Bol strikes hurdles gold amid shock Jamaican title double at World Champs

Femke Bol struck gold in the 400m hurdles amid an unexpected Jamaican double gold rush at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Thursday.

Bol made up for the disappointment of falling with the line at her mercy in the mixed 4x400m relay by producing a totally dominant victory in the hurdles in 51.70 seconds.

"It wasn't easy to forget what happened in the final metres of the mixed relay but my team was around me and they put me at my ease," said the 23-year-old Dutch runner.

"I knew that 400m hurdles would be a chance to show up and I was confident. I have just had the best first 200 metres ever."

In the absence of defending world and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, American Shamier Little claimed silver, more than one second behind Bol, while Jamaica's Rushell Clayton rounded out the podium.

Clayton's bronze was one of five medals Jamaica won out of a potential 15 on offer in the evening session of day six of action at the National Athletics Centre.

Two of those were surprise golds.

First up was Danielle Williams, who shocked the field to reclaim her world 100m hurdles crown after previously winning the title in Beijing in 2015.

"When I won in 2015 it was unbelievable," said Williams. "But this took a lot of hard work, a lot of years of toil and injuries, and losing my confidence and battling to get back to this stage.

"It's awesome, Jamaica is a proud country and we love to win. I love to win!"

No secrets

Then came 21-year-old Antonio Watson, who also upset a loaded field including South African world record holder Wayde van Niekerk to win gold in the men's 400m.

Watson, 21, produced a perfectly-timed effort down the home straight to win in 44.22sec.

"I am excited I managed to go home with a victory. I was