The positive news for the U.S. men's team is its gold-medal drought shouldn't linger too much longer. U.S. shot putter, world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion Ryan Crouser is the clear-cut favorite in the men's shot put final on Thursday. On the track on Thursday, Grant Holloway is going into the 110-meter hurdles final No. 1 in the world and in better form than any of his competitors. There could be two gold medals forthcoming, and possibly more, in the matter of hours.
But that doesn't take away from the incredible challenge it is to be the best in the world at an individual event. Allyson Felix became USA Track and Field's most decorated Olympian of all time after winning her 11th career medal as part of a stacked U.S women's 4x400m relay team. That gold, combined with a bronze in the women's 400m, helped the 35-year-old mother surpass Carl Lewis as the greatest American track and field athlete in the final race of her storied career.
He may have lost his goal of three gold medals when he did not qualify in the 100 meters, but Lyles remains one of the most electric figures in sprinting. Williams High reestablished himself as the gold medal favorite in the 200 after a trying year by winning the trials in 19.74 seconds. He is the fourth-fastest man ever at the distance, which makes him a likely choice for the men's 4x100 team, the other event in which he is a reigning world champion. In one of the tightest finishes of the Games, Italy secured another Olympic gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter relay.
The race came down to the anchor leg with Filippo Tortu passing race-leader Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Great Britain just before the finish line. The Italian team, which also included Lorenzo Patta, Olympic 100-meter champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, and Eseosa Fostine Desalu, finished in 37.50 to win gold and set a new national record. Following six days of competition, the U.S. men's squad has five overall medals – four silvers and one bronze. The U.S. track and field men are still leading all participating countries in the overall medal count with five.
However, at the closing of Olympic track and field day six, 10 countries have at least one track and field gold medal, including Sweden and Italy leading the way with two apiece. Valarie Allman won Team USA's first gold medal in Tokyo with a breakthrough performance in the women's discus. The national champion won the event with a throw of 68.98 meters, beating silver medalist Kristin Pudenz of Germany and bronze medalist Yaimé Pérez of Cuba. Pérez won gold at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar while Allman finished seventh at the championship two years ago.
On her 22nd birthday and three days after winning gold in the 400 meter hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin took the first leg and had the fastest time out of the blocks. Allyson Felix, 35, followed her bronze medal in the 400 meters with a 49.38-second second lap to maintain the lead. There stood Sydney McLaughlin, the 400-meter hurdles specialist and reigning world record holder. The American favorite bounced in the starting blocks, her steel gaze pointed forward, rain falling in biblical sheets.
An opponent promptly jumped the gun, leading to a disqualification and another distraction. No matter the downpour and no matter the stakes, McLaughlin shot around the track as if running above the clouds, the event she has long dominated. By the time she had circled toward the finish line, she led by the length of a semi-truck, beating her closest competitor by 1.19 seconds in a race that concludes in under a minute.
Several athletes are worth watching over the course of the track and field schedule — especially Allyson Felix. A third medal would tie her as the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. An all-hands-on-deck women's 200 meters would probably be the Games' best field, but the men's 400 hurdles may feature the top race.
It took just a 47.73-second time to win gold in this event in Rio; that might not be good enough for fifth in Tokyo. Combining for 13 of the top 20 times in history, Norway's Karsten Warholm and the USA's Rai Benjamin have elevated this event onto another tier. Warholm's 46.70 at his season debut this month in Oslo broke Kevin Young's 29-year-old world record. Several athletes will be worth watching over the course of the track and field schedule — especially Allyson Felix. Two-time Olympic medalist Brittney Reese is heading back to the Games for a fourth time after finishing first in the long jump event at the trials.
Reese, a seven-time world champion, won gold in the 2012 Games and silver in the 2016 Games. Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica bested the field, running a 10.61—a new Olympic record and fastest time this year—to win gold in Tokyo and claim the title of fastest woman in the world. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson finished second (10.74) and third (10.76), respectively, completing the Jamaican sweep of the podium. Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast finished fourth in 10.91. An Olympic champion and world record-holder in the 400 meter hurdles.
The most decorated American track and field athlete of all time. American sprinter Trayvon Bromell came into the Tokyo Games with the No. 1 time in the 100 meters this year, but didn't get passed the semifinal round. Rai Benjamin was a gold-medal hopeful in the men's 400-meter hurdles. However, he was outdueled in the event by Norway's Karsten Warholm in a thrilling race in which both men actually eclipsed the world record. Another example on how challenging it is to be a gold medalist. Apart from the race walks and marathon, nine track and field events will hold finals in the morning session to ensure that they receive maximum visibility for the sport across all time zones.
