by Alfonz Juck
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Jakob Ingebrigtsen on his winning 1500m race: “I was a little bit of locked on the inside, it opened quite a big gap. I just tried to stay calm, went for it, I was able to catch up. Just an amazing feeling. The contrast in sports is unique. When you succeed, and sometimes you have a bad experience. It’s amazing to have this.” On coming back from disappointment in the 1500m: “Not only sports, but in life. You feel that you succeed, you’re in a good rhythm, it’s motivation. When you hit a wall, and don’t perform the way you want to, it’s very difficult. But for me, I’m participating in two events in Paris. I got another shot, I just had to make the most of it.”
RESULT OF THE DAY
USA women’s 4x400m relay (Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabrielle Thomas, Alexis Holmes) won the Olympic title in a second fastest time ever 3:15.27, only 0.10 behind WR from 1988 (URS) and with a record margin 4.23 sec.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
Excellent performance of the Botswanan men’s 4x400m relay (Bayapo Ndori, Busang Kebinatshipi, Anthony Pesela, Letsile Tebogo) who finished second in African record 2:54.53, only 0.10 sec. behind the winner USA (2:54.43 OR, just 0.14 sec. behind WR).
MEDALS (43 countries)
USA 14-11-9; KEN 4-2-4; CAN 3-1-1; ESP 2-1-1; NOR 2-1-0; GBR 1-4-5; JAM 1-3-2.
POINTS (75 countries)
USA 322; KEN 101; GBR 100; JAM 70; ETH 67; ITA 65; NED 57; CAN 54; GER 51.
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes (10): Crouser, Allman, Duplantis, Tentoglou, El Bakkali, McLaughlin-Levrone, Thiam, Kipyegon, USA (2x)
No (30): Stano, Palmisano, Barega, POL (4×400 mixed), Warner, Nowicki, Jacobs, Hassan (2x), Ingebrigtsen, Wlodarczyk, Chemutai, Moon, Stahl, Mihambo, Chopra, De Grasse, Parchment, JAM (4×100 women), Gong Lijiao, ITA (4×100 men), Miller-Uibo, Pichardo, Warholm, Kipchoge, Camacho-Quinn, jointly Barshim and Tamberi, Liu Shiying, Camacho-Quinn, Cheptegei
NC (7): Rojas, Thompson-Herah (2x), Lasitskene, Mu, Gardiner (DNS), Korir
TOP MARKS
WR (3+1): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA (230th WR at Olympic Games); 625 pole vault Duplantis; 50.37 400m hurdles McLaughlin-Levrone, world best 2:50:31 marathon race walk mixed relay ESP (WR not yet set)
OR (13): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA; 26:43.14 10,000m Cheptegei; 625 pole vault Duplantis; 3:27.65 1500m Hocker; 8:52.76 steeple Yavi; 2:50:31 marathon race walk mixed relay ESP; 70.00 discus Stona; 92.97 javelin Nadeem; 50.37 400m hurdles McLaughlin-Levrone; 48.17 400m Paulino; 2:06:26 marathon Tola; 3:51.29 1500m Kipyegon; 2:54.43 4x400m USA
WL (13+1+1): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA; 625 pole vault Duplantis; 8:52.76 steeple Yavi; 43.40 400m Hall; 2:50:31 marathon race walk mixed relay ESP; 92.97 javelin Nadeem; 50.37 400m hurdles McLaughlin-Levrone; 2:57.76 men’s 4x400m 2:57.76; 48.17 400m Paulino; 6880 heptathlon Thiam; 1:41.19 800m Wanyonyi; 2:54.43 4x400m USA; 3:15.27 4x400m USA; outdoor Lafond 15.02; equalled Benjamin 46.46
AR (21+1): 7 – NACAC; 6 – Europe; 3 – Africa; 2 – Asia, Oceania (+1 equalled), South America
AGENTS (individual gold medals)
6 – Paul Doyle; 3 – Federico Rosa, Mark Wetmore; 2 – Gianni Demadonna, Alfons Juck (with Andrew Maulseed hammer winner), John Regis, Daniel Wessfeldt; 1 – Pascal Bureaux, Sekou Clarke, Mark Corstjens, Caroline Feith, Ray Flynn, Stale Jan Froynes, Jos Hermens, Aivar Karotamm, Carine Messerschmidt, John Nubani, Juan Pedro Pineda de la Losa, Henry Rolle, Alberto Suarez Bermudez, Valentijn Trouw, Kim Vanderlinden, Robert Wagner, Sean Whipp. Nadeem and Lafond are representing themselves and not known for walking winners.
