WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOKYO: Raindrops keep falling on my head ... and gold medals too (for some)

Nicola Olyslagers overcame two rain delays to deliver Australia’s first gold medal of the world championships on the final evening, being first to clear 2m to win on a countback over Poland’s Maria Zodzik and cement her place at the summit of high jump.

On an extraordinary and at times farcical evening in Tokyo, however, the men’s discus was stopped because of incessant rain that left the circle slippery, and then restarted after the final track event. The saga stretched proceedings late into the night and prompted a desperate attempt by officials to use dozens of towels to keep the circle, the discus and the athletes’ shoes as dry as possible.

Only at the very end of the session, past 11pm on a Sunday in Tokyo with the stadium near empty, did the rain cease. Two late throws flipped the placings and shunted Australia’s Matt Denny off the podium, as Sweden’s Daniel Ståhl – who had been dancing under an umbrella at the start of the evening – claimed the gold medal with a throw of 70.47m.

Denny described the conditions as the worst in which he has competed, and later he shed tears in a moment with his wife in the stands, dismayed and frustrated at how the competition played out. “It was just really hard, really emotional and disappointing,” said the Paris bronze medallist, who slipped and fell during the competition.

“I didn’t get a concussion, I didn’t break any bones and I didn’t tear anything, so I’m good for next season so that’s the main thing, and that was the first thing that my wife said to me.”

The high jump was also affected the stormy weather, and forced Olyslagers into a long wait after her 2m clearance. “Even if [I was] waiting and out there in the rain, I have such a joy because I know these moments are forever,” she said. “The gold medal was the added bonus, but being out there and enjoying it, I’ll never forget what I just experienced.”

Having won the world indoor and Diamond League titles already in 2025, Olyslagers entered the competition as favourite and quickly moved to 2m without a miss, as the rain and wet mat made jumping difficult. Only Żodzik was able to challenge her after the second rain delay with her own clearance of 2m, but neither was successful at 2.02m.

Olyslagers’s countrywoman Eleanor Patterson finished fifth, having cleared 197cm, the same as the joint bronze medallists Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Angelina Topic, but the Australian found herself off the podium on a countback.

Olyslagers said her medal was the result of her preparation, and throughout the evening she leaned on her strong Christian faith. “Of course the raindrops started sideways underneath our towels and then we had to go under cover, but again, I was just spending time with Jesus out there and I was like, I could be here for hours, the stadium can shut down, I’m in my happy place right now.”

The final event to finish was the men’s discus, which was won by Sweden’s Daniel Ståhl after an even lengthier delay. His throw of 70.47m took him clear of Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna and Alex Rose, who secured Samoa’s first global medal in athletics with a throw of 66.96m for bronze.

The completion of the discus marked the culmination of a hugely successful event which the World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, hailed as “a championship for the ages”.

Daniel Ståhl was also in his happy place - dancing in the rain, fistbumping his opponents and thinking about Djurgården  ... and thanking all of Skåne.