Runner's Tribe

Claudia Hollingsworth had an Olympic debut to remember, qualifying outright in her 800m heat, then placing 7th in her semi final in 2:01.51. Abby Caldwell earned a reprieve in winning her repechage to go on to place 5th in 1:58.52 while Catriona Bisset was unable to advance.

The 10,000 meters might be attenuated drama by its very nature, but 25 laps leading to a margin of victory of just one-tenth of a second? If that doesn’t raise the hairs on the back of your neck, check your vital signs.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has done it again. For a third time she completed a US Trials-global championships world record double in the 400 metres hurdles in the Stade de France on Thursday night (8 August).

Pole vault star Nina Kennedy claimed Australia’s 18th gold medal at the Paris Olympics, achieving the nation’s most successful medal haul in the history of the Games. Kennedy, 27, executed a flawless jump, clearing 4.90 meters with exceptional skill and poise. Unbeknownst to her at the moment, this leap secured her the gold medal.

Indeed, the medals came from start to finish on Wednesday, 8 August in Paris. Bronze for Rhydian Cowley and Jemima Montag in the mixed relay marathon road walk in the morning, bronze for Matt Denny in the discus and then Kennedy’s gold in the dying moments of the day’s program at the Stade de France.

The Paris 2024 men’s Olympic 1500 metres was preceded by a bucketful of talk, some of it maybe contrived, but all of it setting the scene for an epic showdown between defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the man who beat him for last year’s world championship, Josh Kerr.

Mondo Duplantis had the first word on day five of the Olympic athletics program. The pole vault final kicked off the evening program at 7 pm local time.

Femke Bol's incredible anchor leg helped the Netherlands win the mixed 4x400m relay in a dramatic fashion at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, defeating a strong United States team that had just broken a world record the previous evening. The race was a rain-soaked matchup.

Noah Lyles didn’t win his heat of the Olympic 100 metres. He didn’t win his semi-final either. He never led the 100 metres final until the moment his chest touched the line. But he is the Paris 2024 men’s 100 metres Olympic champion. And with victory we can acclaim him the world’s fastest man (until the next global championship).

It was supposed to be the day when Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, the engaging Jamaican who has been the queen of women’s sprinting for most of this century was displaced by America’s Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100 metres.