Athletics:Ireland's Roisin McGettigan and Fionnuala Britton have both qualified for the 3000 metre Steeplechase final at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, this afternoon.
McGettigan commanded her heat before securing fourth place and a place in Monday's final with a time of nine minutes 39.41seconds, well outside of her personal best.
Wicklow's Britton finished 7th in the fastest heat of the day with a time of 9.42.38 that ensured a place among the three fastest losers.
Robert Heffernan will compete in the 20k Walk at midnight tonight, while tomorrow morning at 2.50 am Kilkenny's Joanne Cuddihy who will compete in the heats for the Women's 400m.
However, it was Sweden's Carolina Kluft who dominated day one of the 11th world championships. Heptathlete Kluft recorded personal bests in the hurdles and high jump and Luke Kibet became the first Kenyan man to win the world marathon title in 20 years.
Following a personal best of 1.95 metres in the high jump she skipped off the mat and wheeled around the field skipping and circling her arms. Her 13.15 in the 100m hurdles was also a best.
She was still smiling when she returned to action in the evening and a throw of 14.81 in the shot put was a season best. She notched a 2007 best in the 200m, too, and after four events held a 148-point lead over Ukraine's Lyudmyla Blonska.
The 24-year-old Kluft is unbeaten in the seven-sport event since 2002.
"My day was fine, thank you... I am very satisfied with my first day," Kluft smiled. "I didn't have any problems with the weather. Just got to keep it going tomorrow."
In the championships' blue riband event, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell roared through two rounds of qualifying to stay on course for their much-anticipated 100 metres showdown.
Gay and world record holder Powell cantered safely through to Sunday's semi-finals.
"I tried to run 10.2 or 10.3 but I couldn't run that slow," Gay quipped after his first heat in 10.19 seconds. His second was quicker, the American finishing in 10.06. "It's the fastest track I've ever run on," he said, adding weight to his forecast that Powell's world record of 9.77 could fall.
Powell sauntered through his first heat in 10.34 and tore through his second in 10.01.
As the sprinters rocketed, searing heat and sapping humidity produced the slowest men's marathon winner in 11 world championships.
Kibet took gold in 2 hours 15 minutes 59 seconds. The fastest man in the world this year, Qatar's Hassan Mubarak Shami, held on for silver with Switzerland's Victor Roethlin taking bronze.
"I'm happy and I am proud to win the gold medal for my country," Kibet told reporters. "It's been a long time for Kenya without the gold medal in marathon," he added after emulating compatriot Douglas Wakiihuri's 1987 feat.