New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish pulled off a sensational upset to win world championship gold in the 3000m steeplechase, denying Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali a fifth consecutive global title.
El Bakkali, twice an Olympic and world champion, appeared to have the race sealed after surging clear at the bell, but Beamish produced his trademark late kick to edge past on the line by just seven hundredths of a second in 8:33.88.
The victory capped a remarkable turnaround for Beamish, who had fallen and been stamped on during his heat yet recovered to qualify.
Kenya’s 17-year-old Edmund Serum claimed bronze, while Beamish celebrated New Zealand’s first-ever track gold at a world championships, calling the result “pretty unreal.”
