PARIS — What. An. End. Quincy Hall produced one of the most impressive sprints of all time in the men’s 400m final at the Stade de France on Wednesday night, winning gold in 43.40 seconds, making him the fourth fastest man in history. In the toughest final of all time, five men finished under 44 seconds, but it was Hall who set the fastest time of the day.
With Hall’s gold medal, the United States has won six medals so far after seven days of competition, and the U.S. team is at the top of the medal table with 19 medals. In the team rankings, the American athletes have collected 165 points, 117 ahead of second-place Great Britain.
Hall was fifth at the halfway point and nearly half a second behind leader Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain after the final turn. He cleared the field with a time of 11.59 seconds to gain a 0.04-second lead over Hudson-Smith in second place. Hall ran the fastest time ever run by an American at the Games, beating the 43.49 seconds that Michael Johnson ran to win gold in Atlanta in 1996. The Briton’s 43.44 seconds moved him up to fifth on the all-time list, and Muzala Samukonga of Zambia was also very fast, taking bronze with a national record of 43.74 seconds. Chris Bailey Sixth place in 44.58 and Michael Norman finished eighth with 45.62.
An incredibly daring move at the gong of Kenneth Rooks in the final of the men’s 3000m steeplechase paid off as he defeated Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot in 8:06.41 to take silver behind Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, who won his second consecutive Olympic title in 8:06.05.
Rooks, the two-time U.S. champion, entered the final with a personal best of 8:15.08 and was likely a supporting character to many observers with the 15th best personal best of the 16 competitors. Rooks was in 2:42.8 at 12km and moved up to 9th at 2km. He finished in 5:30.6, just one second behind the leader as the field was tightly packed. Fourth at the bell, Rooks put his foot down and moved forward on the backstretch. On his final lap of 58 seconds, he set the seventh fastest time in Olympic history and became the second fastest American ever.
As at the World Championships last summer in Budapest, the women’s pole vault was a duel between the reigning Olympic champion Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy of Australia. The duo shared the gold medal in this competition, but Kennedy had the upper hand tonight as she managed 4.90/16-0.75 on her first attempt to seal her victory. Moon had a clean card in the first four heights but needed two attempts to clear 4.85/15-11. She tried 4.90 once, then got to 4.95/16-2.75, but her last two attempts were in vain. It was the most challenging competition in Olympic history, with five women over 4.80 and four more over 4.70.
Same song, second verse? The US trio in the men’s 200-meter race hopes that the second verse will include an upgrade to sweep status, as Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles And Erriyon Knighton, who went 2-3-4 at the last Games, made it to the final with ease, leaving Tokyo gold medalist Andre De Grasse of Canada behind. Bednarek seemed to have the first semi-final completely under control, carefully sizing up his competition en route to a 20.00 win. American record holder and world champion Lyles was safely in second place in the next semi-final with a 20.08, and Knighton then came out of the corner with a vengeance to win the final semi-final with a 20.09.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, all three Americans and all three Jamaicans reached the final, meaning Tokyo winner Hansle Parchment and three-time world champion Grant Holloway on a collision course with the gold medal. Holloway set the fastest time of the three semi-finals, crossing the barriers in 12.98 seconds, the sixth fastest time in the history of the Games. Parchment had to work hard before confirming his status as a time qualifier, finishing third in 13.19 seconds. Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica prevailed Freddie Crittenden in the second semi-final, 13.21-13.23, and Jamaica’s Orlando Bennett was awarded the Daniel Roberts in the third semifinal from September 13th to October 13th. Crittenden is the first athlete to make it through the repechage round into the final.
The American record holder and 2020 silver medalist strode casually over the final barrier in the third semifinal of the men’s 400-meter hurdles Ray Benjamin won in 47.85, setting up a rematch between the three medalists from the Tokyo Olympics. Benjamin ran the first five hurdles very quickly and put himself in a position to win. He left the field behind on the turn and had no real challenge from then on. In the first semifinal, world record holder and reigning champion Karsten Warholm of Norway won with 47.67, the fastest time of all three semifinals. 2020 bronze medalist Alison dos Santos of Brazil only finished third in this section but advanced as a time qualifier with 47.95. Trevor Bassitt finished fourth in the first semi-final with 48.29 and did not advance, while CJ Allen had a good run in the second semi-final, but finished fourth with 48.44.
Masai Russell finished the third heat with Nadine Visser of the Netherlands in 12.53 seconds to lead three Americans into the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Russell and Visser crossed the finish line together and their times were exactly the same to the thousandth of a second, both clocking 12.528 seconds. Subscribe to started for the US team with a second place of 12.61 in the first run and Grace Stark 12.72 for third place in the fifth run crowned a successful performance.
