Warholm and Benjamin demolish WR, De Grasse throws down
We have already reached day 5 of the track and field portion of the Tokyo Olympics and it’s blowing everyone’s minds. If you follow track and field you saw one of the most incredible races in history and young 17 and 20-year-olds position themselves to become the next generation of superstars.
Read on!
Event Roundup
Women
400m first round
Javelin qualifying round
*200m final
*800m final
*Hammer throw final
*Long Jump final
Men
Triple jump qualifying
1500m first round
5000m first round
110m hurdles first round
200m first round/semifinal
*400m hurdles final
*Pole vault final
Women’s 400m (First round)
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas looked the smoothest in the first round, clocking a 50.50. She still has rounds of the 200m to go as well as she pursues a double medal fight.
America’s sweetheart and most prolific sprinter came through her heat with a 50.84 victory to move on to the next round. If you remember, Shaunae Miller-Uibo actually beat Allyson with a diving finish in Rio.
The fastest qualifier was Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino who scorched a 50.06 for round one.
Stephenie Ann McPherson of Jamaica led heat five in 50.89 to move on with Americans Wadeline Jonathas and Quanera Hayes.
Women’s Javelin (Qualifying)
As expected, Poland’s Maria Andrejczyk sailed to a finals birth with a one-and-done throw of 65.24m.
American Maggie Malone was the next further qualifier with a 63.07m automatic qualifier. She and Andrejczyk were the only two to hit the auto qualifying mark.
The Australian pair of Mackenzie Little and world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber were next in the round.
American record-holder Kara Winger, defending Olympic champion Sara Kolak of Croatia, and 2-time Olympic champion and world record-holder Barbora Spotakova from Czech Republic all failed to make the final.
Women’s 200m (Final)
She freakin’ did it! Elaine Thompson-Herah made history tonight by defending her sprint double from Rio and became only the second person in history to do so. The only other person to double-double in the 100m and 200m was fellow countryman, Usain Bolt. You may have heard of him.
Thompson-Herah ran a remarkable 21.53, capturing her second gold and second personal best of these Games.
The top four women to cross the line broke the 22-second barrier.
Namibia’s Christine Mboma took second over the United State’s Gabby Thomas, further taking down the world U-20 record to 21.81. Thomas ran phenomenally, taking the bronze with a 21.87.
Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce sped to another sub-22 with 21.94, but couldn’t hold on and took fourth.
Women’s 800m (Final)
I told you she was something special and that she might just be the person to beat come the final. Nineteen-year-old Athing Mu, will be bringing another gold back to the U.S.
She does so in remarkable fashion. Disregarding her age, she also broke the U.S. 800m record (1:55.21) and the longest streak the U.S. has without a gold medal in any Olympic track event.
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, also nineteen years of age, was close behind with an outstanding 1:55.88, and a British record. We know this rivalry is going to get crazy over the next few years.
Rounding out the podium was American Raevyn Rogers who ran a personal best and fourth-fastest time in U.S. history.
In fourth place, was another Brit, Jemma Reekie, rounding out an American and British dominant performance.
Women’s Hammer (Final)
It should come as no surprise that Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland stormed away with gold…again. This marks her third consecutive Olympic gold and she becomes the first woman in history to win three golds in the same event.
Her fourth-round throw of 78.48m was enough to keep Chinese athlete Zheng Wang (77.03m) from stealing the show in the end, but she led the competition the whole way after her initial foul in round one.
Poland’s Malwina Kopron took home the bronze (75.49m), further stamping Poland’s dominance in the event. Will Poland leave with four medals in the event between the men and women? We’ll see soon enough.
None of the Americans could get back to the podium. Deanna Price, the second-furthest thrower ever, was battling a broken foot and finished 8th. Brooke Andersen and Gwen Berry finish a disappointing 10th and 11th respectively.
Women’s Long Jump (Final)
Gold goes to Germany’s Malaika Mihambo who steals the competition on the very last attempt to overtake American Brittany Reese. Mihambo’s final jump out to 7.00m was enough to win by a mere 3 centimeters.
The competition was so close for all three athletes, that deciding silver went to a countback. Both Brittany Reese and Nigeria’s Ese Brume tied at 6.97m, but Reese would ultimately take silver for having the bigger second-best jump.
NCAA champion out of the University of Texas, Tara Davis, finished sixth with a jump of 6.84m, about a foot shy of her all-time best. Not bad for her first Olympic appearance, especially considering the top eight jumpers were all over 6.80m which is unheard of.
Men’s Triple Jump (Qualifying)
I can personally say this was a bummer event for me this go around. With the noticeable absence of three-time world champion and two-time defending Olympic champion, Christian Taylor due to an achilles injury nearly two months ago, I feel like a big piece was missing. And it was.
The Unites States’ chance at gold once more rested in the more than capable hands of Will Claye and Donald Scott. Both were able to qualify. Claye popped out a 16.91m and Scott a 17.01m.
Of course, with or without Taylor, Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, and indoor world record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso weren’t going to just roll over and let someone else take the crown. Pichardo leaped to a humongous 17.71m in the second round and spanked the rest of the field.
Zango, on the other hand, barely scraped by to get in with the last qualifying mark. He made it in by 5 centimeters and cleared a distance of 16.83m.
Men’s 1500m (First round)
Norway’s 20-year-old sensation, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, decided to focus on the 1500m this time around and looked to be taking it easy nearly the entire way through.
He spent the first 3 laps in dead last and used his speed to work his way comfortably to a qualifying position behind Jake Heyward of Great Britain.
Reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot led until crossing the line just 0.01 seconds behind Ismael Debjani of Belgium. In that heat was also 20-year-old American Cole Hocker who took fourth and found himself a spot in the next round.
