World record holder Eliud Kipchoge vowed to enjoy the moment before setting his next goal after successfully defending his Olympic men's marathon title at Tokyo 2020 on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Kenyan won by over a minute in a time of two hours, eight minutes and 38 seconds, with Dutchman Abdi Nageeye and Belgium's Bashir Abdi taking silver and bronze respectively.
The triumph was a coronation for Kipchoge who won gold at Rio 2016, while he claimed bronze and silver Olympic medals in the 5,000m in Athens and Beijing respectively.
Kipchoge, who is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner in the modern era, refused to look ahead after his latest win.
"I am a believer of the philosophy that you should only chase one rabbit," Kipchoge said. "If you chase two, then you cannot get all of them.
"For the last two years I have been focusing on the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, so I will only plan the next thing when there is a big job ahead of me.
"What was in my bucket list was Tokyo 2020. So I will go back now, talk to my coach, and see what the opportunities are and then I will come back to you people. But, for now, I want to enjoy winning here in Tokyo."
Nageeye and Abdi claimed second and third with an enthralling final sprint, edging out Kenyan Lawrence Cherono for the medals. The Dutchman willed on training partner Abdi in the dying stages.
"I was just telling him to stay with us, stay with us the last one (kilometre)," Nageeye said. "I felt good as that is what I was doing. I wasn't volunteering, but I knew if he stayed until the end, the last 200 metres, close your eyes and just sprint."
KENNY CLAIMS HISTORIC SEVENTH OLYMPIC GOLD
British cyclist Jason Kenny secured his seventh career Olympic gold medal, winning the men's keirin final on the final day of the Games after a remarkable race where he stormed ahead unopposed.
Kenny claimed his historic gold by 0.763 seconds from Malaysia's Mohd Azizulhasni Awang who edged Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands on the line to claim silver and bronze respectively.
In a bizarre race, the 33-year-old Kenny pulled clear with two laps to go, with second-placed Matthew Glaetzer not following him, powering ahead and eventually crossing the line on his own.
"It was such a long way," Kenny said. "I felt like the last lap took me about half an hour. But I got there in the end. I still can’t believe I crossed the line on my own."
He first won gold in the team sprint at Beijing 2008, following with two triumphs at London 2012 and three at Rio 2016, including the keirin title which he successfully defended.
Kenny's gold medal means he is the most successful British athlete in Olympic history, pulling clear of cyclist Chris Hoy.
Jason's wife Laura Kenny was involved in a huge crash in the opening round of the women's omnium and missed out on the medals, with gold won by USA's Jennifer Valente. Japan's Yumi Kajihara won the host country's first medal in cycling at Tokyo 2020 with silver.
Canada's Kelsey Mitchell won the gold medal from Ukraine's Olena Starikova in the women's sprint, with Hong Kong's Lee Wai Sze taking bronze.
USA CONTINUE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL DYNASTY
The United States women's basketball team claimed their seventh consecutive gold medal with a 90-75 victory over hosts Japan.
Brittney Griner top-scored with 30 points for USA, along with five rebounds and two assists.
Team USA opened up a nine-point lead at the first change and they were never headed, with a strong display headed by Griner.
USA only hit four three-pointers for the game compared to Japan's eight, but the favourites played to their strengths with strong offensive and defensive contributions from A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
Wilson added 19 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and five assists, while Stewart was exceptional with 14 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and five assists.
USA veteran Sue Bird signed off on her Olympic career with a fifth gold medal.
USA MOVE CLEAR WITH VOLLEYBALL TRIUMPH
The United States moved into the outright lead on the gold medal table after clinching their first-ever women's volleyball victory.
USA triumphed 3-0 over Brazil, winning 25-21 25-20 25-14 in a dominant final display.
The gold medal took USA's tally to 39 golds, moving ahead of China with 38 as the final day continued to unfold.
Muhammad, Little and Clayton headline stacked 400m hurdles field at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
The women’s 400m hurdles promises to be one of the most exciting events at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational set for May 11 at the National Stadium in Kingston.
