by Alfonz Juck
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Every race is you against 10 hurdles. There are people who are going to push you but it doesn’t matter if you don’t focus on the barriers in front of you. That was my focus, me trying to be as efficient as I could over my 10 hurdles, trying to lower that time every time. 1000% I was nervous. Especially before the Olympic final. There is so much talent in this event. There are also 10 barriers you have to get over to cross that finish line. There are always nerves, there was a lot of anticipation before this race and rightfully so. . There’s no such thing as a perfect race, but the closer and closer we can get to 49 seconds, I feel like it’s inching there, ” Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
RESULT OF THE DAY
Incredible run by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and sensational WR 50.37, with a huge winning margin of 1.50 sec; she improved her own WR of 50.68 from US trials. Per scoring tables its the best ever performance with 1322 points ahead of Florence Griffith-Joyner 10.49 in the 100 m with 1314 points.
SURPRISE OF THE DAY
Massive throw and new OR by Arshad Nadeem 92.97 in the men’s javelin, first medal for PAK, in a very high quality competition. Its first individual gold medal for Pakistan in any individual sport at the Olympic Games.
MEDALS (31 countries)
USA 9-10-8; CAN 2-0-1; JAM 1-3-2; GBR 1-2-1; AUS 1-1-4; KEN 1-1-3; CHN, ESP 1-1-1.
POINTS (62 countries)
USA 238; JAM 61; KEN 50; GBR 48; AUS 42; ITA 40; ETH 38; GER 35.
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes (6): Crouser, Allman, Duplantis, Tentoglou, El Bakkali, McLaughlin-Levrone
No (17): Stano, Palmisano, Barega, POL, Warner, Nowicki, Jacobs, Hassan, Ingebrigtsen, Wlodarczyk, Chemutai, Moon, Stahl, Mihambo, Chopra, De Grasse, Parchment
NC (6): Rojas, Thompson-Herah (2x), Lasitskene, Mu, Gardiner (DNS)
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 (9): 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
WL (7+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; outdoor Lafond 15.02
AR (13): 5 – Europe; 3 – NACAC; 2 – Oceania; 1- Africa, Asia, South America
AGENTS (individual gold medals)
4 – Paul Doyle, 2 – John Regis, Federico Rosa, Mark Wetmore; 1 – Pascal Bureaux, Sekou Clarke, Mark Corstjens, Caroline Feith, Ray Flynn, Stale Jan Froynes, Jos Hermens, Alfons Juck (with Andrew Maulseed hammer winner), Aivar Karotamm, John Nubani, Henry Rolle, Robert Wagner, Daniel Wessfeldt. Nadeem and Lafond are representing themselves and not known for walking winners.
STATS (from Ken Nakamura)
400mH – women: McLaughlin-Levrone became first to defend W400mH Olympic title, in a new WR 50.37 with a biggest winning margin; best ever marks for places 4-6; third medal for McLaughlin-Levrone, second for Bol.
JT – men: Nadeem’s OR 92.97; 4cm difference between 3-4 is lowest ever; best ever (all competions) marks for places 5-7; second medal for Chopra (after gold in Tokyo); first medals for PAK (gold) and GRN.
110mH – men: best Olympic mark for place 3; second medal for Holloway (after silver in Tokyo).
200m – men: Tebogo’s 19.46 is fifth fastest Olympic time; best Olympic marks for places 3 (also best all-competitions mark) and 6; second bronze for Lyles; first (gold) medal for BOT.
LJ – women: Davis-Woodhall became the first World Youth Champion to win the Olympic Gold; second medal for Mihambo (after gold in Tokyo).
1500m – women: Tsegay’s 3:55.10 is the fastest Olympic semifinal time, Lizakowska’s 3:57.31 is the fastest non-qualifying time as 6 sub-4:00 finishers (4 of them with NRs) did not advance to the final.
4x100m – women: Nigeria’s 42.70 equalled the best Olympic non-qualifying time of China from Rio.
PARIS 2024 NEWS
PARIS (FRA): USATF has announced that Noah Lyles tested positive for coronavirus after the 100m final. He might not compete in the 4x100m relay.
PARIS (FRA): Lamecha Girma is “OK” and did not suffer any sort of significant head injury in his heavy fall on the last lap of the 3000m steeplechase final, informs L’Equipe. “We understand he is OK, we are sending him our thoughts. We hope he is OK and recovers quickly. Nobody likes to see an accident like this,” said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams. He was released from hospital on Thursday afternoon.
PARIS (FRA): The Belgian Tornados are hopeful that Alexander Doom will be part of their 4x400m team after he pulled up with what was thought to be cramp in his 400m semifinal, informs sporza.be. “It’s a real shame, especially for him. The medical staff is doing an excellent job, Alexander, like his coach Philip Gilson, is staying very calm. We have to have confidence in the team. I’m not worried at the moment. We are here in the same apartment. I think things are going well, but we don’t talk about it all the time. We have to be confident and stay positive. Alexander will do everything he can to be there,” said teammate Robin Vanderbemden.
PARIS (FRA): 16-year-old Quincy Wilson is due to compete for the United States in the men’s 4x400m heats tomorrow morning, informs ESPN.
PARIS (FRA): Two-time World champion Chase Jackson of USA failed to qualify for the women’s shot put final. After two fails she achieved only 17.60 in her last attempt and finished 17th in the morning session qualification. That is her weakest result since throwing 17.09 in Hengelo, June 2023.
PARIS (FRA): Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg was a non-starter in the heptathlon 100m hurdles after pulling up injured with her achilles while warm-up already in stadium.
PARIS (FRA): Jakob Ingebrigtsen said he regrets going out “way too hard” on the first lap of the 1500m final, informs The Independent. “I opened with a 54-second lap. That wasn’t the plan at all. It was at least two seconds too fast. I was thinking about slowing down, but the next lap was almost the same speed. I ruined it for myself by going way too hard,” he said.
PARIS (FRA): After finishing fourth in the 3000m steeplechase in a European record, Alice Finot proposed to her boyfriend who said ‘yes’. “It was a dream I’ve always had – to achieve something great at the Olympic Games and to crown this moment with a personal highlight,” she said.
PARIS (FRA): Another anecdote is that Roja Stone set his previous best of 69.05m in his season opener at Ramona, finishing second in the competition in which Mykolas Alekna set his world record of 74.35m on 14 April.