Abel Kipsand of Kenya and defending Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz from the U.S. led a group of four under the 3:42 mark to move on.
The Australian pair of Stewart McSweyn and Nicholas Willis also join the crew into the semis.
Marcin Lewandowski from Poland was tripped up in a collision with a lap to go and smartly decided to finish the race in case of a need to appeal. The officials reviewed the tape and have advanced him into the semifinals.
Men’s 5000m (First round)
All three Americans (William Kincaid, Grant Fisher, and Paul Chilemo) advance into the final.
Ugandan powerhouses Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei, are joined by Spain’s Mohamed Katir and Kenyan Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli, which should make for a fast final.
Kiplimo and Cheptegei may take this one out if the pace isn’t set quick early on.
Men’s 110m Hurdles (First round)
American Grant Holloway, the clear on favorite coming into the Games, sailed through into the next round with a time of 13.02 seconds.
Holloway who has not lost a race in two years now, I believe, is the only man to go under 13 seconds this year. He is the reigning world champion, world indoor record-holder, and last month was 0.01 seconds off the current world record held by American Aries Merritt. It should be fun to see what he can lay down if he makes it into the final.
Americans Devon Allen and Daniel Roberts also qualify for the semis along with Jamaicans Ronald Levy, Hansle Parchment, and Damian Thomas.
France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde made easy work of the round as expected, with a 13.37.
Missing from the mix were two big names on the international circuit — Spain’s Orlando Ortego who finished second at the Rio Olympics, and ROC’s Sergey Shubenkov, the 2015 World Champion. Neither started the race due to injuries attained during training.
Men’s 200m
First round
Americans Kenny Bednarek, world champion Noah Lyles, and 17-year-old phenom Erriyon Knighton, all posed top times to advance to tonights semifinal. Bednarek registered the quickest amongst all competitors in the round with a blazing 20.01.
Canadian Andre De Grasse, Liberia's Joseph Fahnbulleh, Nigeria’s Devine Oduduru and Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer all advanced to the semifinals as well.
Semifinals
Ummm ok. That was one hell of a fast semifinal and there was a bit of uneasiness as Noah Lyles eased up too early and got passed by not only Aaron Brown of Canada, but Joseph Fahnbulleh as well. Thankfully he slipped into the final on time. How many times are we going to have to watch athletes who should have no problem getting in, ruin their chances by easing too much?
As for those fast times, Andre De Grasse and Kenny Bednarek threw down 19.73 and 19.83 respectively to easily capture a place in the final. De Grasse ran a personal best to showcase what kind of speed he’s bringing this time around. Bednarek narrowly missed a PR himself.
Rounding out the American trio, Erriyon Knighton continued to impress as the 17-year-old ran 20.02 to position himself in the blocks Tuesday as well.
Men’s 400m Hurdles (Final)
Holy s#@!. Can I say s#@!? Well, I did, and it needed to be said.
We had been talking about just how fast we thought this final was going to be given the pure depth of incredible talent that made it in.
Not only was the world record absolutely shattered, and I mean destroyed beyond reason, but it was broken by three men!
Karsten Warholm of Norway led the charge from start to finish as he usually does but Rai Benjamin of the U.S. was hot on his tail as we expected. It literally came down to the wire and when the smoke cleared, two men left the world with their jaws on the floor.
Warholm’s time of 45.94 seconds is not only the fastest time ever, but it’s the first time anyone broke 46 seconds over hurdles and that’s a feat no one thought would happen in our lifetime. It took 29 years for someone to break Kevin Young’s record of 46.78 (which Warholm did just a few weeks ago) and now it’s been broken again by three men in the span of a race.
Benjamin won silver with an absolutely mind-boggling time of 46.17. With tears in his eyes as he saw his parents on the screen, he apologized for not winning gold. Clearly caught in the emotions of the moment, he overlooked the incredible achievement he just put on display. This rivalry will be one of epic proportions for years to come.
Brazilian Alison Dos Santos took the bronze in a time that will sadly be overlooked by most due to the other two ahead of himself, but his time of 46.72, up until just weeks ago, would have been the world record tonight. He becomes the third-fastest man in history and shocked and awed us all.
Men’s Shot Put (Qualifying)
World record-holder Ryan Crouser of the U.S. did what Ryan Crouser does best, he went out and heaved 22.05 on his first throw and went home. No man is more consistently over 22.0m — or really 22.50m over a full set of throws — than Crouser. He is the heavy favorite to win, and he had no trouble showing that today.
Both the reigning world champion Joe Kovacs and Payton Otterdahl of the U.S. were able to easily make the final with throws of 20.93 and 20.90 respectively.
New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh, the bronze World Championships medallist and 6th furthest thrower in history is clear into the final along with the fourth-place finisher at those championships, Brazil’s Darlan Romani.
Men’s Pole Vault (Final)
World record-holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden took home Olympic gold and attempted the world record, narrowly missing in amazement as we all wondered how the bar didn’t stay on.
In the silver position was American Chris Nilsen cleared, who in the absence of reigning world champion Sam Kendricks lit up the runway with a personal best of 5.97m.
Brazil’s Thiago Braz finished in third with a season’s best 5.87m gaming it up when he needed to give everyone a run for their money.
Rio silver medalist, world indoor champion, and former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie of France, who competed on injured ankles, was only able to clear one height before leaving the competition in tears. He had hurt his left ankle before Tokyo and skipped immediately to 5.70m unlike all the other competitors, but was able to clear one before the pain was too much.
American KC Lightfoot finished with a clearance of 5.80m in a tie for fourth place with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis.
