Friday In Paris: Beatrice Chebet Completes 5k/10k Double, Benjamin Gets His Gold + Another US Men’s 4 x 100 Disaster
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PARIS – Rai Benjamin earned a long-awaited gold in the men’s 400 hurdles, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet became an Olympic legend by completing the 5k/10k double, the US women won gold in the 4×100 while the men’s Olympic woes continued in a busy penultimate night of track at the 2024 Olympics in the Stade de France. The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino also won a super deep women’s 400 in 48.17 (#4 all-time). This was the first race in history with three women under 49 and was also the first race in history with all eight finishers under 50.
Below, quick recaps and analysis for all the track finals.
Women’s 10,000: Beatrice Chebet’s amazing 2024 continues
It was closer than expected, but in the end, heavy favorite and 10,000 world record holder Beatrice Chebet of Kenya won the women’s 10,000 in 30:43.25. With her win tonight, Chebet joins Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba and the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan as the only women to have won both the 5,000 and 10,000 at the Olympics and also joins Dibaba as the only woman to win Olympic gold in the 5000 and 10,000 as well as the world cross country title. Dibaba won all three in 2008 (she also won Olympic gold in the 10,000 in 2012 and a lot more World XC titles).
Kevin Morris photo
Chebet used a 57.4 last lap to close off a 4:29 final 1600 (2:41ish final 1k) to get her second Olympic gold just 0.10 ahead of Italian Nadia Battocletti‘s 30:43.35, who improved on her 4th place finish in the 5000, as Sifan Hassan earned her second bronze medal of the Games in 30:44.12. 5,000 world record holder Gudaf Tsegay had nothing in the final 400 once again and ended up 6th in 30:45.04.
Weini Kelati led the American charge in 8th in 30:49.98 as Karissa Schweizer was 9th in 30:51.99 and collegiate star Parker Valby, who briefly took the lead with 3.5 laps to go, was 11th in 30:59.28. Both Kelati and Schweizer stayed with the lead pack in the tactical race (15:49 first 5k) until almost the bell.
This was the slowest women’s Olympic 10,000 final in 28 years as the first three women’s Olympic 10,000s (‘88, ‘92, ‘96) all featured winning times over 31:00.
Quick Take: How do you explain Nadia Battocletti’s silver?
Even before this race, some on the messageboard were extremely suspicious that there was an Italian woman battling for a medal in the 5,000. Now she’s won a medal in the 10,000.
MB: How long until Nadia Battocletti gets busted. On what kind of stuff is Nadia Battocletti? Batocletti’s silver is WADA’s biggest test
MB: Italian runners coming from nowhere at EUs, Worlds, and Olympics
Kevin Morris photo
Given the history of doping in the sport, and given that her father (who is also her coach) tested positive the steroid nandrolone in 1999, we understand why people are suspicious, but if a European-born athlete was going to medal in this race, a slow, tactical would be the type of race most likely to produce that type of medal. And while Battocletti has clearly broken out in 2024, she was talented enough to run run 14:46 for 7th in the 2021 Olympic 5,000 final when she was just 21 years old.
Take a look at the 1500 pbs of Battocletti and the next 5 African women behind her in the the results:
1500 PBs of Battocletti and the Next 4 Africans in the Results
Battocletti – 4:03.44 1500 pb
Kipkemboi – 4:06.94
Rengeruk – 4:12.5hA
Tsegay – 3:50.30 (but she’s looked terrible all Olympics)
Tesfay – 4:18.2hA
Quick Take: This has been an awful Olympics for Gudaf Tsegay
Tsegay won the 5,000 at the 2022 Worlds, the 10,000 at the 2023 Worlds, and ran 3:50.30 (#3 all-time) for 1500 earlier this year in April. She very much seemed like an athlete with the skill set to attempt “the Hassan” triple of 1500/5k/10k at the Olympics. But so far, with five of six races complete (she runs the 1500 final on Saturday), it has been a disaster.
Tsegay took the lead late in the 5,000 final after getting tangled up with Faith Kipyegon, but had nothing on the last lap and was 9th in the 5,000. Tonight, her 3:50 1500 speed should have made her a factor on the last lap, but she finished 6th. It certainly cannot have helped her to have two rounds of the 1500 in her legs (in addition to two rounds of the 5k), but it is now very possible that Tsegay, one of the fastest and most successful distance runners of recent years, could leave Paris without a single medal.
Quick Take: Parker Valby said her goal was to avoid getting lapped twice
This was the final race of a very long 2023-24 campaign for Parker Valby that began in earnest 10 months ago at the Nuttycombe Invitational in October 2023. Valby, 21, rolled through the NCAA, winning an unprecedented five NCAA titles in one academic year, then made the US Olympic team in both the 5,000 and 10,000 (but elected to run only the 10,000 in Paris). And tonight, she was with the leaders at the bell of the Olympic final, running 10 seconds off her personal best in humid conditions. That’s one place higher than fellow collegiate star Nico Young finished in the men’s 10,000.
