Robert Heffernan cast aside a history of fourth-place finishes and broke a 30-year Irish men s gold medal drought when he won the 50km Race Walk on Wednesday morning.

World record-holder Betty Heidler was the major casualty of a high-quality qualification session, which brought a premature end to the competition for several prominent names.

Milcah Chemos finally delivered on her promise to win an IAAF World Championships 3000m Steeplechase title, albeit at the third attempt after winning back-to-back bronze medals in Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011.

Robert Harting's IAAF World Championships victory celebrations ended a bit earlier this time than on previous occasions in Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011.

Irish race walking hero Robert Heffernan came up with the biggest triumph of his life on Russian soil, the home turf of his biggest rivals, at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow when he set a 2013 world lead of 3:37:56, just two seconds off his own...

The fifth IAAF Ambassadors Press Conference featured the Triple Jump World record holder, 2000 Olympic Games champion and double World champion Jonathan Edwards, and former 800m World record holder and three-time World champion over 800m Wilson Kipketer.

Thursday s competition at the IAAF World Championships here in Moscow will see more Russian athletes in action on the same apron where Yelena Isinbayeva won her memorable third title on Tuesday.

The celebration for Raphael Holzdeppe began as soon as the bar on Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie's final vault at 5.96m crashed to the pit at the IAAF World Championships.

The new and the old, the unknown and the known; the two semi-finals of the women s 1500m were contrasting affairs.

They came, they saw, they went home happy.