Sifan Hassan doubled up, Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke an Olympic record and Neeraj Chopra made history for India on the final Saturday at Tokyo 2020.
On the last night of athletics inside the Olympic Stadium there was plenty of reason to celebrate with the United States rounding out the track events in the Japanese capital in style in the 4x400m relays.
Here's a round-up from all the action.
HASSAN AT THE DOUBLE
Hassan came into these Games attempting an unprecedented 1500, 5000 and 10,000m treble.
Ultimately, she fell narrowly short after taking bronze in the shortest distance on Friday but the Dutchwoman doubled up with a fantastic win in the 10,000m.
Letesenbet Gidey led for much of the race, with Hassan and Kalkidan Gezahegne making it a three-way tussle. The former fell away on the final bend as Hassan – who is the second woman to win three medals in individual distance events at a single Games – sprinted to the line to come home in a time of 29:55.32.
In the women's marathon Peres Jepchirchir led home a Kenya one-two, a first for the women's event in Olympic competition, in stifling morning conditions. World record holder Brigid Kosgei had to settle for silver and Molly Seidel of the United States completed the podium.
THERE'S NOR-WAY TO BEAT NEW OLYMPIC-RECORD HOLDER JAKOB
In a thrilling men's 1500m race, Ingebrigtsen finally defeated Timothy Cheruiyot in their 13th career competitive meeting.
To do so, the Norwegian had to run a European and Olympic record time of 3:28.32, with Cheruiyot just holding off Josh Kerr to take silver.
Kerr and the three athletes to follow him all ran PBs, while the first seven men all finished inside the pre-2021 Olympic record time of 3:32.07.
CHOPRA BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR INDIA
Prior to this final evening of competition in the Olympic Stadium, India had never won an athletics gold.
All that changed thanks to Chopra, who took out the men's javelin thanks to a second-round throw of 87.58m.
In a huge shock, overwhelming favourite Johannes Vetter did not even make the cut for the final three throws and finished ninth.
Czech duo Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely rounded out the podium.
Mariya Lasitskene of the Russian Olympic Committee won a thriller in the women's high jump, clearing 2.04m on her second attempt.
Nicola McDermott, with a new PB and Oceanic record of 2.02m claimed silver, and Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh cleared the same height but took bronze having dislodged the bar first time around.
USA DOMINATE 4x400m RELAYS
As is tradition at an Olympics, the 4x400m relays closed the show. First up were the woman and the United States quartet wowed with a 3:16.85 – the fifth fastest in history and quickest since 1993.
Sydney McLaughlin and Athing Mu consequently won second golds of the Games, while Allyson Felix extended her record of most track and field medals for a female athlete to 11. The teams from Poland and Jamaica were second and third.
The men were just as dominant in the final track event of the night as the quartet of Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin ran home in 2:55.70 to beat the Netherlands and Botswana.
Rhoden runs personal best 1:45.97 to claim 800m title at ACC Outdoor Championships
Jamaica now has another man under 1:46.00 in the 800m in the form of Clemson senior Tarees Rhoden.
Rhoden ran a personal best 1:45.97 to claim gold at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday.
Wake Forest junior Rynard Swanepoel ran 1:46.69 for second while Virginia senior Shane Cohen ran 1:46.89 in third.
The 23-year-old former Kingston College standout, who was eighth in the final last season, entered Saturday’s race with a personal best of 1:46.20 done last April.
Coach pleased as St John’s Primary student Perez Pearson shines at INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Central Athletics Championships
The outstanding display of sportsmanship by 12-year-old St John’s Primary student Perez Pearson at Wednesday’s grand final of the Central Championships under the umbrella of the 42nd staging of the Devon Biscuits/Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) All-Island Primary Schools Athletics Championships, has been commended by his coach Jermaine Miller.
Pearson finished tied for first place Male Overall Champion with Ricardo Granville of Naggo Head Primary.
