agent and Archie as her first strength coach and current chef.
The noise the pair of them made as Richards powered clear down the home straight was deafening. The screeches - which also came from younger sister Shari (duty: big sister's hairdresser) - must have been audible in Poland.
"It's been a long time coming for me," said Richard afterwards, unconsciously repeating what Idowu had said elsewhere a few minutes earlier.
"When you don't have a title, it's hard to come back every year and train, but today I went out there and had some fun."
Few would begrudge her golden moment.
NOTE: This page is no longer being updated - for Tom's latest articles visit 
Comment number 1.
At 19th Aug 2009, highside720 wrote:Well done to Sanya Richards proved she was the class of the field, as for Christine Ohuruogu maybe the bbc can shut up about her for a while now, she will always be a tainted athlete and the way the beeb go on and on about her to be frank is riduculous. Triple jump is always good fun to watch so well done to Phillips for taking the Gold maybe now with a bit of confidence he can maybe make his way upto the 18m mark!
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Comment number 2.
At 19th Aug 2009, sportingpunter wrote:@highside720: A typical ignorant comment from someone who clearly knows nothing about athletics. Christine is not a tainted athlete - she is simply a victim of draconian UK rules. If only the US and Jamaican athletes were subject to the same procedures. She was clearly not in shape leading into these championships - that does nothing to diminish her achievements over the last 2 years.
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Comment number 3.
At 19th Aug 2009, WhitleyBayWonTheVase wrote:@highside - utter rubbish. You're talking about something you clearly know nothing about. Ohuruogu needs to write this season off and come back strongly next. She is far from a tainted athlete. She is an Olympic Gold Medal winner and former World Champion who is having a bad season.
However, let's focus of Phillips. Fantastic performance, long overdue and at last the man can show people he is what he always showed he could be. He pulled the jump out of the bag when it mattered most, did so from behind and showed what a genuinely pleasant and character-filled guy he is afterwards.
Imagine being the athlete who had to follow in the footsteps of Jonathan Edwards? I think Phillips has been unfairly judged in the past when the fact is no-one has got anywhere near the levels that Edwards set at the peak of his career - and they probably won't for a very long time.
Phillips is the World Champion and he deserves every accolode he gets - and I just hope he gets plenty of them.
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Comment number 4.
At 19th Aug 2009, poincianakings wrote:@sportingpunter: could not have put it better myself. Any true athletics fan knows exactly what happened to Christine, she has never been found guilty of taking drugs of any type (unlike some footballers for example). Surely it is about time that the whole 'christine is a cheat' talk should stop?
Congratulations to Phillips, well deserved. We all felt his pain last year in Beijing, so it was great to be able to see him over the moon in his interview afterwards. I think the GB prospects are great in the TJ, Nathan Douglas, whilst not a newbie, will continue to go from strength to strength and hopefully be making a couple more finals (as he did in Athens for example).
Richards looked at ease with herself and her body as she went down the back straight. A true professional!
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Comment number 5.
At 19th Aug 2009, highside720 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 6.
At 19th Aug 2009, ThomThomTiger wrote:#1 - For me, this is the worst thing about Ohuruogu placing fifth last night- The amount of rubbish that's going to be spouted by those with a totally skewed perception of reality, like your idiotic comment.
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Comment number 7.
At 19th Aug 2009, timharman wrote:Well done to Sanya Richards. My mum suffers with Betchets syndrome and I know how debilitating it can be, to train to such a high level is an incredible feat. Good articles Tom, I’ve enjoyed reading your blogs through the championships.
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Comment number 8.
At 19th Aug 2009, Paul Brooks wrote:Yes we haev waited a long time for Idowu but people, includind Jonathan himself, seem to have forgotten about Edwards career. He had potential very early but took a long time to start winning big medals, admittedly partly due to his early 'not on a Sunday' rule. Even when he made it to the top; the World Record in Gothenburg made him the stand-out favourite for Gold in Atlanta and he only got Silver before finally getting Olympic Gold in Sydney. So yes it has been a while, remember last year Phillips jumped well and didn't lose the Gold, Evora won it and only by 5cms; but Phillips has finally got his global title and now needs to concentrate on staying fit for 2012 - a Gold there would, like Edwards, banish all thoughts of missed opportunities.
