Goule-Toppin comfortably won the sixth and final heat in 1:58.66 in a gate-to-wire performance. She was followed by Australia’s Claudia Hollingsworth (1:58.77) and Kenya’s Lilian Odira (1:58.83).
Prior to that, Maloney clocked a new national record of 1:58.23 for third place in heat five, behind Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:57.90) and Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.95).
Earlier, Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie comfortably topped heat one in a flat 2:00.00, ahead of fast-finishing Slovakian Gabriela Gajanova (2:00.29) and American Juliette Whittaker (2:00.45).
Cuba’s Daily Cooper Gaspar proved better than the rest in heat two, as she won in 1:58.88. South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso (1:59.84) and Switzerland’s Rachel Pellaud (2:00.07) took the other qualifying spots.
In heat three, Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele finished tops in a personal best of 1:58.07, ahead of Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote (1:58.59) and Great Britain’s 17-year-old prodigy Phoebe Gill (1:58.83). Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza placed sixth in 2:00.36 and will contest the Repechage round.
Another Great Britain stalwart, Keely Hodkinson (1:59.31), outclassed rivals in heat four, with American Nia Akins (1:59.67) and Benin’s Noelie Yarigo (1:59.68) also progressing. Jamaica’s Adelle Tracey was eighth in that heat in a season’s best 2:03.47 and will have to contest the Repechage round for another shot at the semi-final.
With his impressive run of form coming into the global multi-sport showpiece, Hibbert was one of the favourites to earn a medal, but the 19-year-old, who looked a shadow of his usual bubbly self, fell short of the top three with a best leap of 17.61m.
The event was topped by Spain’s Jordan Alejandro Diaz (17.86m) ahead of Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo (17.84m) and Andy Diaz (17.64m). Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez (17.34m) was eighth.
No doubt Hibbert’s performance left him with a mix of pride and disappointment, as he entered his Olympic Games debut with high expectations after he consistently delivered strong performances throughout the season.
However, the fiercely competitive field in Paris proved to be a challenging environment, and Hibbert was unable to improve on his second attempt. His sequence also includes 17.31m and 17.53m, with his last three attempts having two failures, while he passed on the final attempt, which could be a signal that the jovial athlete might not have been in the best of health.
"It was a good championship, so firstly, I want to thank God for what He has done. To think that I almost boycotted the Olympics and now I am here today (Friday) standing on a fourth-place finish. I don't think many 19-year-olds can say they came fourth at the Olympics so I am grateful," Hibbert said shortly after competition.
"I got a hard fall on one of the jumps and I felt something so I kind of stopped the competition. Me and coach talked about it, and he was trying to influence me to go back, but I told him that coach, 'I have more years to come' so for now I am grateful for the fourth place, and so it is just the road to recovery from here," he added.
With the Jamaican team of Raheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie Ann McPherson never really in it from the start, Bol, who got the baton in fourth position, bided her time before exploding in the stretch to sweep past American anchor Kaylyn Brown.
The Dutch team, which also included Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, and Isaya Klein, won in an Area Record of 3:07.43, just outside the American’s World Record of 3:07.41. The Americans were second in 3:07.74, with Great Britain third in a National Record 3:08.01.
Jamaica initially crossed the line sixth in 3:11.67, but were later upgraded to fifth after the disqualification of the French team.
Jamaica’s quartet of Alana Reid, Kemba Nelson, Shashalee Forbes and Tia Clayton produced a season’s best 42.29 fifth in the final at the Paris Olympics at the Stade de France on Friday.
The American quartet of Melissa Jefferson, TeeTee Terry, Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson combined to run 41.78 for gold ahead of Great Britain (Dina Asher-Smith, Imani Lansiquot, Amy Hunt) who ran 41.85.
Germany ran 41.97 in third while France were fourth in 42.23.
Running from lane six in heat one, the Americans—Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown—left the field in their wake to stop the clock in 3:07.41, bettering their own previous mark of 3:08.80 set at last year’s World Championships in Budapest. Poland’s Olympic Record of 3:09.87 set in Tokyo, was also erased.
France (3:10.60) and Belgium (3:10.74) were second and third with national record times, while Jamaica’s quartet of Raheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie-Ann McPherson also clocked a national record of 3:11.66 for fourth. They progressed as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers, along with Poland (3:11.43).
Bahamas struggled throughout and ended at the back of the pack in 3:14.58. The same is true about Dominican Republic (3:18.89) in heat two.
That heat was won by Great Britain in a national record 3:10.61, ahead of Netherlands (3:10.81) and Italy (3:11.59).
Smith, who also contested the women’s triple jump final earlier at the multi-sport showpiece, started well with an opening leap of 6.66m but was unable to improve for the remainder of the competition.
