The fourth day of track and field at Stade de France brought a large serving of gold medal action to go alongside a batch of drama following an exciting last two laps of the women 5000m final. A wide open women’s 800m final was without it’s reigning champion, but Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson held off the field and Valarie Allman conquered the open space inside the track for her second straight discus gold.
Here’s a look back at the action:
- Mondo Duplantis launched himself into the stratosphere of the pole vault universe and broke his own world record — and clearing 6.25m — to win his second straight Olympic title. He was already posted to capture the gold with 6.10m on his first attempt but pushed himself further and electrified the crowd in the process. American Sam Kendricks took the sliver after clearing 5.95m and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis was third with 5.9m and got the bronze.
- No Athing Mu, no problem. That was the sentiment for the women’s 800m field on Monday as Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson stitched a pair of 58 second laps and won the gold in 1:56.72. On the final turn she breezed ahead of the pack and surged to the finish line. With just over 100m, she held off a late kick from Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1.57.15) who took sliver and reigning world champion, Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.42) with the bronze. Hodgkinson is the first British woman to win the Olympic 800m gold since Kelly Holmes in 2024 in Athens.
- The women’s 5000m final was a mix of guts and controversy as Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet used a late sprint to win the title in 14:28.56. Fellow Kenyan Faith Kipyegon came in second (14:29.60) and the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan in third (14:30.61). But Kipyegon was disqualified after making contact with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay. Kipyegon would later be reinstated on appeal.
- Valarie Allman overcame a foul on her first attempt and used a 69.50m throw to secure her second straight Olympic gold in the discus. She did not need a throw past 70m the rest of the way after quickly pushing to the lead with a 68.74m toss on the second throw. China’s Bin Feng grabbed the silver and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevi took the bronze and both threw 67.51 meters. But it was clear that Allman was poised to dominate.