Christine's 5th was a result of an injury plagued preparation. She might have got closer last night if she had kicked earlier, as she herself admitted, but it wasn't going to be Gold.
Well done to David Greene as well. Perhaps a race too far but he has come through really well in these champs, the final was always the main aim for him and it was only the fact he qualified so well that raised hopes of an outside medal. Hopefully much more to come from him.
Biggest disappointment for me yesterday was Steph Twell. Just don't know what happened there????
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Comment number 9.
At 19th Aug 2009, wasgoodonce wrote:I think highside720 makes a valid point. If you are taking drugs the best way to not get caught is to miss tests. This is a widely used tactic and was explained in detail by the BALCO guy. Everyone attacking highside720 is correct when they say "Christine has never failed a drugs test" but neither did Flo-Jo, and there aren't too many people saying that she was '100% clean'.
Christine seems an intelligient, charming, sincere person.
That doesn't stop people wondering then, how she managed to miss 3 tests (draconian) or not when so many others manage it. It is unfortunate that people will ask the question and for that reason alone she will be as Highside says 'tainted'.
As for the 91Èȱ¬ - how hypocritical are they? Dwayne Chambers - who I despise for taking drugs - did at least front up and say what he did was wrong and yet he is treated like a pariah.
I think both athletes messed up - both paid the price and now it's time to move on.
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Comment number 10.
At 19th Aug 2009, Paul Brooks wrote:Anybody else feel that Medal Ceremonies should happen on the same day at the event? OK can be difficult if the last event of the day but the crowd that has supported an event should be able to see the ceremony for it. Particularly true for Jess Ennis. The crowd had supported her through three events and indeed a number of Brits may have gone for the weekend and missed her actually getting her medal. I think that major champs should endeavour to present the medals on the day whenever possible. They manage it on the last day, albeit people are sticking around for the closing ceremony.
At least Jess got her medal from Seb Coe and even more Appropriately Phillips will get his from Jonathan.
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Comment number 11.
At 19th Aug 2009, Tim wrote:Hurrah for Phillips Idowu! It's easy to forget that he didn't choke in Beijing: he went into that final with the world-leading jump, and he went even further in the final itself. He was simply beaten on the day by an out-of-the-blue Evora jump. So to see him win here is very satisfying.
Christine Ohuruogu is a very good athlete, and an outstanding championship performer in the mould of Darren Campbell, who always put in his best performances at the crucial time. However, she was World and Olympic Champion partly because others choked, as she has never been close to being the fastest 400m runner. As we saw, when the other athletes hit top speed, she was no match - even had she matched her winning time in Beijing, she would just have snatched bronze. I, for one, think she acquitted herself well in that final. I also harbour the hope that she may one day match Sanya Richards for speed, and then she will truly be a force to be reckoned with.
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Comment number 12.
At 19th Aug 2009, Tom Fordyce wrote:PaulA - the triple jump medal ceremony was originally scheduled for Tues night, at 2025 Berlin time. Trouble is, the comp only finished at 2000, and Phillips then enjoyed a rather sedate lap of honour before talking to every single journo from every single country - by the time he was done, they'd missed the slot and had to rearrange.
Agree in general though - would be best to have ceremony same night. Only issue is where the final is the last event of the night - most of the crowd leave, so you could have a situation where the ceremony is done in an empty stadium.
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Comment number 13.
At 19th Aug 2009, MikeFay wrote:I do wish the media would stop hyping her up so much, because she's won golds twice by being the best in slow races. Faster Britons - Kathy Cook and Katherine Merry - could only claim bronze in their time. Ohuruogu's personal best would only have been good for bronze here. So please stop raising expectations that she's going to win gold again, because even if she does the best she possibly can, it'd still need others to fail. She deserved the golds she's won in the past, but that doesn't mean she'll get more, and heaping pressure on her will only make it harder.