On 16 October 2019, the IOC announced that there were plans to re-locate the marathon and racewalking events to Sapporo due to heat concerns. The plans were made official on 1 November 2019 after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike accepted the IOC's decision, despite her belief that the events should have remained in Tokyo. McLaughlin and Muhammad both returned to compete on the stacked women's 4x400m hurdles team alongside Felix and 800m gold medalist Athing Mu. McLaughlin will now return home from Tokyo as a two-time Olympic gold medalist and world record holder with plenty of more history to be made in the future. He later married 1988 Olympic shot put gold medalist Natalya Lisovskaya; their daughter, Alexia Sedykh, won the inaugural Youth Olympic hammer throw gold medal for France in 2010.
Growing up in a track-crazed family in New Jersey, Mu started breaking youth records in her early teens. Mu set a collegiate record in the 400 this year at Texas A&M, then turned professional immediately after her season ended with multiple NCAA titles. At the trials, she blew away a strong field in the 800 meters, finishing acres ahead of a pack that included American record holder Ajee Wilson. Mu could be picked to run the 4x400, giving her two strong chances at gold medals in her first of probably many Olympics. The only American track and field athlete with 10 medals is Carl Lewis. Felix could catch, or even surpass, Lewis in her fifth and final Olympics.
Felix made the U.S. team in the 400 meters at age 35, less than three years after giving birth to her daughter, Camryn, via an emergency delivery that threatened both mother and child. Felix could also be chosen for the 4x400 relay, where the U.S. team would be a heavy favorite. Lasitskene is a Russian athlete who specializes in the high jump.
She won the gold medal at the 2015, 2017, and 2019 World Championships. The three-time world champion was picked by ROC on its 10-strong athletics team for the Tokyo Olympics under rules limiting the size of its squad owing to a longstanding doping dispute. To qualify for the women's 400-meter final in her fifth Olympic Games, Allyson Felix broke another record.
In the third and final semifinal heat, the six-time Olympic gold medalist finished second in 49.89, setting a new world W35 best, according to World Athletics. Led by Jamaican Stephenie Ann McPherson's 49.34 victory out of the first heat, every sprinter who qualified for the women's 400-meter final broke 50 seconds. Olympic Trials champion Quanera Hayes will be representing Team USA in the podium chase. Despite having beaten Rio Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon by more than 2 seconds at worlds in 2019, Hassan is +350 in the 1,500. Even though Kipyegon (-400) outkicked Hassan in Monaco earlier this year, en route to 2021's fastest time, this is much closer to a toss-up than the odds indicate. Hassan is the women's mile record holder; Kipyegon is 8-6 in this head-to-head matchup.
Betting either Hassan or Miller-Uibo early comes risk-free, with BetMGM providing refunds if a bet is placed on an athlete who does not compete in the event. Ash Moloney won Australia's only male track and field medal, with an incredible bronze medal in the decathlon making him the first Australian to win a medal in the event. Nicola McDermott did the best of our track and field athletes, posting a personal best and new national record in the women's high jump to take home the silver medal. Team USA's track and field team possesses many budding stars on the verge of winning their first Olympic gold medal. Felix is the only female track and field athlete to win six Olympic gold medals.
The veteran sprinter's nine overall Olympic medals are tied with former runner Merlene Ottey for most ever by a female Olympian in track and field history. Grant Holloway came close to breaking Aries Merritt's 110-meter hurdles world record in his U.S. Olympic trials semifinal heat, finishing one-hundredth of a second behind the all-time mark with a time of 12.81 seconds.
The 23-year-old went on to win the final with a time of 12.96. Raven Saunders had a gold medal celebration for her silver medal performance in the women's shot put final. After becoming the first American man to win a gold medal in the 1,500 meters since 1908, Centrowitz returns still at peak form. At 31, Centrowitz is an old man at the distance — even back in 2016, he wondered if he would have to move up to 5,000 meters for the next Olympics. But he finished second by a hair to 20-year-old Cole Hocker at the Olympic trials. He may not be the fastest, but he has become one of America's greatest middle-distance runners through tactical savvy that borders on sorcery.
With 48 medal events starting Saturday morning, track and field has the busiest schedule. The top athletes in the U.S. sealed their bids during the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., last month, and they'll match up with a number of international athletes with chances to break world records. In the final event of the U.S. trials, reigning world champion Noah Lyles punched his ticket to his first Olympics by winning the 200m race with a time of 19.74 seconds, the best in the world this year.
