As we continue our countdown to the start of the&nbsp;IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019,&nbsp;we&nbsp;remember&nbsp;five surprising gold medal winners at past editions of the biennial event.&nbsp;
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<h3>Jong Song-Uk&nbsp;&ndash; Seville 1999&nbsp;- Marathon&nbsp;</h3>
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Jong Song Ok wins the marathon at the 1999 IAAF World Championships in Seville</div>
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The North Korean athlete caused a sensation to strike the most unexpected of golds in the women&rsquo;s marathon.&nbsp;Jong&nbsp;came into the race the second ranked North Korean with a relatively modest best of 2:29:54 &ndash; but in blisteringly hot conditions the unheralded athlete wiped almost three minutes from her PB to record 2:26:59.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Olympic champion Fatuma Roba appeared set for victory after&nbsp;opening up&nbsp;a clear advantage in the second half of the race. However, with&nbsp;four kilometres remaining&nbsp;Jong&nbsp;and Japan&rsquo;s Ari&nbsp;Ichihashi&nbsp;caught and passed the Ethiopian. In a tight tussle to the finish the North Koran shaded gold by a three-second margin.&nbsp;Jong&nbsp;never competed internationally again.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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<h3>Rens&nbsp;Blom&nbsp;&ndash; Helsinki 2005&nbsp;&ndash; Pole Vault&nbsp;</h3>
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Rens Blom jumping to the 2005 world pole vault title in Helsinki</div>
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Having no-heighted at the 2001 World Championships and failing&nbsp;to reach the final at the 2003 World Championships few would have backed the Dutchman to strike pole vault gold in Helsinki. However, Blom shrugged off the wet, cold and windy conditions to claim top spot courtesy of a first time clearance at 5.80m. Astutely changing his shirt four times during the competition and rubbing Vaseline on his legs to avoid them becoming wet, he edged American Brad Walker and became the first Dutchman in history to win a World or Olympic title.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When I woke up this morning&nbsp;and saw what the weather was like I knew I had a good chance of doing well,&rdquo;&nbsp;Blom&nbsp;later said.&nbsp;
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<h3>Jehue&nbsp;Gordon&nbsp;&ndash; Moscow 2013 &ndash; Men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles&nbsp;</h3>
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Jehue Gordon in the mens 400m Hurdles at the AAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013</div>
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It would be unfair to brand the Trinidad &amp; Tobago athlete a nobody before the World Championship final. But in a high-class field containing four former world champions; Dai Greene of Great Britain, Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic and the US duo&nbsp;Kerron&nbsp;Clement and Bershawn Jackson, few would have earmarked the 21-year-old Gordon as the clear gold medal contender.&nbsp;
Nonetheless, a big season&rsquo;s best of 48.00 in Monaco in his final pre-event World Championship outing filled the athlete from the Caribbean with confidence. And&nbsp;in a thrilling final inside the&nbsp;Luzhniki&nbsp;Stadium, Gordon produced the run of his life to wipe 0.27 from his previous national record to stop the clock in 47.69 and pip American Michael Tinsley to gold by&nbsp;just&nbsp;0.01.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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<h3>Ryan Brathwaite&nbsp;&ndash; Berlin 2009 &ndash; Men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles&nbsp;</h3>
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(L-R) Great Britain's William Sharman, the USA's Terrence Trammell and Ryan Brathwaite from Barbados cross the line of the men's 110m hurdles final at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics</div>
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In a competition weakened by the absence through injury of the defending champion Liu Xiang and the world record-holder&nbsp;Dayron&nbsp;Robles, who exited the semi-finals because of injury, Ryan Brathwaite&nbsp;made the most of the opportunity to&nbsp;strike gold.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Aged just 21, the Barbados athlete revealed his gold medal potential in the semi-final by posting a national record of 13.18 before chipping a further 0.04 from that time in the final to edge the more experienced US&nbsp;of&nbsp;duo Terrence Trammell and David Payne by 0.01 in a frantic finish. Brathwaite finished fifth in the London 2012 Olympic Games but that was to prove the last global final of his career.&nbsp;
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<h3>Donald Thomas&nbsp;&ndash; Osaka 2007 &ndash; Men&rsquo;s High Jump&nbsp;</h3>
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Donald Thomas in the high jump at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka</div>
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After converting from the sport of basketball just 19 months earlier, the Bahamian&nbsp;was crowned world high jump champion courtesy of a first time clearance of 2.35m.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Thomas had entered the competition as joint world-leader alongside Olympic champion Stefan&nbsp;Holm&nbsp;but few expected him to finish top of the pile ahead of the Swede or the experienced&nbsp;world&nbsp;indoor champion&nbsp;Yaroslav&nbsp;Rybakov. Yet Thomas operating an unorthodox &ldquo;Fosbury Flop&rdquo; technique had too much for the opposition&nbsp;to&nbsp;be crowned world champion. Now aged 34, Thomas still competes today but his triumph in Osaka remains his crowning glory.&nbsp;
Steve&nbsp;Landells&nbsp;for the IAAF&nbsp;

As we continue our countdown to the start of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, we remember five surprising gold medal winners at past editions of the biennial event. 

