Danil Lysenko salutes the high jump clearance that won him gold on the opening day of the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham ©Getty Images

Russia's 20-year-old high jumper Danil Lysenko, competing as an Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA), took his first major gold on the opening day of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham, defeating the dominant figure in his event, Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim.

Lysenko, who took silver behind the 26-year-old Barshim at last year's outdoor World Championships in London, had one clear chance to earn victory with his third and final attempt at 2.36 metres after the frustrated Qatari athlete had failed to clear.

And after hushing the crowd to a silence so profound that one could hear the thumping of his feet on the boards, he took it.

At which point the question arose - will this be the shape of high level men's high jump rivalry moving through to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?

Russians are being forced to compete under the ANA banner in the English city as their country remains suspended by the IAAF due to the doping crisis.

Barshim, who won this title four years ago before later moving to second in the all-time list with a clearance of 2.43m, had to settle for silver with 2.33m, as bronze went to Germany's Mateusz Przybylko, who managed 2.29m.

As expected, Lysenko's fellow ANA Mariya Lasitskene neutralised all opposition in the women's high jump final as she earned her 38th consecutive victory with 2.01m to generate the playing of the IAAF Anthem, which was written by Vangelis but which clearly failed to strike a chord with the winner as she stood on the podium.

Defending United States champion Vashti Cunningham and Italy's Alessia Trost earned silver and bronze respectively with clearances of 1.93. 

Britain's 20-year-old Morgan Lake also cleared 1.93, but lost the chance of a home medal with two early failures at 1.84.

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia displays rare emotion as she retains her IAAF World Indoor 3,000m title on the opening evening of the Championships at Arena Birmingham, with silver going to Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands, and bronze to Britain's Laura Muir ©Getty Images
Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia displays rare emotion as she retains her IAAF World Indoor 3,000m title on the opening evening of the Championships at Arena Birmingham, with silver going to Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands, and bronze to Britain's Laura Muir ©Getty Images

Following the showcasing of the high jump events on the first evening session of a Championships that will run through until Sunday (March 4) night, the opening programme concluded with a hugely competitive women's 3,000m final that saw Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba retain her title with a well-judged final 1,000m.

Dibaba cut loose over the final four laps of what had been a slow and edgy race to take gold in 8min 45.05sec, with 2016 world indoor champion Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands hanging on to take silver on the line from the challenge of Britain’s Laura Muir - 8:45.68 to 8:45.78.

Muir, who has chosen to sacrifice running at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April in order to concentrate on her veterinary studies exams, was well positioned throughout to add to the European indoor golds she won over 1,500m and 3,000m in Belgrade last year.