Kevin Morris photo
“I’m not super excited with it but I’m happy to have finished,” Valby said. “I’m happy with my effort…It was definitely a learning experience. [I’ve] never run in the middle/back of the pack like that.”
Valby said she is not sure how much longer she’ll stay in Paris – though she will definitely stick around for the closing ceremonies – and will now take a well-deserved break. She also hinted that an announcement about her professional plans is coming soon but would not say more than that.
“I’m cooked,” Valby said. “I’m so ready for a break. But I’m super sad to be done with the NCAA. That was honestly such a good experience. I’m looking forward to the future. I have a lot of exciting things on the radar. Stay tuned.”
One thing Valby said she has to work on is her confidence. She has been among the best collegians for several years now but 2024 was her first year racing against pros and she has not always felt as if she belonged. Going into this race, she said her main goal was not to get double-lapped and did not think she would break 32:00.
“I’m trying to learn that I belong out there,” Valby said. “…I need to work on my mentality.”
Quick Take: American women exceed expectations
Although they didn’t come home with a medal, the US women did a pretty good job in Paris. The last Olympics, the U.S. finished 10-12-13 with a trio that included three future American record holders. Today we sent out a lineup that included just one of those women, Karissa Schweizer, who has had to deal with a ton of injuries, and two first-time Olympians in Weini Kelati and Valby. Yet the group today outperformed that group, going 8-9-11 in an era where even qualifying for the Olympics is a massive accomplishment.
Schweizer said she was surprised the pace stayed slow for so long.
“I kept thinking, oh it’s turning into a 5k,” Schweizer said. “Now it’s turning into a fast 3k. And then it was like a fast 800.”
She also said she was proud of how she ran across both events in Paris. Three years ago, Schweizer was 12th in the 10k and 11th in the 5k in Tokyo. This year, she was 9th in the 10k and 10th in the 5k. It’s quite impressive for Schweizer to better her finishes in both races given she had to come back from multiple major injuries in the last three years.
“I feel good about [9th],” Schweizer said. “There were seven girls that had gone sub-30 in that race. For me, it was just about hanging with that group and hanging tough.”
Kelati said she felt “pretty good” about finishing 8th in her first global track final but felt a faster pace would have helped her finish higher.
“I was expecting more than that because I thought the race was going to go out hard,” Kelati said.
Men’s 400H: Benjamin gets his gold
Kevin Morris photo
In the men’s 400 hurdles, Rai Benjamin‘s undefeated 2024 campaign reached its climax as he took the lead before the eighth hurdle and never looked back, winning his first global title in 46.46, a time equal to his world lead. In the end, this wasn’t close as defending Olympic champ Karsten Warholm only ran a 47.06, his slowest final time all year as Alison dos Santos of Brazil got a second straight Olympic bronze in 47.26.
RAI BENJAMIN IS FINALLY AN OLYMPIC CHAMPION. #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/9Zhd1exQdi
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 9, 2024
From the Archives: 2021: The Greatest Race Ever? Karsten Warholm (45.94) Defeats Rai Benjamin (46.17) to Obliterate 400M Hurdles World Record & Win Olympic Gold
Women’s 4×100 final: U.S. win despite a little shakiness
When you have three individual Paris Olympic medalists on the team, you’ve got some margin for error. And the US women needed that margin as a poor final handoff between Olympic 200 champ Gabby Thomas and Olympic 100 silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson left the US in 4th place entering the home straight. On a rainy night, Thomas initially missed Richardson with the handoff but they eventually made the pass safely and Richardson ran a storming anchor to run down Germany and Great Britain for gold.
The U.S. team, which also included Melissa Jefferson and TeeTee Terry, was just too talented for the rest of the field and Richardson had time to look over at British anchor Daryll Neita as she crossed the line in 41.78 – .07 before the British quartet that took the silver (41.85) and .19 in front of the Germans in third (41.97).
Richardson got the stick behind by 0.18 but her split of 10.09 was the best of the night by 0.11 and at least 0.24 faster than any of the other medallists.
This is the USA women’s third straight global 4×100 title (only Terry has been a member of all three teams) and third Olympic title in the last four Olympics.
HERE COMES SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON!
Team USA takes GOLD in the women’s 4x100m. #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/ZM6qaYCQOw
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 9, 2024
Men’s 4×100 final: De Grasse powers Canada to gold after USA botches handoff yet again
Three years ago in Tokyo, the United States failed to make the final. This time, they were in the final but their race was effectively over after only one leg as second leg Kenny Bednarek left way too early. Bednarek eventually slowed down as he approached the end of the exchange zone, at which point opening leg Christian Coleman slammed into him and executed a sloppy handoff that took Team USA out of the zone and ultimately resulted in a DQ. But the handoff cost the US so much time that anchor Fred Kerley was already way out of it by the time he got the baton, ultimately crossing the line in 7th place.
On the back of exceptional legs from Aaron Brown (8.98) and Andre De Grasse (8.89), Canada was able to claim their first gold in the event since the 1996 Games in Atlanta. It’s Canada’s second global title in three years as they also won gold at the 2022 Worlds.
