Day 5 of Olympic track and field action got underway at the Stade de France on Monday morning, featuring the debut of Nikki Hiltz and Tara Davis plus last chances for qualification for some key American athletes.
Yesterday's evening session featured a thrilling women's 5000m and 800m capped by Mondo Duplantis' world record in the pole vault.
This morning, seven qualifying events will be contested, including repechage "second chance" rounds in the 110mH, women's 400m, men's 400mH, and men's 200m, as well as the first rounds of the women's 1500m, men's javelin, and women's long jump.
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Stay tuned for live updates across the morning session.
6:30 AM EDT: Men's 200m Repechage Round
Only the winner of each of 4 heats will automatically advance to the semifinals, plus the next two fastest losers overall once all are completed. There are no Americans, as all the men advanced through the first round and will have one less race in their legs come the semifinals.
Nigeria's Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike takes the first heat with 20.51, barely beating Diego Aido Pettorossi who split 20.53.
Brendon Rodney of Canada wins heat 2 in 20.42, ahead of Jamaica's Bryan Levellin 20.47. Jamaica's men's 200m team is weaker than their 100m squad this year, so we'll have to wait and see if Levell will make it to the semis on time.
After false starting in the 100m, Canada's Aaron Brown has a lot to prove in heat 3. He puts together a strong race but is ultimately passed by Ryan Zeze of France, who beat Brown in a duel for the final auto-spot in 20.40.
After Jamaica's Andrew Hudson led most of the final heat, he got passed at the end by Erik Erlandsson who won in 20.49. Hudson's time of 20.55 would not be enough to advance -- with the last heat done, the time qualifiers are set at Brown (20.42) and Levell (20.47).
6:00 AM EDT: Men's 400mH Repechage Round
Top two per heat advance to the semis with no time qualifiers. We start with a bang as the American Trevor Bassitt gets through with a 48.64, followed by Emil Agyekum of Germany.
"Just control the controllables. Yesterday I was caught off guard with the whole process", Bassit told Lewis Johnson. "A medal, sub-47, that's the goal. I didn't do myself any favors yesterday, but it's good, we're still alive, that's what matters", Bassitt said.
In the second heat, it's Carl Bengstrom of Sweden that wins in 48.63, with Gerald Drummondtaking the crucial second spot charging by the Botswanan Victor Ntweng at the end.
Germany gets its second qualifier in the final repechage heat, with Joshua Abuaku staying strong despite an early slipup to finish 2nd behind Berke Akcam of Turkey, who won in 48.72.
5:50 AM EDT: Men's Javelin Semifinal Group B
Neeraj Chopra, the world's most popular track and field athlete and the defending Olympic gold medallist from India, really surprises on his first throw. It's 89.34m, well over the qualifying mark and proving that Chopra is in great position to repeat.
But it's Anderson Peters of Grenada with the best response, launching 88.63m on his first throw. It'll be them and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan (86.59m) to auto-Q in the first round of throws, with two to go.
It's a Brazillian record and Area Record for Luiz Mauricio Da Silva, auto-qualifying with an 85.91m throw in his final attempt to make him the fourth auto-spot in Group B. Behind him, Andrian Mardare of Moldova notches the final auto-Q with an 84.13m last throw.
Ultimately, all the favorites made it through except for the world leader Max Dehning of Germany. He still holds that world lead with a 90-meter throw, but his inconsistency ultimately did him in. At just 19 years old, he'll have more tries in the future.
5:20 AM EDT: Women's 400m Repechage Round
The winner of each heat and the next two fastest overall will continue. Kendall Ellis of the U.S. sits in heat 4. It's Ella Onojuvwevwoof Nigeria taking heat 1 in 50.59.
Heat 2 has a star in Olympic champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who's fitness was in question coming in. It's Gabby Scott of Puerto Rico who wins in 50.52, with Miller-Uibo well off from the start and finishing last in 53.50. Scott's run is a Puerto Rican national record.
Victoria Ohuruogu of Great Britain, at 31 years old, makes the semifinal round in her first Olympics by winning the 3rd repechage in 50.59. Her sister Christine won the Olympic 400m gold medal in 2008.
This fourth heat will be the final chance for Kendall Ellis of the US. She gets it done with a 50.44! That was a great performance by Ellis, who's health was in question post-Trials after seeing her first round.
The final time qualifiers are Miranda Charlene Coetzee of South Africa and Lurdes Gloria Manuel of Czechia, with the bubble being 50.81.
"Yesterday wasn't a good representation of myself or who I am", Ellis said. "I was so down yesterday. I wasn't even going to run the round today. I was out, I was done." She was thankful for her support network: "They carried me to the line today".
5:15 AM EDT: Women's Long Jump Semifinal
Two pits will be running simultaneously today, with top 12 advancing or all meeting 6.75m -- It'll be an exciting debut for Tara Davis-Woodhall.
It's a legal first jump for Davis, she left 14.8cm on the board but still almost made the auto-qualifying mark. Malaika Mihambo of Germany fouls her first two attempts -- this is getting treacherous for the former World champ.Larissa Iapichino of Italy is the first athlete to auto-Q with a 6.87m second-round jump.
And Davis-Woodhall gets it done shortly after with 6.90m -- that will be the last we'll see of her today. She only left 6cm on the board for that one.
Mihambo saves her Olympic dream with a 6.86m in the third round. The second American Jasmine Moore is in good position two jumps in with 6.66m, but it's not beyond that auto-qualifying mark.
