by Alfonz Juck
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I do not know how to describe it. It is surreal. It has always been a dream to become an Olympic champion and in decathlon, it is like an ageing event. So to win the gold at 22, I did not expect it. I came here with the goal to have a better score than I had in Budapest (at the 2023 world championships). I was in the top eight there so maybe I expected to be number five or something. And I won. I have been practising a lot and my training went pretty well,so I just tried to have fun. And I did, ” Markus Rooth.
RESULT OF THE DAY
Julien Alfred improved her own 100m national record by 0.06 sec. clocking 10.72, fourth fastest Olympic time ever behind 2 from ETH and 1 by Flo-Jo, and won ahead of Richardson by a large margin of 0.15 sec.
Femke Bol stormed to the Olympic title for Netherlands in the mixed 4x400m relay, pulling back a big USA lead with 47.9 last lap. She was fourth and ended first, Netherlands clocked second fastest time ever and European record.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
22-years-old Markus Rooth shocked all (remaining) favourites and won the Olympic decathlon, although his previous global best was the eighth place in Budapest 2023 Worlds, he is also 2019 European U20 medallist and 2023 European U23 champion. He improved his personal best and Norwegian record by 188 points, thanks to life-time bests in the 100m (10.71), 400m (47.69) and pole vault (530). Norway won olympic decathlon gold back in 1920.
MEDALS (16 countries)
USA 1-3-3; CHN, DMA, ECU, LCA, NED, NOR, UGA 1-0-0; ESP, JAM 0-1-1.
POINTS (31 countries)
USA 58; JAM 21; ESP 18; ETH 15; ITA, NED 13; GBR, ECU 11.
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes (1): Crouser
No (4): Stano, Palmisano, Barega, POL, Warner
NC (2): Rojas, Thompson-Herah
TOP MARKS
WR (1): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA (230th WR at Olympic Games)
OR (2): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA, 26:43.14 10,000m Cheptegei
WL (1): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA, outdoor Lafond 15.02
AR (4): 2 – Europe; 1 – Oceania, NACAC
AGENTS (individual gold medals)
Paul Doyle, Jos Hermens, Henry Rolle, Stale Jan Froynes, Thea Lafond is representing herself and not known for walking winners.
STATS
DEC: Victor’s 53.91 in the discus is the best Olympic decathlon performance; 2019 World champion Kaul threw 77.78, the best Olympic decathlon mark in the javelin throw; best overall Olympic scores for places 5-6; first medal for GRN.
PV – men: 575 cm equalled the best qualification result from Tokyo 2021, 570 cm cleared by Stecchi and Collet is the highest non-qualifier mark.
1500m – men: The fastest time from repechages, a PB of 3:32.84 by Riva, is substantially better than the fastest ever 1st round time (3:34.80).
SP – men: Crouser’s winning attempt of 22.90 is the second best ever Olympic mark; best marks for places 4-6; Crouser won his third consecutive title and became the most successful Olympic shot putter, he and Kovacs finished 1-2 also for the third time in a row; first medal for JAM.
TJ – women: First ever medal (in all sports) for DMA, first triple jump medals for JAM and USA.
4x400m – mixed: The second fastest Olympic time (After yesterday’s WR by USA in heats), also best marks for places 1-4 and 6-7 (all competitions); first gold for NED, first medal for GBR.
100m – women: Alfred’s 10.72 is the fourth fastest Olympic time; first ever medal for LCA also overall at Olympic Games.
PARIS 2024 NEWS
PARIS (FRA): The legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has withdrawn from the 100m semifinals, after feeling discomfort in her hamstring during warm-ups, as per The Jamaica Observer. She missed her first global 100m final since winning the 2008 Olympics, except for the 2017 World Championships at which she did not compete due to a maternity leave.
PARIS (FRA): Having cemented his legacy on the track with multiple world titles and now second Olympic gold medals, Cheptegei has revealed that his next chapter will be focused on road racing. “The 10k is more stacked than ever. These guys are running 26:12. Huge respect for these guys, but maybe it is now time for me to shift focus to the roads,” Cheptegei announced. He hinted that the Paris Games might be his last appearance on the track, stating, “I have won everything there is to be won, and I think this is my last Olympics and track and field race. It has been 10 years of great impact, and something special must come to an end. I have to find new challenges,” he said, leaving fans and the athletics world eager to see what the next phase of his career will bring. Via Pulse Sports.
PARIS (FRA): Former European indoor champion Airine Palsyte will have to undergo surgery after tearing her ACL in high jump qualifying. She wrote on Instagram: “The medical team later on diagnosed torn ACL and medial meniscus which leaves me no choice but to plan a surgery and hope, that I still have what it takes to come back from it.”
PARIS (FRA): Montenegro’s Darko Pesic competed on a broken foot in the preliminary round of the men’s 100m. In doing so, he honoured the wishes of his father who died in 2020. “Crossing the finish line meant everything to me. My father made me who I am today,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): New national records for DMA by Lafond (15.02, also outdoor WL) in the triple jump, in the mixed 4x400m relay for NED (3:07.43, also ER), GBR (3:08.01) and BEL (3:09.36), for LCA by Alfred (10.72) in the women’s 100m, and in the decathlon for NOR by Rooth (8796), NED by Roosen (8607) and BAH by Mullings (8226).
PARIS (FRA): British European medalist Jeremiah Azu was disqualified due to a false start from 100 m first round. As it was clear below the 0.100 barrier he was not allowed to run under protest.
MONACO (MON): The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Mehdi Frere’s appeal against the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). “Accordingly, he will serve a 2-year ban from the sport until 3 June 2026 and will not compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” said the AIU on Twitter. Frere will be replaced by Felix Bour (2:06:46 PB).
PARIS (FRA): Wyomia Tyus, the first athlete to win two Olympic 100m titles, donated one of her gold medal-winning spikes from the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA). 2008 Olympic heptathlon champion Nataliya Dobrynska also presented World Athletics President Sebastian Coe with the singlet and spikes she wore on the first day of her Olympic triumph. Coe also presented a World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the posthumous category of ‘Legend’ to Martin Ostermeyer, nephew of France’s Micheline Ostermeyer who won shot put and discus gold and high jump bronze at the 1948 London Olympics. From MOWA. Coe also presented a World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the posthumous category of ‘Legend’ to Martin Ostermeyer, nephew of France’s Micheline Ostermeyer who won shot put and discus gold and high jump bronze at the 1948 London Olympics.
OTHER NEWS
PARIS (FRA): World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has said he “welcomes” the advent of Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track circuit which will debut next year, informs The Sports Examiner. “I think we should be comforted by the fact that in the last few years the ecosystem of athletics has suddenly become an attractive proposition for external investments and that’s a good thing. Any additional event, which we will of course welcome has to have a quality threshold, has to work for the athletes, has to work for the broadcasters. And this is a complicated landscape. If people are going to come into this landscape I welcome them. It’s a good sign that the sport is heading in the right trajectory,” he said.
