The five fastest women in the world this year negotiated their way safely through the heats of the women s 1500m on the second day of competition in Luzhniki Stadium.

Ashton Eaton of the USA finished the Moscow World Championships Decathlon in style, winning his first World outdoor title with a world-leading 8809.

It was a short morning s work for three of the most likely medal contenders: New Zealand s Valerie Adams, Russia s Yevgeniya Kolodko and China s Gong Lijiao, as the trio qualified for Monday evening s final with their first efforts.

@DaLJBeast is the Twitter handle of Brittney Reese.

Defending champion Kirani James and Beijing 2008 Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt remain on course for what seems an inevitable head-to-head battle for the gold medal after both came through comfortably in the first round of the men s 400m.

Sandra Perkovic made history inside the Luzhniki Stadium by becoming the first woman to complete the ‘Grand Slam of Olympic, European and World Discus titles with a typically dominant performance.

The two fastest women in the world this year did the bare minimum required to win their 100m heats; in stark contrast, USA s English Gardner sped to the fastest first-round clocking ever at the World Championships.

Was there ever any doubt that Brittney Reese would win an unprecedented third gold medal in the women s Long Jump at the IAAF World Championships?

Ashton Eaton enjoyed an almost-perfect Decathlon Discus competition and a 45.00m result is good enough to keep the competition record of 8902 by Tomas Dvorak from Edmonton 2001 still in his sights.

For once Usain Bolt had no need to call down the thunder from the sky. Just before the start of the men s 100m final, a thunderstorm brought the special effects in for him.