Day 4 of track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympics saw three Jamaican women advance to the semi-final round of the 400m hurdles. Shian Salmon, Rushell Clayton, and Janieve Russell all secured their spots in the next round, where they will face stiff competition primarily from their American rivals for places in the final set for Tuesday, August 6.
Salmon emerged as the fastest Jamaican qualifier, running a solid 53.95 seconds to finish second in her heat. The heat was won by gold medal contender Femke Bol, who clocked an impressive 53.38 seconds.
Clayton also made a strong impression, comfortably winning the opening heat with a time of 54.32 seconds. Clayton’s smooth and confident run positions her well for a possible place on the podium come Tuesday assuming she advances from the semi-finals.
Russell faced a bit more competition but still managed to qualify with ease. She finished third in her heat with a time of 54.67 seconds. The heat was won by the USA’s Anna Cockrell, who crossed the finish line in 53.91 seconds.
In addition to the Jamaicans, the competition will be fierce with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the defending champion and world record holder, who cruised to victory in the final heat with a time of 53.60 seconds. McLaughlin-Levrone remains the strong favourite for the gold medal.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Durant makes Olympics history as USA steamroll into semi-finals
Kevin Durant became the United States' all-time leading scorer at the Olympic Games in a 122-87 rout over Brazil to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.
He added 11 points for Team USA in just 21 minutes, surpassing Lisa Leslie's tally of 488 to make him the top-scorer of any American basketball player, male or female, at the Games.
Joel Embiid, greeted by a chorus of boos from the French fans after passing on the chance to play for their national team, was the star though, as he got 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half to set the USA on their way to victory.
LeBron James also orchestrated the game, for 12 minutes at least, making snapshot passes as he piled up nine assists and 12 points. However, his game came to an early end when he took an elbow to the face from Georginho De Paula.
Devin Booker top scored for the USA with 18 points as they shared the load, and though Bruno Caboclo got 24 points for Brazil, he could not inspire a shock upset against the reigning champions.
Steve Kerr's team are chasing a fifth consecutive gold medal but will have to face Serbia, who they beat in their competition opener, for a place in the final.
Brazil 4-2 Spain: Selecao through to Olympics final with resounding win
Brazil cruised into the final of the Olympic Games with a 4-2 victory over Spain at the Orange Velodrome on Tuesday.
Salma Paralluelo netted two late consolations, but the damage was already done as Irena Paredes' own goal, Gabi Portilho, Adriana and Kerolin denied the world champions a place in the gold-medal match.
Brazil were still without legend Marta after she lost her appeal over a two-game ban, but her team-mates ensured she would bow out of Olympics action with the chance to play for the top prize.
Spain were behind after just six minutes as Cata Coll's poor clearance struck the unfortunate Paredes on the side to send it cannoning over the line.
La Roja struggled to gain a foothold, and Brazil doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time thanks to Portilho's composure when one-on-one with Coll.
Adriana made sure of their progress off the bench in the 71st minute – she struck the bar but was then on hand to head Portilho's nod-down in from close range.
That sparked Spain into life and Paralluelo's looping header snuck in at the far post before Alexia Putellas rattled the crossbar and forced Lorena into a smart stop to slow down the comeback attempts.
Kerolin delivered the hammer blow in the opening seconds of stoppage time by sliding her low shot through Coll's legs, though Paralluelo would have the last say, poking in her second of the match from close range in the 112th minute.
Data Debrief: World champions denied
Spain were aiming to become the first side to win Olympic gold after lifting the Women's World Cup, but they just fell short at the final hurdle after being outplayed.
La Roja's late flurry of chances meant they finished with more shots than Brazil (26 to their 17) and more on target (11 compared to seven).
Brazil's dominance showed in other ways though, as they created an expected goals (xG) of 3.27 and had a total of six big chances, as they secured a meeting with the United States in the final on Saturday.
St. Lucia’s Alfred adds 200m silver to 100m gold; USA’s Thomas claims first Olympic title
St. Lucia’s Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred continued her brilliant showing at the Paris Games with silver in the final of the Women’s 200m at the Stade de France on Monday.
The 23-year-old recovered from a less than ideal start with a strong finish to cross the line second in 22.08.
Gold went to American Gabby Thomas who ran 21.82 while another American, Brittany Brown, took bronze in 22.20.
Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita ran 22.22 and 22.23, respectively for fourth and fifth while Nigeria’s Favour Ofili ran 22.24 in sixth.
American McKenzie Long (22.42) and Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai (22.70) rounded out the top eight.
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