At long last, Olympic track and field is back in full force. Debuting on the unique purple track at Paris’ Stade de France, the track and field slate kicked off on Friday.
The quick hits:
Reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson stepped on an Olympic track for the first time in the women’s 100m first round — and she dominated.
The U.S. mixed 4x400m relay team demolished a world record.
Ryan Crouser, Faith Kipyegon and Valarie Allman all begin their Olympic title defenses, coasting to their respective finals.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr made their much-hyped debuts in the trash talk-fueled men’s 1500m.
Women’s 100m Round 1
Sha’Carri Richardson’s first Olympic race was a beauty. The reigning world champion scorched the purple Stade de France track in 10.94 seconds to cruise to victory in her heat and qualify for Saturday’s semifinal round. In her heat, Luxembourg’s Patrizia van der Weken and Australia’s Bree Masters also qualified. Unlike in the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and hurdles events, the 100m does not feature a repechage round, so only the top-three finishers qualify for the semifinal.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Cote d’Ivoire posted a 10.87, the day’s top time in the 100m. Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, another medal contender in the event, hit 10.95 seconds to win her heat and advance to the semi. Alfred won the 60m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in March and is on a quest for Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal, in any sport.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the 37-year-old Jamaican competing in her final Olympic Games, logged the second-fastest time of the heats (10.92) to coast to the semis, where she’s matched up in a loaded semifinal No. 2 with Alfred and Richardson.
The third 100m heat delivered the most riveting action of the morning. Great Britain’s Daryll Neita posted the top time at 10.92 seconds, just edging American Melissa Jefferson (10.96). Boglarka Takacs placed third, setting a Hungarian national record in the process with a run of 11.10 seconds to reach Saturday’s semi.
In the rest of the heats, medal contender Tia Clayton of Jamaica and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain both advanced smoothly, as did American Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry.
Mixed 4x400m relay RESULTS
In their first race of the Paris Olympics, the U.S. mixed 4x400m relay team smashed the world record by over a full second, blazing to to victory in 3:07.41.
In an eye-popping performance, mixed U.S. team of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown absolutely dominated the heat. The Americans maintained a commanding lead halfway through when Deadmon, running the third leg, blistered down the track to balloon the lead. From there, 19-year-old Brown rocketed down the purple track en route to a victory and a world record.
“We knew what the record was, and we knew what it was going to take,” said Norwood, the 32-year-old elder statesmen of the relay team. “Our job was just to come out and execute. Tomorrow we’re going to do it again.”
A world record during a preliminary round is incredibly rare, and the U.S. squad has done it.
The previous record (3:08.80) was set at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, set by an American team of Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling and Alexis Holmes.
The U.S. advanced to the final, slated for Saturday afternoon. Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Belgium also survived the heats and will race on Saturday.
Men’s 1500m Round 1 RESULTS
After years of trading verbal barbs, defending world champion Kerr and Tokyo Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen both qualified for the 1500m semifinals Friday morning. Americans Hobbs Kessler, Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker all advanced, as well, avoiding the repechage round by finishing in the top six.
“I don’t mind about the rivalry,” Kerr said of his regular sparring with Ingebrigtsen. “But this is my job. My job is to be out here and win medals. I am lucky that I have a chance to be here and compete. People are welcome to talk about it.”
Kerr, Ethiopian Ermias Girma and Dutchman Stefan Nillessen won the three heats. In a new feature of Olympic track and field, all runners in this event who did not qualify will compete in repechage (“lucky loser”) rounds on Saturday.
Women’s 5000m Round 1 RESULTS
In the women’s 5000m opening round, Americans Whittni Morgan, Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer all squeaked through their heat to qualify for the final. With the top eight finishers advancing, Cranny and Schweizer finished seventh and eighth, respectively, to move on in heat 1. Morgan then ran a fluid race, charging forward just ahead of the bell lap, to finish sixth in the second heat and qualify for her first Olympic final.
“Even when I got [to Paris], I was like, ‘Why am I here?'” Morgan said after the race. “I’m proud of the way I ran. In college, I wasn’t a smart racer. I was a dumb racer. But I ran very smart today.”
Favorites Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet, Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan, who is attempting an incredible 5000m-10,000m-marathon triple, all moved on.
“I always think, ‘Why the heck do I do this to myself?’” Hassan said. “But I’m excited for the Olympic Games. It’s a big challenge.
“When I’m at the start line, I always ask myself, ‘Why? Why? What is wrong with you?’ But when I go home, I want to do it. It’s a lot about curiosity.”
Decathlon RESULTS: Decathlon 100m | Long jump | Shot put | High jump | 400m
The Paris Olympic decathlon began with the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump at 400m on Friday. German Leo Neugebauer, Puerto Rican Ayden Owens-Delerme and Norwegian Sander Skotheim led the way at the end of the session.
Defending Olympic champion Damian Warner of Canada sits in fourth. The decathlon wraps up on Saturday.
Additional Events
Men’s hammer: Reigning world champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada threw a day’s best 79.93m to qualify for the men’s hammer final, along with fellow Canadian Rowan Hamilton, American Rudy Winkler and nine more throwers. U.S. star Daniel Haugh, who took silver in the hammer at the 2023 USA Championships, didn’t qualify for the final.
Women’s high jump: American Vashti Cunningham, who finished 13th at the Rio Olympics and 6th in Tokyo, is on a quest for her first Olympic medal. The 13-time U.S. champion hit 1.92m to qualify for the women’s high jump final. Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.95m) hit the top height of the morning, meaning the world record holder also charged her way into the final. Mahuchikh took bronze in Tokyo and is vying for her first gold.
Women’s triple jump: For the first time in history, two American women have qualified for an Olympic triple jump final. Jasmine Moore and Kenturah Orji both advanced through Round 1.
Women’s discus: Defending Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the U.S. began her title defense, easily cruising to the final with a day’s best throw of 69.59. Allman, however, is the only American to advance. French flag-bearer Melina Robert-Michon just squeaked by to the final with a throw of 63.77m.
Women’s 800m: Americans Nia Akins, Juliette Whittaker qualified for the semifinal by finishing top three in their heats, while Allie Wilson’s sixth-place finish means she must qualify via the repechage round. Medal favorites Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain and Mary Moraa of Kenya both cruised into the semi.
Men’s shot put: Ryan Crouser is on a quest to become the first Olympic shot putter in history — man or woman — to win three consecutive gold medals. Crouse threw 21.49m to qualify for Saturday’s shot put final, where he’ll be joined by U.S. teammates Joe Kovacs and Payton Otterdahl, plus 2023 world runner-up Leo Fabbri of Italy and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Tom Walsh of New Zealand.
By NBC Olympics
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