Fab five: surprise winners at the World Championships 

The Moscow Challenge, an IAAF World Challenge meeting, saw the headlines being made by two namesakes on Tuesday (11): Russian javelin thrower Maria Abakumova and Ukrainian sprinter Mariya Ryemyen.Abakumova, the 2011 world champion, produced an outstanding 65.94m with her first attempt, then threw 60.45m as persistent rain started, and then decided to pass her next two attempts to avoid getting injured. Germany’s Katharina Molitor was the only other thrower to manage over 60 metres in the deteriorating conditions, throwing 60.08m on her final attempt.“Curiously, though I am Russian, it's the first time I have competed in the Luzhniki arena,” said Abakumova after going through her paces at one of the crucial test events ahead of this year’s World Championships in August.“My main goal was to get used to the surface, and to the wind. I actually liked both and the blue track is my lucky charm, as I won on a similar surface in 2011 in Daegu. Personally, I like the blue colour more than red, and it was a nice refreshing, light, wind; usually in such big arenas there is no wind at all.”“Talking about my result, it is my best throw since the middle of March,” added Abakumova, who currently tops the 2013 world list with the 69.34m she threw at the European Cup Winter Thowing in Spain three months ago.<div class="quote">“Technically, I am still not stable, but this is because I have been competing every three days recently and I just don't have time for training. Now, I will take a break until the European Team Championships in Gateshead, and I am sure I'll be able to improve my technique.”</div> Ryemyen did not have the luxury of Abakumova, and being able to run for cover from the driving rain, and had to run in the downpour on the wet track. Nevertheless, she proved her status as favourite and ran close to her recent season's best of 22.70, stopping the clock in 22.73. Also worthy of note was the personal best of 23.80 for Russian 16-year-old prodigy Kristina Sivkova, who finished fourth. The Russian medal prospect at the World Youth Championships this summer was a late replacement and only learnt she had a lane on Monday night.“I am kind of glad that I got the chance to run on the wet track,” said Ryemyen, the European 200m champion. “Now, any weather at the World Championships won't be a surprise for me. I can say that this kind of blue Mondo surface remains fast even when it's wet so I am sure the results in the sprints at the World Championships will be very fast.”Another Ukrainian victory on the track went to Olha Zemlyak, who won the 400m in 52.26.Brathwaite beats Russian brothers 2009 world 110m hurdles champion Ryan Brathwaite won in 13.34, with his younger compatriot Shane Brathwaite – no relation – finishing third, while the Shabanov brothers of Konstantin and Filipp placed fourth and seventh.“I do have some technical mistakes, but it's normal,” said the winner, who clattered about half the hurdles on his way down the track. “I treated this competition like a practice, so I maybe I lacked concentration. It was an easy win for me, and the track is fast. I did not expect I would run 13.30 in such training mode.”Strong rain started during the final lap of the women's 1500m, but there was a clear victory for Yekaterina Ishova. In her season opener, the 24-year-old Russian showed solid form to clock 4:09.06.Yuriy Borzakovskiy lost out in a close finish over two laps of the track to South Africa’s Andre Olivier, who took an early lead before crossing the line in 1:44.93. Russia’s 2004 Olympic 800m champion was second in a season's best of 1:45.24.“Unfortunately, my feeling is strongly subject to weather changes, and today was a bad day for me," explained Borzakovskiy. “It was really stuffy at the warm up, then after the rain started I felt slightly better, but still my legs were heavy; that's why I did not manage to produce a fast finish, what is basically my strong side.”Veronika Mosina, who competed in the triple jump at the London 2012 Olympics, switched events and won the long jump in a personal best of 6.79m while 20-year-old Russian Gulshat Fazletdinova won the national championship 10,000m in 32:01.83, the best time by a European distance runner so far this year.Germany’s three-time world silver medallist Nadine Kleinert, now 37, reached 18.39m to win the shot put by more than a metre while Ukraine’s in-form Bohdan Bondarenko, who has cleared 2.33m twice in recent weeks, had to settle for a high jump win with 2.28m, beating Russia’s Daniil Tsyplakov on count-back.Long jump world record-holder Mike Powell was one of the first to arrive at the stadium on Tuesday, apart from the 30 kids who were already waiting for him to hold a master class which was part of the IAAF Kids Athletics program. It was Powell's second master class in the Russian capital. At the first one back in 2009 he spotted the blossoming talent of Darya Klishina, who was to go on to win the European junior title later that summer.“What a great girl. She has got amazing talent,” Powell commented on Klishina at the time. This time Klishina, the 2011 and 2013 European indoor champion, was present in the stands while Powell was busy looking for new Russian talent.Natalia Maryanchik for IAAF

Ave Mariya! Abakumova and Ryemyen star in Moscow - IAAF World Challenge

Ave Mariya! Abakumova and Ryemyen star in Moscow – IAAF World Challenge

The Moscow Challenge, an IAAF World Challenge meeting, saw the headlines being made by two namesakes on Tuesday (11): Russia’s 2011 IAAF World Championships Javelin gold medallist Mariya Abakumova and Ukraine sprinter Mariya Ryemyen.