Meanwhile, Davis-Woodhall, who has been in good form all season, was on song on the big stage, as she cut the stand at 7.10m to top the event ahead of Germany’s Malaika Mihambo, who mustered a best of 6.98m. Another American, Jasmine Moore (6.96m) was third.
Broadbell recovered from a shaky start to power through the field on the way to be shoulder-to-shoulder with American Daniel Roberts heading into the final hurdle.
Roberts, who miraculously stayed on his feet after clipping a series of hurdles in the middle of his race, held his nerve to produce a dive across the line to just hold off Broadbell and take the silver medal.
Both Roberts and Broadbell were credited with the same time (13.09) with Roberts finishing three thousandths of a second ahead (13.085 to 13.088).
American reigning two-time World champion Grant Holloway ran 12.99 to claim his first Olympic title and continue his dominance on the event.
Spain’s Enrique Llopis ran 13.20 in fourth while Japan’s Rachid Muratake ran 13.21 in fifth. American Freddie Crittenden ran 13.32 in sixth while Jamaica Orlando Bennett and defending Olympic champion Hansle Parchment were seventh and eighth with 13.34 and 13.39, respectively.
Distin failed to clear the bar at 1.92m, with her best jump coming at 1.88m. The qualification mark was set at 1.97m, and Distin, who was ranked third in the world with a national record 2.00m, ended 11th in her qualification group.
It was heartbreak for the 24-year-old, an experienced athlete who has contested the World Championships high jump final twice, finishing fifth in 2023 and ninth in 2022. She has also won the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2021 North, Central American, and Caribbean U23 Championships.
Distin also has the distinction of being a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion (indoors 2022, 2023, outdoors 2022).
Despite her impressive track record, Distin found the going tough and failed to replicate her early season performances on the Olympic stage.
Jamaica’s bad luck at the Paris Olympic Games, particularly on the female side, again reared its ugly head as the country’s quartet suffered a mishap in the 4x400m relay final and failed to finish at the Stade de France on Saturday.
With Shanieka Ricketts’ silver medal in the triple jump being the only medal won by a female athlete among Jamaica's six medals tallied ahead of the much-anticipated curtain call relays, the quartet of Stacey-Ann Williams, Andrenette Knight, Shiann Salmon, and Stephanie Ann McPherson would have hoped to end the athletics segment on a high.
However, it was not to be, as Knight, while in second position on the second leg, had the baton knocked from her hand by an Irish athlete, and as the instrument clattered on the track, so did the country’s hopes of a medal.
McPherson shared the team's disappointment.
"I don't know what happened; I watched the replay three times before I realised what happened, but it was like World Relays all over again. So, of course, we are disappointed. We all trained really hard for this," an emotional McPherson said, her eyes filled with tears.
Salmon tried to put on a brave face.
"My face might not be showing it but I am very heartbroken. The aim was to finish on the podium, and I am sure that everybody is disheartened that we didn't even get to finish the race, but sometimes things happen that we have no control over, and we have to just move on from them. The overall (Olympic) experience for me was excellent; I can't complain about it. I got two lifetime bests in this championship, and I thank God I finished healthy, so I am just looking forward to the rest of the season," Salmon shared.
The event was won by the United States with an Area Record of 3:15.27, just shy of the longstanding 3:15.17 World Record. The Netherlands, through a blistering anchor leg from Femke Bol, took second in a National Record of 3:19.50, while Great Britain also clocked a National Record of 3:19.72 for third.
While the disappointment of a majority of Jamaica’s athletes and fans alike will be profound, after the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson suffered injuries ahead of their events and Ackera Nugent clipped a few obstacles, which ruined her chance at a medal in the women's 100m hurdles final, among other misfortunes, the country still had much to celebrate.
Rajindra Campbell won an historic bronze in the men’s shot put; Kishane Thompson copped silver in the men’s 100m; Wayne Pinnock was also a silver medallist in the long jump; and Rasheed Broadbell won bronze in the men’s 110m hurdles.
But the biggest accomplishment of the Games came for discus thrower Roje Stona, who achieved an Olympic record to land Jamaica’s solitary gold medal on his debut at the global multi-sport showpiece.
Campbell, competing in the first qualifying group, produced only one legal throw measuring 21.05m which was good enough 10th overall in qualifying among the two groups.
The 28-year-old has a season’s best 22.16m done at the Madrid World Continental Indoor tour meet in February.
Campbell is also currently Jamaica’s national record holder with his 22.22m done in Madrid in 2023.
Italian Leonardo Fabri led all qualifiers to the final in Paris with 21.76 with Czechia's Tomas Stanek (21.61m), Americans Payton Otterdahl (21.52m), World record holder Ryan Crouser (21.49m) and New Zealand's Tom Walsh (21.48m) and Jacko Gill (21.35m) rounding out the top six.