The field will include a number of the world’s top hurdlers including global medallists including the likes of Rushell Clayton, Shamier Little and Dalilah Muhammad.
Muhammad won Olympic gold back in Rio eight years ago and took silver in Tokyo five years later. Her time in the Tokyo final, 51.58, remains a personal best and makes her the third-fastest woman ever.
At the World Championships, the 34-year-old won gold in 2019 in a then-world record 52.16. She was also among the medals in Moscow in 2013, London in 2017 and Eugene in 2022.
Clayton took bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and had a similar result last year in Budapest with a personal best 52.81.
Little is a two-time World Championship silver medallist. The first came back at the 2015 edition in Beijing and the second came in Budapest last year.
Her personal best 52.39 was done back in 2021 and puts her fifth all-time.
Saturday’s field is completed by two-time Commonwealth Games champion Janieve Russell, Pan Am Games champion Gianna Woodruff, World Championship finalists Andrenette Knight and Anna Cockrell and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Shiann Salmon.
Clunis sets new hammer throw national record at USATF Throws Festival
Jamaican hammer thrower Nayoka Clunis set a new national record with a 71.83m throw at the USATF Throws Festival at the University of Arizona on Saturday.
Clunis, who represented Jamaica at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, broke the previous national record of 71.48m set back in 2016 by Daina Levy.
The 28-year-old started her series on Saturday with a 69.51m effort in the first round before producing 71.13m, 70.01m, 70.20m and 70.38m in the next four rounds.
She then uncorked her national record-breaking throw in the sixth and final round, finishing sixth overall in the competition.
Her best throw prior to Saturday was 71.18m done in Canada last year.
American Brooke Andersen threw 79.92m to win and was followed by China’s Jie Zhao (74.10m) and American Annette Echikunwoke (73.80m).
Elsewhere, 2019 World Championship silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 18.87m to win the women’s shot put ahead of Americans Adelaide Aquilla (18.47m) and Jessica Ramsey (18.34m).
Rajindra Campbell threw 21.69m for second in the men’s equivalent behind American Payton Otterdahl (22.41m). Mexico’s Uziel Munoz threw 21.68m for third.
The men’s discus throw saw 2019 World Championship runner-up Fedrick Dacres produce 64.07m for third behind the American pair Reggie Jagers (64.25m) and Joseph Brown (64.57m).
Mavericks sign Kidd to multi-year contract extension
Jason Kidd's name was rumoured to be a candidate for a recent head coach vacancy in the NBA.
The Mavericks made sure their head coach wasn't going to leave Dallas.
Kidd signed a multi-year contract extension with the Mavericks on Monday. Terms of the deal were not released.
The team announced the deal one day before Dallas faces the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of a Western Conference semi-finals series.
The 51-year-old Kidd is in his third season coaching the Mavericks and led the team to the 2023-24 Southwest Division title after going 50-32 in the regular season. Dallas then defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the play-offs to reach the conference semis for the second time in three years.
Given his success as a coach, the Los Angeles Lakers had reportedly shown interest in hiring Kidd for their recent opening after firing Darvin Ham on Friday.
While the Lakers are in a bit of a crossroads with LeBron James' future uncertain, the Mavericks appear to be on the rise as they're led by one of the NBA's most exciting players in Luka Doncic.
"I have known Jason for a long time, and I cannot think of a better, more qualified candidate to lead this team going forward," Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said in a statement. "As a former NBA Champion Hall of Fame player, Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role which cannot be duplicated. He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league, and I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to build upon the culture and foundation of success he's helped foster throughout his tenure as head coach."
In Kidd's first season in Dallas in 2021-22, the Mavericks won 52 games - the franchise's most since the 2010-11 NBA championship team - and reached the West finals. Kidd was the starting point guard on the Mavericks' title-winning team 13 years ago.
A 10-time All-Star as a player, Kidd is 323-296 in eight seasons as a head coach with previous stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
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