Men's Long Jump Gold medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece. Photo:@HellenicOlympic/Twitter.
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Tentoglou proves Greek men can jump
Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou has taken out the Men’s Long Jump this morning winning via countback after tying with Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria, both jumping 8.41m.
Based on the countback Tentoglou second-best score of 8.15m was enough to better Echevarria’s second-best score of 8.09m.
Tentoglou saved his Gold medal-winning jump until his sixth and final attempt, sitting in fourth place prior to the jump.
Tentoglou has had a fantastic 2021, having won the European Indoor Championship in March, however his 8.41m jump is the furthest of his career.
With his victory, Tentoglou added a second Gold to Greece’s Olympic tally, which now sits at two Golds and one Bronze.
Women’s 1500m Heats
The Women’s 1500m heats kicked off the first track events of the day, with three heats to determine who would be racing in the two semi-final races on Wednesday.
The top six in each heat gained automatic qualification and of the remaining field the next fastest six also advanced to the semi-finals.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon was the fastest qualifier with a time of 4:01.40.
Three Aussie women took part in the heats, however only Jessica Hull and Liden Hall were able to qualify while Georgia Griffith missed out.
From the two semi-finals, the top five from each heat will qualify for the final as well as the two other fastest women who miss out on the top five.
Brain fade in the Women’s 200m Heats
No one would have expected the Women’s 200m heats to be drama-filled however Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson made sure they were.
In a bizarre case the 100m Bronze medallist appeared to slow down on the line, resulting in her finishing in fourth place and therefore not qualifying.
In the 200m, the top three from each heat move on to the semi-finals however the ill-fated mistake allowed Italy’s Dalia Kaddari to take third place and therefore qualify by the slimmest of margins.
Jackson was expected to make the final and be one of the top racers, however, the mistake left many confused labelling the act as unprofessional.
Camacho-Quinn hurdles to Gold
Puerto Rico has won their first medal of the Tokyo 2020 Games and Gold thanks to a sensationally run by Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the Women’s 100m Hurdles.
Camacho-Quinn entered as the favourite after breaking the Olympic Record in her semi-final heat yesterday with a time of 12.26.
While she was unable to recreate a time as good, her time of 12.37 was enough to secure Gold. The United States Kendra Harrison won the Silver while Jamaica’s Megan Tapper was the Bronze medallist.
Women’s 200m final set
Following tonight’s three semi-final heats the Women’s 200m final is now set for tomorrow night.
Both Jamaican’s Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce the Women’s 100m Gold and Silver medallists qualified for the final, where they will both be in the favourites to medal.
Thompson-Herah qualified the fastest, with a time of 21.66 equally her personal best. If she is able to win Gold in the final she will then have won the Women’s 100m and 200m in back to back Olympics.
The race is on in the Men’s 400m
The finalists for one of the most gruelling sprint events on the track, the Men’s 400m has been determined with a very tight field set to compete for Gold.
Grenada’s James Kirani won the first semi-final and in the process became the first man to ever make three Olympic 400m finals. Kirani has had great success in the past having medalled in the event the past two times, winning Gold in London 2012 and Silver in Rio 2016.
The United States Michael Cherry won the second semi-final charging away on the final straight to claim the heat victory. Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor was the other man from the heat to qualify.
In the final semi-final heat, 2019 World Championship winner and current world number one Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas won his heat booking his place in the final. Gardiner has never won a medal in an individual event at the Olympics however will enter the final as a strong contender to medal.
The final will take place on Thursday.
United States get three into the 400m Hurdle final
The United States has put in strong performances in all three semi-finals of the Women’s 400m Hurdles having all their athletes competing in the races qualify for the final.
The Women did not have it easy having to race in the rain on a wet track.
In the first heat, Dalilah Muhammad of the United States and Janieve Russell of Jamacia were the two to qualify.
In the second heat world number one and favourite in the final, the United States Sydney McLaughlin won her heat with ease by over a second to Panama’s Gianna Woodruff.
In the third and final heat, Femke Bol of the Netherlands was victories booking her place in the final along with Anna Cockrell of the United States. Bol is the world number three and the 2021 European Indoor Champion and will be the most likely to challenge McLaughlin and the other Americans for the Gold.
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Allman glides into Gold
The United States Valarie Allman was won the Gold in the Women’s Discus Throw, with a throw of 68.98m.
Allman was the one to beat for the majority of the final, throwing her Gold medal-winning distance on her first attempt.
Germany’s Kristin Pudenz came closest with a throw of 66.86m in her fifth attempt. The throw earnt Pudenz Silver and in the process set a new personal best for her.
Cuba’s Yaime Perez won Bronze with a throw of 65.72m, her best result in the event at her third Olympic games.
El-Bakkali ends Kenya’s 41-year reign
Soufiane El-Bakkali is the first-ever Moroccan to claim Gold in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase putting in a fantastic final 1000m to win.
Ethiopia’s looked as though they could win Gold and Silver having Lamecha Girma and Getnet in first and second with 1000m to go. However, El Bakkali charged home from fifth place to claim a famous victory.
El Bakkali finally won that elusive Olympic medal which he has craved after just missing out in Rio with a fourth-place finish.
Even more impressive is that this is the first time since the 1980 Moscow games that a Kenyan has not won the event.
Kenya did however not walk away empty-handed with Benjamin Kigen winning Bronze.
Hassan Queen of the 5000m
In the final event of tonight’s athletics session, all eyes were on the Women’s 5000m where the Netherlands Sifan Hassan was crowned the Gold medallist after a sensational run.
Hassan spent the first 3000m sitting near the back of the field in 10th, however started making her charge in the final 1500m climbing up to seventh with 1000m to go and then storming home to win.
Hassan finished with a time of 14:36.79, followed by silver medallist Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia.
This is Hassan first Olympic medal, however, she will be looking to add more to her collection racing in the 1500m and 10,000m later this week.
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