Also joining Campbell in the final will be USA's Joe Kovacs (21.24m), Mexico's Uziel Munoz (21.22m), Nigeria's Cornnell Enekwechi (21.13m), Italy's Zane Weir (21.00m) and Norway's Marcus Thomsen (20.81m).
The 22-year-old had a first-time clearance at 2.17m before clearing 2.22m on his second attempt.
He then exited the competition after three failures at his season’s and personal best height of 2.27m.
New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr took gold over the USA’s Shelby McEwen after a jump-off.
Both men had identical cards after successful first-time clearances at 2.36m, an Oceania record for Kerr and personal best for McEwen, and three failures at 2.38m.
In the subsequent jump-off, both men failed at 2.38m and 2.36m before Kerr successfully cleared 2.34m after a failure from McEwen.
Bahrain’s Mutaz Essa Barshim secured his fourth Olympic high jump medal with a season’s best 2.34m in third.
BVI’s McMaster, who finished fourth at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, will have an opportunity to win his first Olympic medal after running 48.15 to win the second semifinal ahead of Estonia’s Rasmus Magi (48.16), now a finalist for the third successive Olympics.
Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba also made it through to the final out of that semi with 48.20 in third.
Jamaica’s Malik James-King looked set to finish in the top two in that semifinal before clipping the last hurdle and stumbling to seventh in 48.85.
Clarke ran comfortably on his way to 48.34 for second in the third semifinal behind American Rai Benjamin who won in 47.85.
Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm (47.67), France’s Clement Ducos (47.85) and 2023 World champion Alison Dos Santos (47.95) qualified from the first semifinal.
Jaheel Hyde ran 50.03 to finish seventh in that first semifinal.
The final is set for Friday at 2:45pm Jamaica Time (3:45pm ECT).
Clayton, who won bronze at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, ran a brilliant 52.68 for fifth while Salmon ran 53.29 in fifth.
American superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set the Stade de France track ablaze with a phenomenal world record 50.37 to successfully defend her Olympic title, breaking the previous mark of 50.65 she set in winning at the US Olympic Trials in June.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s countrywoman, Anna Cockrell, produced a massive personal best 51.87 in second while 2023 World Champion Femke Bol took bronze in 52.15.
The USA's Jasmine Jones ran a personal best 52.29 in fourth. Canada's Savannah Sutherland and France's Louise Maraval were seventh and eighth with 53.88 and 54.53, respectively.
The 28-year-old began Saturday’s final at the Stade de France with a 20.00m in the first round before producing a brilliant 22.15m in the second round to move into second behind American World record holder and back-to-back Olympic champion Ryan Crouser who was leading with 22.69m.
In rainy conditions, Campbell was in the silver medal position before the sixth round when American Joe Kovacs produced 22.15m to move into second by virtue of his second-best throw, 21.71m, being better than Campbell’s.
The Jamaican had a throw in the sixth round that would’ve seen him reclaim silver had it not been a fourth foul in a row.
In the end, Campbell settled for bronze behind the two Americans. Crouser’s final winning distance was a season’s best 22.90m.
Like she has done all season, Clayton went out hard and relaxed somewhat mid-race, before powering home to win semi-final one in a flat 53.00s. She took American Jasmine Jones (53.83s) into the final with her.
American World Record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory in semi-final two in 52.13s, ahead of Frenchwoman Louise Maraval (53.83s), while Jamaica’s Janieve Russell (54.65s) battled hard for fourth but missed a spot in the final.
Meanwhile, Salmon ran a well-paced race for third in semi-final three. She stopped the clock in a personal best of 53.13s, which was good for one of the two non-automatic qualifying spots.
The race was won by gold medal favorite Femke Bol of the Netherlands in an easy 52.57s. American Anna Cockrell (52.90s) was second, while Canada’s Savannah Sutherland (53.80s) also progressed as a non-automatic qualifier.
The final is scheduled for Thursday, August 8.
With the winner of the four Repechage heats and the next two fastest non-automatic qualifiers guaranteed a semi-final spot, Tracey, running in heat two, could only manage fifth in 2:03.67.
While the Jamaican missed out, Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza ran a well-timed race where she controlled the pace, backed off, and then rallied late to win heat three to continue her medal hunt. Almanza won in 2:01.54.
The other qualifiers include Australia’s Abbey Caldwell (2:00.07), France’s Anais Bourgoin (1:59.52), Germany’s Majtie Kolberg (1:59.08), and Kenya’s Vivian Chebet Kiprotich (1:59.31). These ladies will join the 18 automatic qualifiers from day one, including Jamaica's Natoya Goule-Toppin and Shafiqua Maloney of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Seville, Thompson, and compatriot Ackeem Blake, along with the British Virgin Islands’ Rikkoi Brathwaite and Cuba’s Reynaldo Espinosa, are the Caribbean representatives that remain on course for the final.