The defending world champ Ivana Spanovich is only in 15th place after her third jump -- she won't be making the finals.
The final American Monae Nichols saves her best mark for last, posting a much-needed 6.64m leap to get all three Americans confirmed into the finals.
4:50 AM EDT: Men's 110mH Repechage Round
Top 2 in each of 3 heats will advance to the semis. In a controlled 13.42, Crittenden advances along with the Spaniard Asier Martinez. We'll see in the semis and final if this proves to be a good strategy overall.
After a false start by David Yefremov of Kazakhstan, heat 2 has several long holds leading to jeers from the crowd. That's one false start and two stand-ups so far. Rafael Pereira takes the win, but it's a photo finish for the next 3 spots. Raphael Mohamed of France takes the second spot to the crowd's delight.
In the final heat, it's China's Weibo Qin (13.44) and Wilhem Belocian of France that take the spots, again with Belocian's spot being decided in a photo finish.
"Crazy is not even the word," Crittenden said. "Team USA medical staff is the best in the world". "I wanted to make sure I got out hard", he said of hitting the first hurdle. He kept going and led the qualifiers.
4:20 AM EDT: Men's Javelin Semifinal Group A
Top 12 will move on from these two groups combined, with an auto-Q standard of 84.00m. Julian Weber of Germany looks great off the bat, 87.76 auto-Q in the first round. Kenyan 2015 world champ Julius Yego sits in 5th with 78.84m in his first attempt. The American here Curtis Thompson sits in 10th overall after his first round, with 76.79m. He'll be looking for an improvement to come.
At 35 years old, Yego launches a rocket to auto-qualify on his 3rd attempt. It's his best throw in five years. The auto-Qs from Group A are Weber, Yego, Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia, and Finland's Toni Keranen. Curtis Thompson is in 13th, meaning he won't advance.
4:05 AM EDT: Women's 1500m Quarter-finals
Heat 1
Top 6 per heat advance to the semis. This is made simpler by the fact that there are no time qualifiers, but more complicated by the new repechage round introduced as a second-chance for non-qualifiers in these heats. Laura Muir, Gudaf Tsegay,, Nozomi Tanaka, and American Emily Mackay feature in this heat.
Tanaka has broken away from the field in the opening lap -- she won't let this get slow. It's a 62.9 first 400, not the most surprising based on how the 1500 is run recently but still blazing fast. 2:09.2 at 800, with Tsegay on Tanaka's tail. It's 2:57 at 1100m, as Tsegay takes over and gets it done in 3:58.84. Mackay is moving forward at the end just like any 1500m-runner would want, and gets the auto-Q in 6th. It's Tsegay, Muir, then Kenya's Susan Ejore, Georgia Griffith, France's Agathe Gullemote, then Mackay. Tanaka is off the repechage in 11th after a hard bump, with word that there may be a related protest. Sinta Vissa runs the 2nd-fastest Italian 1500m of all-time in 4:00.69 for 8th, and Sophie O'Sillivan runs a U-Washington school record for 7th.
Mackay says, "I'm officially an Olympian now... the energy's insane here and I'm super excited to get this party started". She says "I was ready to run sub-4 today" and that she wasn't surprised to see the race go fast.
Heat 2
Here comes the Olympic debut of Nikki Hiltz in heat 2, facing some tough competition in the GOAT Faith Kipyegon, Georgia Bell, Maia Ramsden, and Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji.
It's much slower than the first heat -- 1:06 at 400 and 2:11.6 at 800 with Hall, Bell, then Esther Guerrero of Spain, then Ireland's Sarah Healy followed by Kipyegon going wide at 5th. Hiltz also starting to move up in tow. Welteji moves up to 3:14.9 at 1100m.
Welteji takes charge the last lap, winning in 3:59.73. It's Bell, Hiltz, Kipyegon, Poland's Wronika Lizakowska, and Harvard star Maia Ramsden rounding out the auto-Qs. Healy (nipped at the line) and Hall will have to try again in the repechage.
Hiltz says after the race, "It was all about patience... It's been a lot of patience the past month." "I get so excited for the rounds because it's a game out there". They're "hoping to bring out my inner child" for the rounds to come, and they say "thank you to everyone for waking up [to watch]... you can go to bed now". Not for FloTrack, covering track and field 24/7!
Heat 3
It's the Jess Hull show coming up, with the most unlikely world record holder of 2024 starting alongside American Elle Purrier St. Pierre. There's some East African opposition in 18-year-old Birke Haylom and Kenya's Nelly Chepchirchiras well. Chepchirchir has it at 400, with the slowest split yet of 1:07.8. Everyone's bunched together when Haylom splits 800m at 2:15.6.
Chepchirchir gets bumped on the rail as Hull is in perfect position on the lead's shoulder followed by St. Pierre. It's a clear separation forChepchirchir and crew to finish in 4:02.67, followed by Hull and St. Pierre with the final auto-qualifiers Klaudia Kazimierska of Poland, Solme Afonso of Portugal, and Marta Perez of Spain. It's surprising that both Uganda's Winnie Nanyondo and Birke Haylom sit in 10th and 11th, so they'll have to have at least one more race in their legs if they want to make the semis.
St. Pierre says she can hardly hear Lewis Johnson over the stadium roar. "The crowd really carries you", she says. "Every race you learn something from. Being in Tokyo before I definitely learned a lot." She's trying to rely on her experience and hold confidence going forward.
