by Alfonz Juck
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s an extraordinary night. It’s everything I wanted, but for it to happen, it’s an excellent feeling. In practice, leading up to the competition, I felt great. So, I believed in myself, and I knew that I had it in me. Just went and released it, no pressure; I was already in the top eight, so I had nothing to lose. I’ve done some things that I didn’t know I was capable of doing. But I believed, and I had faith, so I was in the moment, and I enjoyed it,” Roje Stona.
RESULT OF THE DAY
The best-ever Olympic mark was 43.40 in the men’s 400m for Quincy Hall, in a race with best performances for places 2-5 and ER for Hudson-Smith (43.44), the first medal in the 400m for Zambia.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
25-year-old Jamaican Roje Stona is a sensational Olympic champion in the men’s discus, throwing an Olympic record 70.00, just 3cm ahead of WR holder Alekna, in the best Olympic competition ever. So far, the biggest surprise is coached also by Ryan Crouser at Arkansas University. Before the Jamaican throw, father Virgilijus Alekna (in the stands) lost his OR to his son Mykolas.
MEDALS (28 countries)
USA 6-7-6; CAN 2-0-1; JAM 1-3-1; GBR 1-2-1; AUS 1-1-4; KEN 1-1-3; CHN, ESP 1-1-0.
POINTS (56 countries)
USA 165; GBR 48; KEN 46; JAM 44; AUS 42; ETH 38; ITA 35; CAN 31.
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes (5): Crouser, Allman, Duplantis, Tentoglou, El Bakkali
No (13): Stano, Palmisano, Barega, POL, Warner, Nowicki, Jacobs, Hassan, Ingebrigtsen, Wlodarczyk, Chemutai, Moon, Stahl
NC (6): Rojas, Thompson-Herah (2x), Lasitskene, Mu, Gardiner (DNS)
TOP MARKS
WR (2+1): 3:07.41 mixed 4x400m USA (230th WR at Olympic Games); 625 pole vault Duplantis; world best 2:50:31 marathon race walk mixed relay ESP (WR not yet set)
OR (7): 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
WL (5+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; outdoor Lafond 15.02
AR (9): 5 – Europe; 2 – NACAC; 1 – Oceania, South America
AGENTS (individual gold medals)
4 – Paul Doyle, 2 – Mark Wetmore; 1 – Pascal Bureaux, Mark Corstjens, Caroline Feith, Ray Flynn, Stale Jan Froynes, Jos Hermens, Alfons Juck (with Andrew Maulseed hammer winner), Aivar Karotamm, John Regis, Henry Rolle, Federico Rosa, Robert Wagner, Daniel Westfield, Thea Lafond is representing herself and not known for walking winners.
STATS (from Ken Nakamura)
Steeple: El Bakkali became the third steeple to win two Olympic titles (after Iso-Hollo and Kemboi); the difference of 0.42 between 1-3 is the lowest ever; the best Olympic marks for places 5-7.
400m – men: Hall 43.40 is the second, and Hudson-Smith 43.44 is the third fastest Olympic time; best marks for places 2-5 ever; first medal for ZAM.
DT – men: Two improvements of Olympic record; 3cm winning margin for Stona tied the lowest (1904); best Olympic marks for places 1-6; Denny’s 69.31 is the best ever mark for place 3; first ever medal for JAM (gold) and AUS.
PV – women: Kennedy became the first Olympic Champion from AUS; Kennedy’s 490 tied for the best Olympic performance of Moon (Tokyo, 2021); the 5cm difference between 1 and 3 tied the lowest; equaled best marks for places 2-6; second medal for Moon (after gold in Tokyo); first medal for CAN.
400m – women: Naser 49.08 is the fastest Olympic semifinal time ever and fifth fastest (all competitions);
PARIS 2024 NEWS
PARIS (FRA): Reigning double World champions María Pérez and Alvaro Martín won the premiere marathon race walk mixed relay Olympic title in a world best of 2:50:31. WA is not ratifying records in this event.