Currently the world leader at 9.77s, Thompson was easy in victory in heat one in 10.00s, ahead of Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati (10.08s) and Cuba’s Reynaldo Espinosa (10.11s).
Kenyan stalwart Ferdinand Omanyala topped heat two in 10.08s, ahead of Italy’s Chituru Ali (10.12s) and Joshua Hartmann (10.16s) of Germany. Trinidad and Tobago’s Devin Augustine (10.31s) was fifth in that heat and missed out on the semi-finals.
Great Britain’s Louie Hinchcliffe sprang a surprise to win heat three in 9.98s, upstaging American Noah Lyles (10.04s), who had to work somewhat toward the end. South Africa’s Shaun Maswanganyi (10.06s) secured the third automatic spot in the heat. Naquille Harris (10.38s) of St. Kitts and Nevis missed out.
Seville also ran a relaxed race to finish tops in heat four as he stopped the clock at 9.99s. Japan’s Sani Brown (10.02s) and Thailand’s Puripol Boonson (10.13s) also progressed. Bahamas’ Terrence Jones (10.31s) was fifth in that heat.
Heat five was topped by Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi (10.02s), ahead of Italy’s reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs (10.05s) and Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu (10.06s). Cayman Island’s Davonte Howell (10.24s) was sixth.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine produced a late surge to top heat six in 10.03s, ahead of Blake (10.06s) and Brathwaite (10.13s). Bahamas’ Wanya McCoy (10.24s) and Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald (10.40s) were fifth and eighth, respectively.
American Kenneth Bednarek was joint fastest in qualifying at 9.97s, which he clocked in winning heat seven, ahead of Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.98s) and Canada’s Andre de Grasse (10.07s). Jose Gonzalez (10.40s) of the Dominican Republic was eighth.
A stacked eighth and final heat was topped by another American, Fred Kerly, who also stopped the clock in 9.97s. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (10.01s) and Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (10.03s) also progressed.
Cejhae Greene (10.17s) of Antigua and Barbuda ran well for fourth, but wasn’t fast enough for one of the non-automatic qualifying spots, while Haiti’s Christopher Borzor (10.28s) was fifth.
Thompson, the Jamaican national champion and current world leader in the event, looked set to claim his maiden Olympic gold medal at about the 85m mark before Lyles used his trademark fast finish to just out-dip him in the end.
Both Lyles and Thompson ended with identical times of 9.79 but Lyles won by five thousandths of a second when the times were rounded down. Lyles’ time was 9.784 compared to Thompson’s 9.789.
Fred Kerley, the 2022 World champion, ran 9.81 for bronze.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine narrowly missed out on a medal running 9.82 in fourth while defending champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy was fifth in 9.85.
Letsile Tebogo (9.86), Kenneth Bednarek (9.88) and Oblique Seville (9.91) rounded out the field.
Lyles took gold in Sunday's 100m showpiece by five-thousandths of a second and had the chance to become the first man to win a 100m and 200m double at a single Olympics since Usain Bolt in 2016.
However, he finished third behind Botswana's Tobego and fellow Team USA star Kenneth Bednarek, managing a time of 19.70 seconds at the Stade de France.
Tobego managed a 19.46 as he became Botswana's first Olympic gold medallist in any sport, handing his country just their third Olympic medal of any description.
Lyles appeared lethargic and was wheeled away from the track in a chair after the race, as rumours swirled regarding his health.
US Track and Field subsequently confirmed he had competed despite testing positive for COVID-19, and Lyles was proud of the way he fought through illness to take bronze.
"I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday morning," Lyles told reporters after the race.
"I woke up in the middle of the night feeling real chills, aching, sore throat, and those were a lot of the symptoms I've had right before getting Covid.
"It definitely affected my performance. I've had to take a lot of breaks… I was coughing through the night.
"I'm more proud of myself than anything, coming out here to get a bronze with Covid. I've had better days, but I'm walking around again. I was quite light-headed after that race.
"Shortness of breath, chest pain, but after a while I could catch my breath and get my wits about me. I'm a lot better now."
The 25-year-old ran a brilliant 1:57.66 to narrowly miss out on a medal after finishing fourth at the Stade de France.
Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, the fastest woman in the world this season, produced 1:56.72 to finally win a global gold medal after silver medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
African Games champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia took silver in 1:57.15 while reigning World and Commonwealth champion, Mary Moraa of Kenya, took bronze in 1:57.42.