Felix then had a chance to qualify in the 200m, the individual event she has a gold medal in, but finished fifth despite posting a season-best time of 22.11 seconds. Gabby Thomas claimed the U.S. 200m title in a world-best 21.61, which was also a trials record and the third-fastest time ever. Allyson Felix is set for a fifth Olympic appearance after finishing second in the women's 400m final with a season-best time of 50.02 seconds. A late push from Felix, who won silver in the same event in the 2016 Rio Games, helped her avoid falling out of the qualifying ranks, with only 0.08 seconds separating second place from fourth.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy stunned the running world when he won the first gold medal of his career, running a time of 9.80, a personal best. Jacobs also becomes the first Italian to win gold at the Olympics in the 100 meters. Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands finished fourth in 47.08, a national record. Yasmani Copello of Turkey and Rasmus Magi of Estonia also broke national records for their countries by finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. According to World Athletics, the top eight performances make the Tokyo men's 400-meter hurdles final the deepest race in history.
The third-place finish in her fifth Olympic Games is Felix's 10th Olympic medal and makes her the most decorated female Olympian in track and field. With bronze in Tokyo, she passed Merlene Ottey and tied Carl Lewis, who has 10, as the most decorated American athlete in track and field. Felix could earn another medal on Saturday as a member of Team USA's 4x400-meter relay team. She came home from the 2016 Games with a silver medal in the event, after Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas dove across the finish line to win by 0.07 seconds. Felix still took gold in the 4 x 100- and 4 x 400-meter relays. Felix was just 18 years old when she won her first Olympic medal at the 2004 Athens Games.
Now she's 35, nine medals deep, and competing for her fifth and final time. She's the most decorated athlete, male or female, in world championships history. But beyond that, she's evolved into a leader off the track, championing athlete maternal rights after the birth of her own daughter, as well as advocating for black maternal health. Peter Bol looked to be a serious medal chance in the men's 800m after finishing second in his heat and topping his semi-final – setting a new Oceanic record in both races. He ran a brave race in the final, but ultimately finished fourth. Elon University track and field assistant coach Laura Igaune represented her native country of Latvia in the 2020 Olympic Games this summer.
She competed in the hammer throw portion of the track and field competition. USC products Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin are among the fastest at running one lap around the track. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn nabbed a gold in the women's 100-meter hurdles. She became the first athlete from Puerto Rico to medal in these Olympics and won the first track and field gold in the history of her country and just the second overall. At the 2012 London Olympics, it took six days of track and field competition until U.S. hurdler Aries Merritt won the first track and field gold medal for the men.
Recording all the way back to the 1988 Olympics, the U.S. men have never gone through the first seven days without a single gold medal. Winning an Olympic gold medal is extraordinarily difficult, especially in individual sports such as track and field. To put things in perspective, the world population is approaching 7.9 billion, according to Worldometer. Team USA went 1-2 in men's shot put, with Ryan Crouser winning his second straight gold medal and Joe Kovacs earning silver. Finally history will be made with the first-ever mixed gender event for medals in Athletics, the 4x400 mixed relay. The men's discus final will feature 12 athletes, including the USA's Sam Mattis who is a longshot at +8000 to win gold.
Daniel Stahl of Sweden is the -285 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, and he the only man in the field to have gone over 71 meters with his best throw. And no other sport offers more opportunities for individual medalists than track and field. It features 48 medal events — 11 more than second-place swimming — and 189 medals over the final 10 days of competition in Tokyo.
U.S. champion Clayton Murphy's experience at the Games helped him maneuver his way into the finals of the men's 800 meters from the second heat. Harrison's path to this Olympics started soon after missing the Rio Games in 2016. Team USA swept this event in Rio in 2016, but Harrison, 28, wasn't a member of the squad after finishing sixth in the U.S. Harrison made her presence known on the world stage in a different way soon after when broke the world record with a 12.20 at the London Müller Anniversary Games in 2016. She followed that up with a silver medal at the 2019 IAAF World Championships, and her win at the 2021 U.S.
Five years after just missing the podium in Rio, Soufiane El Bakkali finally earned his Olympic medal with a winning performance in Tokyo. The Botswanan team set a new African record in the men's 4x400-meter relay and became the first African team to medal in the event since Nigeria won bronze in 2004. But will either Frerichs or Coburn finally break the nine-minute barrier in Tokyo?
Coburn won bronze in 2016, then went on to become the world champion in 2017, while Frerichs, who also raced in 2016, set that American record in 2018 and was the world championship silver medalist in 2017. OUR INTERNATIONAL PANEL has crunched all the data for Tokyo, and the overall results say that the U.S. women will enjoy a medal haul almost exactly like the one they had in Rio 5 years ago. The crystal ball says 16 total podium spots, split as 6 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze. The number of overall medals stays the same last time, as does the number of golds.