STATS (from Ken Nakamura)
WJT: Kitaguchi became first World Youth Champion to win Olympic WJT; Kitaguchi won first gold for JPN (& second for Asian) at Olympic WJT; 65.80 is the shortest winning distance of Olympic WJT since 1980, replacing 66.18 from 2016
HJ: First medal for NZL at Olympic HJ; Barshim won fourth medal, most ever, at Olympic HJ, he was tied with Sjoberg with three until today; Kerr became sixth World Indoor Champion to win the Olympic HJ; Kerr became only the second CWG champion to win the Olympic HJ (Drouin won 2014 CWG and 2016 Olympics)
800m: Best marks for place for 2nd to 7th were recorded in Olympic 800m; 1st place time was second fastest in Olympics; 0.01 sec is the smallest winning margin of Olympic 800m, replacing 0.03 in 1972 when Wottle won from Arzanov
5000m: Ingebrigtsen became 4th World Champion and 4th European Champion to win the Olympic 5000m; First gold for NOR at Olympic 5000m; Third straight medals for US at Olympic 5000m; Chelimo won silver in 2016, bronze in 2021, and now Fisher won bronze today.
W100mH: 12.33 and 12.34 are 2nd and 3rd fastest time of Olympic W100mH; 0.01 sec tied (1976 & 1996)the smallest winning margin of Olympic W100mH; 0.03 sec tied (1976) the smallest difference between 1st and 3rd in the Olympic W100mH
W1500m: Third gold for Kipyegon at Olympic W1500m; only Kipyegon and Kazankina has more than one gold at Olympic W1500m (Kazankina has two); First medal for AUS at Olympic W1500m; Best marks for place for 1st to (at least) 8th in Olympic W1500m; Best All time marks for place for 3rd, 4th and 5th at W1500m
M4x400mR: Best all time marks for places for 2nd to (at least) 6th were recorded in 4x400mR; Olympic record for 4x400mR was set, 2:54.43 is the fastest 4x400mR time in Paris; 0.10 sec tied the smallest winning margin of Olympic 4x400mR; the winning margin was 0.10 sec in 2000
W4x400mR: NED won first medal at Olympic W4x400mR; 0.18 sec is the smallest difference between 3rd and 4th in Olympic W4x400mR, replacing 0.24sec from 1980; 4.23 sec is the largest winning margin of Olympic W4x400mR (previous max was 3.68 sec from Tokyo); for the 6th time in Olympic history, USA won both 4x400mR and W4x400mR. Only other nation who won both is URS in 1980.
PARIS (FRA): Olympic marathon silver medallist Abdi Nageeye was a notable DNF in the marathon in Paris 2024, informs NOS. Nageeye fell at the 20km mark after colliding with Alexander Mutiso before slowing to a halt on the downhill section at 35km. “Because I could not walk normally, my legs started to hurt more and more. Everything hurt. I had the choice between running my body to pieces and quitting,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): Mongolia’s Ser-Od Bat-Ochir was the last finisher in the Paris 2024 marathon in 2:42:33 but the 42-year-old has the distinction of becoming the first athlete in history to compete in six Olympic marathons.
PARIS (FRA): French record-holder Morhad Amdouni was a late withdrawal from the marathon in Paris 2024. He was replaced yesterday evening by Hassan Chahdi who finished 20th.
PARIS (FRA): Nafissatou Thiam has revealed she had stitches in her knee after cutting her knee open with her spikes during the long jump, informs sporza.be. “And without anesthesia, because that can paralyze the muscles. I tried to ignore it all. Luckily I didn’t hit my muscle, otherwise it would have been over immediately. I was just afraid that the stitches would break during the javelin throw,” she said.
PARIS (FRA): After winning triple jump silver, 2020 Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo admits he is contemplating retirement as he has “lost that excitement” for sport, informs MARCA. “I have lost that excitement, that happiness that I had for sport and I have been thinking about retiring as of today. What I have in mind is to stay here, now. Stop here. Today was my last competition. My family is still talking to me to see if I can stay longer, my health is good, I am still 31 years old, I don’t know. I will think about it and see if I continue,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): After finishing 15th in the 10,000m, Eilish McColgan will focus on the roads for the remainder of the season, informs AW. She is due to race in the Big Half in London on 1 September.
PARIS (FRA): European U23 cross country champion Megan Keith was slowed by an ankle injury in the 10,000m, informs AW. “That was the hardest 25 laps ever. I was happy to make the start line and even happier to make the finish line. Even though I came last, I’m proud to be here as an Olympian,” she said.
PARIS (FRA): German heptathlete Sophie Weissenberg announced on Instagram that she ruptured her Achilles tendon in warm-up for the 100m hurdles.
PARIS (FRA): Germany’s sprinter Alexandra Burghardt became seventh athlete (sportsperson) who won medals at both the Winter and Summer Games. She won silver in bobsleigh in Beijing 2022 before winning a medal in the 4y100m relay in Paris. From DLV.
PARIS (FRA): Two-time 800m Olympic champion and reigning World record holder David Rudisha of Kenya donated the signed white spikes, he wore when broke the world 800m record for the first time with 1:41.09 in Berlin in 2010, to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA). Rudisha handed it over to Sebastian Coe at the Stade de France before the evening session of day nine of the athletics programme.