PARIS (FRA): WR holder Lamecha Girma had a heavy fall 200 m before he finished over the barrier; he remained for minutes on the ground, and medical support treated him. As reported by L’Equipe, Girma has since regained consciousness and has been transferred to the hospital.
PARIS (FRA): Slovenian record holder in pole vault Tina Sutej competed in her fourth Olympics and, after that, declared this was her last Olympics at the age of 35. But she plans to jump for sure also in 2025.
PARIS (FRA): Gianmarco Tamberi struggled through qualifying after a recent illness left him bed-bound but believes he will be in better shape come the final, informs FIDAL. “I knew it would be the hardest competition of my life because three days ago, I was in a hospital bed, and in three days, double the time will have passed. Absurdly, the final will be easier. Today, nothing went well; I don’t think I ever took off. I entered at 2.20m because I had little energy to waste; it also went well at 2.24m, while at 2.27m, I tried to push a little more to bounce on the take-off, and my leg just wouldn’t hold. Saturday will be completely different because, in the last two days, I have changed a lot: until two days ago, I had a fever of 38.5; yesterday and today, I didn’t have it; I’m definitely better,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): Reigning Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim suffered an injury scare in high jump qualifying but is confident he can still participate in the final. “Through to the finals. Thank you for your support today, see you on Saturday,” he wrote on Instagram.
PARIS (FRA): European champion Alexander Doom will undergo an MRI scan after pulling up with a groin injury in his 400m semifinal, informs Sporza. Be. Doom looks very unlikely to compete in the 4x400m relay.
PARIS (FRA): Reigning European champion and third-best this season (66.06), Victoria Hudson, was eliminated in the javelin throw qualification. European silver medallist Adriana Vilagoš and other javelin stars Kelsey-Lee Barber, Lyu Huihui, and Christin Hussong did not make it to the final either.
PARIS (FRA): After a chaotic finish to the first heat of the 5000m, Dominic Lobalu, George Mills, and Mike Foppen have all advanced to the final after falling in the home straight and being reinstated by referee decision. Stewart McSweyn and Yann Schrub have also been put through after a jury decision; 21 athletes will contest the final.
PARIS (FRA): After finishing fourth in the 1500m, Jakob Ingebrigtsen admitted he was “outsmarted”. He wrote: “Well, I guess he did show up after all…! Hocker and Nuguse as well. My team always say that “because you have a big mouth and is the one to beat, you have everything to lose in competitions.” Today, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse and Josh Kerr outsmarted me. They were “the best guys” when it really mattered. And I want to congratulate them all on a great performance! Of course, I am disappointed!”
PARIS (FRA): Josh Kerr has said he wouldn’t be surprised if Jakob Ingebrigtsen moves away from the 1500m during the next Olympic cycle, informs AW. “He’s obviously pretty dominant in the 5000m, and he’s closing faster than all of those guys. We’ll see. I can’t see him running the 1500m for another whole Olympic cycle, but again, he’s running really, really fast times, so that’s not for me to determine. I’ll be sticking to my 1500m. I don’t think my 13:23 will get me anywhere near the medals in the 5000m any time soon,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): Andreas Almgren was a non-starter in his 5000m heat due to a stress reaction in his shin, informs SVT. “I’ve been testing on a training track and ran a bit at competition speed today, and both in terms of performance and pain, I’m not at the level where I want to be,” he said. Almgren will miss the remainder of the track season.
PARIS (FRA): A rare gathering of 24 Olympic and world champions and world record-holders assembled at the Monnaie de Paris on Tuesday (6) to celebrate the centenary of Paavo Nurmi’s triumph at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Nurmi, known as the “Flying Finn,” won a record five Olympic gold medals in distance events at the 1924 Games, a feat that has yet to be equaled in the 23 editions held since. The Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) Gathering of Champions included Olympic champions Hicham El Guerrouj, Nawal El Moutawakel, Kevin Young, Nataliia Dobrynska, Aries Merritt, Joanna Hayes, Billy Mills, and the President of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, and former world record-holder Filbert Bayi.
