(from left) Jereem Richards, Kirani James and Jevaughn Powell.
Marlon Reid
Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem ‘The Dream’ Richards and Grenada’s Kirani James ensured the Caribbean will have two shots at a medal in the men’s 400m at the Paris Olympic Games, as both progressed to the final after tidy semi-final performances at the Stade de France on Tuesday.
Richards, hunting his first Olympic Games medal, finished second in semi-final one in 44.33s, behind American Quincy Hall, who won in 43.95s.
James, a three-time Olympic medallist in the event, seems poised to add to his tally as he rekindled his form of old with a blistering season’s best 43.78s clocking in winning semi-final two. It was just outside his personal best of 43.74s.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s lone semi-finalist, Jevaughn Powell (44.91s), produced a gallant performance for fourth in semi-final three, but it was not enough to progress.
The other finalists are Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.07s), American Michael Norman (44.26s), and Christopher Bailey (44.31s), as well as Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga (43.81) and Samuel Ogazi (44.71s) of Nigeria.
The final is scheduled for Wednesday August 7.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
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.
Thomas storms to women's 200m gold
Gabby Thomas dominated the women's 200m final to win her first-ever Olympic gold medal on Tuesday.
The American was the favourite going into the race following the withdrawal of Jamaica's Shericka Jackson and stormed across the finish line in 21.83 seconds.
Julien Alfred, who claimed Saint Lucia's first-ever Olympic medal by winning the 100m sprint on Saturday, made up ground in the last few metres to take second in 22.08 seconds and add a silver medal to her collection.
Meanwhile, there was a three-way photo finish for third, with bronze eventually going to Thomas' compatriot Brittany Brown, who edged across the line in 22.20 seconds.
Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita finished just short of a place on the podium, with just three-hundredths of a second separating them and Brown.
Pinnock jumps 8.36m to take silver in Men’s long jump; Tentoglu defends Olympic title with 8.48m
In a repeat of the final at the World Championships last year in Budapest, Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock was narrowly beaten by Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglu in the final of the Men’s long jump at the Paris Olympic Games at the Stade de France on Tuesday.
Jamaica’s Pinnock had a consistent series with a best jump of 8.36m but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Greek from adding to his extensive list of global gold medals.
Tentoglu’s winning jump of 8.48m also came in the second round.
Italian 19-year-old Mattia Furlani produced 8.34m to take Italy’s first medal in the event in 40 years.
The other Jamaican in the final, Carey McLeod, didn’t have his best day with 7.82m to finish 12th.
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