“Perez is a multi-faceted student and he always had other areas to give of his time. However, his time management and the support he has at home, is really top notch and that has helped him to create the necessary balance that needed to succeed,” Miller said in a media release.
Pearson, who is also the head boy at his school, won first place in the long jump as well as in the Boys 9-13 800 Sprint Medley Open finals.
Said Miller, “I am extremely happy and proud of his execution in all his events. His performance, especially in the long jump showed he has good composure under pressure as well, as it displayed his competitive nature.”
Miller has been Pearson’s coach for the past two years. He believes the young athlete can excel at the high school level.
“For sure, he will continue track and field going into high school. He is a brilliant youngster academically and he has high ambitions of becoming a pilot. So, I’m hopeful that he will continue in the sport after high school. If he does, I am confident that he will reach the national and international level and do well at whatever he does,” Miller disclosed.
According to Pearson’s mother Tamara Woodhouse he lost his father at the age of five. She said the elder Pearson had wanted his son to do well in academics and sports.
“If his father was alive, he would have been so proud of him. He always wanted him to do anything in sports and academics while being involved in school activities. I have been supportive of his sporting activities, I’m always at his track meets, and every event that he takes part in. I also make sure he has his gears,” said Woodhouse.
Woodhouse, who resides in Willowdene in Spanish Town, said she is ecstatic about her son’s achievements.
“It was a good performance. I was excited, overjoyed and nervous at the same time whenever he ran,” she said.
She shared that his interest in sports started in the third grade.
“I think he was in the third grade when he began to take it seriously, but it wasn’t until he was in grade five that he started to run. This is his second year participating in the Central champs. Last year, someone ran past him at the finishing line, and he said he would never let that happen to him again.”
Sherene Bryan, brand manager for title sponsor Devon Biscuits, said that Pearson’s achievements augurs well for the brand and what it represents.
“It was an easy decision for us to come on board. We recognize the importance of supporting, fostering and encouraging the young athletes of tomorrow. They are the future. It starts right here, these are the stars of the future,” said Bryan.
Corinaldi Avenue Primary race to 13-point lead on penultimate day of INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Western Athletics Championships
Defending champion Corinaldi Avenue Primary of St James raced to a 13-point lead on the penultimate day of the INSPORTs/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Western Athletics Championships on Friday.
After 11 finals, Corinaldi surged to 86.5 points ahead of Black River Primary of St Elizabeth on 73.5 and Howard Cooke Primary of St James sitting in third spot on 54 points. Brompton Primary of St Elizabeth are fourth with 50 points while Glen Stuart Primary completed the top five on 48 points.
The records continued to tumble but the star of the day was Santana Brown of Brompton who won two events the Girls Cricketball Open with 42.04m and returned later to capture the high jump with a record leap of 1.37m.
Her teammate Keneek Grove won the Boys’ Cricket ball Open with a record 64.67m ahead of Corinaldi’s Al-Jay Levy with 63.50m.
Brompton won three events and took an early while Howard Cooke won three relays all in record fashion. In fact, seven of the eight relay records were broken.
Howard Cooke won the Girls’ Class Four 4x100 in 1:02.49 and the Girls’ Class Two in 54.75, both in record fashion. They also won Boys’ Class One in 52.85 just outside the record of 52.19 held by Barracks Road since 2023.
Corinaldi Avenue won two relays in record style, the Boys’ Class Four in a record 58.05 and the Boys’ Class Three in 55.35.
Glen Stuart also won two relays in record fashion capturing the Girls’ Class Three 4x100 in 58.29 and the Boys’ Class Two in 55.25. Barracks Road Primary won the Girls Class One in a record 53.55.
There will be 29 finals tomorrow as teams fight to book their spots in the all-island finals dubbed the Nationals on May 20-22. Lyssons of St Thomas won the Eastern Championship and Naggo Head of St Catherine won the Central Championship.
The National champion will walk away with $600,000. Lyssons are the defending champions.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
