The second day of track and field action at the Paris Olympics certainly delivered, with the next batch of medals making it to the athletes of their respective countries.
As expected, American shot put powerhouse Ryan Crouser defended his Olympic title with a final’s best of 22.90m, securing his third straight gold in the event. However, the women’s 100m and mixed 4x400m relay had upsets that stunned the Stade de France crowd. Meanwhile, the decathlon was in full swing after the first five events and came to an exciting end; and the women’s triple jump gold was decided with a record leap.
Here’s a round up of day 2 in Paris:
- Saint Lucia’s Julian Alfred is officially the fastest woman in the world and earned her country its first Olympic medal every — a gold medal. Alfred took down a stacked field in the 100m final on Saturday in 10.72 seconds, blowing past Americans Sha’Carri Richardson (10.87) and Melissa Jefferson (10.92). Without Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce — who pulled out before the semifinal — to apply added pressure in the event, it was an all out battle as Alfred crossed the finish line first.
- The Netherlands shocked Team USA in the closing moments of the 4x400m mixed relay and won the gold in spectacular fashion in 3:07.43, only just two hundredths of a second from world record the Americans re-set the previous night. Femke Bol was a late swap over teammate Catheljin Peeters on the anchor leg and she delivered a late burst past American Kaylyn Brown with 47.93 split to win it for the Dutch team. The Americans won the silver (3:07.74) and Great Britain claimed bronze with a time of 3:08.01.
- Ryan Crouser’s Olympic dominance continues as he locked in an impressive third straight shot put gold. Crouser easily edged past the field in the rain with a leading throw of 22.90m, as fellow American Joe Kovacs took the sliver (22.15m) and Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell winning bronze (22.15m).
- Dominica’s Thea Lafond shock off rainy conditions inside Stade de France and was the only competitor to jump beyond 15 meters on Saturday and claimed the gold. Lafond jumped 15.02m, a national record, as Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts (14.87m) and American Jasmine Moore (14.67m) took home the silver and bronze medals.
- The crowd at Stade de France was treated to an unexpected turn of events in the decathlon as Norway’s Markus Rooth surged ahead after being in seventh place at the start of the day and winning gold. Rooth set a Norwegian record with a score of 8796 and pushed past Germany’s Leo Neugebauer (8748 points) and Grenada’s Lindon Victor (8711 points). Rooth’s held off Neugebauer in the 1500m with a 4:39.56 performance, which helped him win Norway first decathlon gold in 104 years.
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