Moscow, Russia – American LaShawn Merritt won the men's 400 meters to highlight Tuesday's events at the 2013 World Track & Field Championships.
Merritt, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and the 2009 world champion at the distance, finished Tuesday in a time of 43.74 seconds. Fellow American Tony McQuay was second at 44.40 seconds, followed by Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic. Grenada's Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic champ, finished seventh.
Ethiopia's Mohammed Aman won gold in the men's 800 meters, finishing in a time of 1 minute, 43.31 seconds. American Nick Symmonds took silver, crossing .24 seconds behind the winner.
The women's pole vault title went to Russian Elena Isinbaeva. The 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion finished third last year in the London Games behind American Jenn Suhr and Cuba's Yarisley Silva.
Isinbaeva, though, thrilled the home crowd Tuesday with a top vault of 4.89 meters for her third world title, edging Suhr and Silva, who each cleared only 4.82 meters. Suhr won silver by virtue of fewer misses.
Also Tuesday, Kenya's Milcah Chemos Cheywa captured the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and Germany's Robert Harting claimed the men's discus title.
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