Meanwhile, Akani Simbine, who has finished 4th in the individual 100 in two straight Olympics, ran the fastest leg of the entire race to propel South Africa into medal position and claim his first Olympic medal at 30 years old. Up to this point, it had been a challenging Olympics for Zharnel Hughes, but he redeemed himself with a strong performance on Great Britain’s final leg, powering them into bronze medal position.
Andre de Grasse anchors Canada to 4x100m GOLD in Paris! 🇨🇦 #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/uA15jxhZHb
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 9, 2024
Quick Take: The USA’s futility in the men’s 4×100 is truly hard to believe
The USA has not won the Olympic men’s 4×100 since 2000 and has not even registered a legal finish in the final since 2004 – a staggering level of incompetence given the US has been either the best or second-best sprinting nation in the world during that entire period. From dropped batons, poor exchanges, doping DQs, and just plain not running fast enough, the US has continued to invent new ways to fail to deliver.
We did a deep dive on the Americans’ Olympic relay struggles back in 2021: LRC What Really Happened with the US Men’s 4×100 Team in Tokyo? And What Can Be Done to Fix it?
It’s not as if the USA has had zero success in this event. The US won gold at the 2019 Worlds in Doha and the 2023 Worlds in Budapest. But their overall Worlds record is not amazing either and the Olympic record is horrible.
As for tonight, Coleman said, “It just didn’t happen. Maybe we could have put in some more work, just thinking in the moment. Me and Kenny have been competitors and also teammates a few times over the years. We felt really confident going out there.”
Coleman actually ran a great leg, but his handoff with Bednarek made it look as if the two had never exchanged a baton together.
Meanwhile third leg Kyree King said, “We had the mindset of no risk, no reward. So we went out there and went big and it didn’t happen.”
But the US did not need to take a big risk. Yesterday, the US ran 37.47 in the prelims. Tonight, Canada won the gold in 37.50.
The clear issue tonight was that Bednarek left way too early. But one also has to wonder about the relay lineup. Noah Lyles having COVID clearly threw off the team’s plans as he is the traditional US anchor. Presumably, he would have been brought in to anchor tonight if he were healthy. Instead, US relay coach Mike Marsh brought in Bednarek for Courtney Lindsey (who ran anchor in the prelims), but put Bednarek on second leg and moved Kerley to anchor.
We’re guessing if Lyles was available, Kerley would have stayed on second and Bednarek would have run the third leg instead of King.
*MB: Wow. How NOT to run a 4 x 100. US men’s medal drought in 4 x 100 is now going to extend to 24 years
*Yahoo: Carl Lewis says it’s ‘time to blow up the system’ after another disaster for U.S. men’s 4×100 relay
Women’s 400: Paulino wins Dominican Republic’s 1st female gold gold
Marileidy Paulino has backed up her 2023 world title with an Olympic title tonight in the women’s 400, crossing the line in 48.17, .36 in front of Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain. Paulino got out to a great start and had the lead at 150 and never looked back. This marks the first Olympic gold medal for a Dominican Republic woman in the Olympics after Paulino got the silver medal in Tokyo.
Field Events
Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye was clutch as she snatched the gold from New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche with a 20.00m final throw in the women’s shot. In the men’s triple, 2024 world leader Jordan Alejandro Díaz of Spain edged Portugal’s reigning Olympic champ Pedro Pichardo, 17.86 to 17.84 in an extremely tight contest as both jumpers had three jumps at 17.79 or farther.
In the heptathlon, Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium three-peated by scoring 6880 points, holding off world champ Katarina Johnson-Thompson (6844) as both women PR’d in the final event, the 800 (2:10.62 for Thiam, 2:04.90 for KJT). Thiam joins Polish hammer thrower Anita Włodarczyk as the only women to win three straight Olympic golds in track & field.
Talk about the action on the messageboard:
- Friday August 9th Track and Field Evening Session Thread ?!!!+ Live Reaction Show at 5:30 pm ET
- Anna Hall; WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?
- VALBYMANIA GOES HOME DEVSTATED
- Wow. How NOT to run a 4 x 100. US men’s medal drought in 4 x 100 is now going to extend to 24 years
- The announcers screwed up. Parker Valby is NOT going to be DQ’d
- Parker MF Valby 11th in Olympics!!!!!!!!!!!!
- How long until Nadia Battocletti gets busted. On what kind of stuff is she on? Batocletti’s silver is WADA’s biggest test.
- PARKER VALBY, OH MY!!!
- Where the did the Italian women come from
- Rai Benjamin wins Olympic Gold!!!
- Parker Valby LAPPED Megan Keith
- Karissa blocked and elbowed Valby
- Sha’Carri legendary stare down in the women’s 4 X 100
- What explains Tsegay’s decline?
- Hobbs Kessler 1:46 and eliminated – what happened?
Who was the runner carried off the track on a stretcher in women’s 10k?