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Comment number 14.
At 19th Aug 2009, Spaced Invader wrote:wasgoodonce - So Dwayne Chambers says he's sorry and we should all get on with our lives and support him as normal? In my opinion, as a long time fan of British athletics, he's an embarrassment to the British jersey, and I for one was delighted that he did not medal in the 100m.
And no he did NOT pay the price for taking drugs, he served an arbitrary punishment that in no way makes up for the massive heartbreak he caused clean athletes for many years by denying them their right to collect a medal in a major championship and stand on a podium in front of their fans, nor can he ever pay the price for the disillusionment he caused so many fans, many of them just kids, let down by what they once thought was a British hero.
Athletics will only ever truly flourish again the day that anyone who ever took performance enhancing drugs is not remotely involved with the sport. That's not draconian, that's common sense.
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Comment number 15.
At 19th Aug 2009, lee fett wrote:I think the thing to remember with Christine is that she has never been the fastest 400m runner out there. Look at the last World Champs and the Olympics and she won because she ran the right race and her competitors didn't. She's a terrific competitor and knows how to run a race properly but she isn't the quickest.
I agree with what the commentators were saying, if she wants to challenge those girls more often and improve on her times then she needs to race against top competitors more often than she does. I know this year she's had a few injuries but that's all the more reason why next season she should be going to every big race meet.
There's no shame at all in her finishing in 5th place after the season she's had. But now that Richards knows she can win a big competition unless Christine starts improving her times I think she'll find it tough to beat Richards in the future.
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Comment number 16.
At 19th Aug 2009, wasgoodonce wrote:The_third_Ronaldo, as I said I 'despise' Chambers for what he's done, and my comment was more how the 91Èȱ¬ treat him compared to other athletes. Like you I find it very difficult to watch him run in a GBR vest; I wish he had just retired and faded from sight. I do not disagree with what else you say about him 'paying the price' - he hasn't.
I find the whole drugs issue very interesting - I think that it's a 'bit more complicated' than just banning everyone/anyone who has taken them. I believe the true issue is whether someone is cheating or not. For example; you are not allowed to take certain inhalers for asthma unless they are medically prescribed, and as I heard a swimmer say once "I am not saying there are a lot of cheats in swimming, but there are a hell of a lot of asthmatics". On the other hand there is the social issue of drugs; cannabis and cocaine for example are not usually taken as 'performance enhancing' but can get you banned, even though most people will see a difference between a youthful indiscretion of smoking cannabis and the cynical cheating employed when systematically taking steroids, EPO or similar.
Likewise a former 400m male runner (I know who it is but didn't want to upset the mods) didn't cheat, he accidentaly had something in his body that he shouldn't have, so pleaded guilty. Should he have been thrown out the sport in disgrace? I think not.
I am NOT advocating drug use, just pointing out that there are shades of grey here.
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Comment number 17.
At 19th Aug 2009, DevastingDave21 wrote:There are a lot of comments talking about ignorance towards Christine's situation.
I am of the opinion that she is tainted as as far as i know she missed 3 drugs test, which are mandatory. If this is the case, it is almost as good as a postive test. She cannot use ignorance as an excuse. To miss 1 is a possibility but 3 is suspicious.
As i say, that is what i have heard, i don't for a second say that what i think is necessarily true, but it is what i have heard reported. If anyone has the facts please state them to clear it up once and for all and stop any sort of debate.
It's sad that it has come down to talking about this in an article predominatly about a gold winning athlete like philips. Well done to the man.
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Comment number 18.
At 19th Aug 2009, Tom Fordyce wrote:Never been a fan of trying to stop a debate that's in progress on a blog, but it's a shame that the same old Christine stuff is dominating a piece about Phillips (and Sanya) finally becoming world champs.
All the pro and anti arguments get a decent outing on this blog from Beijing, if you're interested: /blogs/olympics/2008/08/a_tactical_masterpiece.html
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Comment number 19.
At 19th Aug 2009, goonerjj80 wrote:I think he deserves an official nickname.
How about 'The Grin Leaper'?
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Comment number 20.