The men’s 5000 races looked more like rookie drivers at the third turn on a wet track at Indy and were notable for their very leisurely pace and the carnage that followed. In the early stages of the first heat, elbows were thrown and several drivers went down in a mass accident, but Graham Blanks managed to avoid the bloodbath and secured a place in the final in sixth place with a time of 14:09.06. Four of the men who fell later made it to the final after appeals.
Reigning world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway won the second race in 13:51.59, but not without drama when a careless cameraman strolled right through the group of runners a few laps before the end. Fortunately, no one fell victim to this intrusion and the 10,000-meter bronze medalist Frank Fischer secured his place in the final in fourth place with a time of 13:52.44. Abdihamid Nur He got tangled up on the home straight and fell. He managed to do it again and finished in 14:15.00, which meant he missed out on a place in the final.
Two of three U.S. runners made it through the men’s 800-meter races, led by Trials champion Bryce Hoppelwho finished second in the sixth heat with a time of 1:45.24. Less than 18 hours after finishing fifth in a historic 1500m final, Hobbs-Kessler fought through with tired legs and secured a place in the semi-finals with a time of 1:46.15 in the fourth run. The hope round and the redemption await Brandon Miller after his 1:46.34 in the third run was only enough for eighth place and an additional run was necessary to reach the semi-finals.
A strong final spurt in the second semi-final of the women’s 400 m secured her place in the final for Alexis Holmeswho ran 50.00 and secured one of the two places in her section that could qualify automatically. After the repechage round, the Trials champion returned Kendall Ellis In the third semi-final I finished fourth in 50.40, but that was not enough for one of the two time qualifying places. Aaliyah Butler took sixth place in the first semifinal with a time of 51.18. Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain raced to the fastest semifinal time in the history of the Games in the first section, clocking 49.08 to become the sixth woman under 50 seconds.
Trial Master Shelby McEwen was the top qualifier in the men’s high jump and needed just three jumps to get into the final. McEwen managed 2.15/7-0.5 and then moved on to 2.24/7-4.25, clearing comfortably on his first attempt. He was the only man in Group A to clear the line on his first attempt, scoring 2.27/7-5.25 to secure his place in the final. JuVaughn Harrison made 2.20/7-2.5 and Vernon Turner’s The best result was 2.15/7-0.5, but neither of them made it to the final.
NCAA champion and Olympic qualifier winner Salif Mane showed no signs of nervousness in his first international championship appearance, surpassing the automatic qualifying mark with 17.16/56-3.75 on his first attempt in the men’s triple jump and moving into the final with the third-best mark of the day. He will be the only US athlete in this final with Donald Scott (16.77/55-0.25 in the 14th) and Russell Robinson (16.47/54-0.5 in 22nd place) was eliminated after finishing outside the top 12.
Maggie Malone Hardin achieved a personal best of 58.76/192-9 on her first attempt and did not qualify for the final in the women’s javelin throw.
MEDALS FOR TEAM USA (19)
Gold (6)
- Shot put, men – Ryan Crouser, 22.90/75-1.75
- Men’s 100 – Noah Lyles, 9.79
- Discus throw, women – Valarie Allman, 69.50/228-0
- Men’s 1500 m – Cole Hocker, 3:27.65 (Olympic record)
- 200 m, women – Gabby Thomas, 21.83
- Men’s 400 m – Quincy Hall, 43.40
Silver (7)
- Shot put, men – Joe Kovacs, 22.15/72-8
- Mixed 4×400 Relay – 3:07.74 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
- Women’s 100m – 10.87, Sha’Carri Richardson
- Men’s Pole Vault – Sam Kendricks, 5.95/19-6.25
- Women’s hammer – Annette Echikunwoke, 75.48/247-8
- Women’s Pole Vault – Katie Moon, 4.85/15-11
- Men’s 3000m steeplechase – Kenneth Rooks, 8:06.41
Bronze (6)
- 10,000 m, men – Grant Fisher, 26:43.46
- 100 m, women – 10.92, Melissa Jefferson
- Women’s triple jump – Jasmine Moore, 14.67/48-1.75
- Men’s 100 m – Fred Kerley, 9.81
- 1500m, men – Yared Nuguse, 3:27.80
- 200 m, women – Brittany Brown, 22.20
RECORDS SET
World record
- Mixed 4×400 Relay – 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
American record
- Mixed 4×400 Relay – 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
Olympic record
- Men’s 1500 – Cole Hocker, 3:27.65
American Olympic best
- Women’s discus – Valarie Allman, 69.59/228-3 (in qualification)
- Mixed 4×400 Relay – 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
- 10,000 m, men – Grant Fisher, 26:43.46
- Women’s 1500 m – Emily Mackay, 3:59.63 (semi-final)
- Women’s hammer – Annette Echikunwoke, 75.48/247-8
- Men’s 1500 – Cole Hocker, 3:27.65
- Men’s 400 m – Quincy Hall, 43.40