At 19th Aug 2009, lee fett wrote:Great jumping from Phillips and the perfect time to pull out a PB. Evora's obviously a man for the big occasions having one the Olympics and the last World Champs, so for Phillips to beat him here shows how well he performed yesterday. He's a real character and seems to be well liked by all involved with British athletics and I'm looking forward to seeing him pick up his medal later.
Everyone knew he had it in him and it would have been awful to see him just miss out on a gold once again at a major championships. Hopefully now he can relax when he's out there as he knows he's capable of winning. And that might push him on to jump even further and win a couple more golds before his hopping, skipping and jumping days are over.
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Comment number 21.
At 19th Aug 2009, jeremiah wrote:Thoroughly well deserved Sanya Richards.
For your rich talent and perseverance.
Ohoruoagu cannot live with that pace, injury or no.
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Comment number 22.
At 19th Aug 2009, gringo Loco wrote:Any Brit found guilty of (chemically) cheating, should not only serve a life Olympic ban but should never represent MY country ever again.
We are in danger of becoming like the Americans where Manny Ramirez gets a 50 match ban (2-3 months) for multiple drug failures. The US profession sport drug culture is a joke.
Congrats to our new CLEAN world champions
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Comment number 23.
At 19th Aug 2009, angelicgstar2 wrote:we can all agree that chambers should have had a lifetime ban, but he didn't he appears to have learned his lesson, ppl complain but he was the only brit in the 100metre final!!!
christine ohuguru,i find it a bit odd that u can forget a drug test 3 times, u are aware that as an athlete u will get checked, both u the athlete and trainer should keep up on these things!!! we brits get all excited when someone wins and get despondnet when they don't, her championship win was right day right time, not based on core speed and skill unlike Richrads who has not only won but has a consistent record to prove
Well philips for the win, well deserved, athletics is really about strength, skill, endurance and timing,
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Comment number 24.
At 19th Aug 2009, greavesy wrote:Sorry Tom,
If you know the consequences of missing 3 tests are very serious (loss of your job, earnings, reputation), then after missing the 2nd you would make dam sure you make the 3rd and final test wouldnt you? But she didnt, what does that tell you?
EVERY poster on here would make the test if it was going to cost them their job wouldnt they?
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Comment number 25.
At 20th Aug 2009, alanskillcole wrote:Best wishes to the Brits that won. And Sanya Richards.
Don't bring JA into it. We haven't missed tests. The ones where there's a suspicion of something wrong haven't been sent and though the investigating body thinks they're ok, JADCO appealed against the all-clear and so they're not in Berlin. And the Prime Minister got imvolved so those might be out for a long time even if they're ok.
As for those who were just late turning up to camp, they would'be be out but for IAAF pleading for them.
Things are taken seriously out there. Not "I forgot the test" or "it was the tea I drank".
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Comment number 26.
At 21st Aug 2009, auto98 wrote:greavesy1984 - the problem is the way the tests are structured, she didn't "miss a test" as in fail to turn up, the athletes have to tell them where they will be at any particular time, and then they turn up to test unannounced, and she wasn't where she had said she was going to be 3 times. personally, I think that idea is ridiculous, imagine having to tell your boss at work where you are at any time so that he can send someone round to give you a quiz on your work duties.
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Comment number 27.
At 21st Aug 2009, Tigra7 wrote:How do you make "damn sure" you don't miss a 3rd test when you do not know when they are coming and are not notified when they arrive?
It is actually common for athletes to accidently miss out of competition drugs tests, in fact in the 2007 season I believe there was more than 5 prominent members of team GB athletics on 2 missed drugs tests within the 18 month period (3 within 18 months leads to suspension). People also seem to forget that Christine was tested and passed clean many times between the missed tests. Also it is difficult to miss a test "on purpose" as you do not know the testers are coming until they are there. I think its awful that people are attacking Christine over this STILL.
Back on topic, congratulations to Phillips. His gold was thoroughly deserved, a terrific time to pull out a PB. Also congratulations to Sanya, finally winning the gold she has so long been craving.
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