Olympics Day 4: Mondo WR, Hodgkinson Gold, Chebet Stuns Kipyegon

PARIS — On Monday night, the Stade de France was rocking as 10,000m world record holder Beatrice Chebet used a 4:00.7 final 1500 and 2:33.7 final 1k to win the Olympic women’s 5,000m final in 14:28.56 and upset world champion Faith Kipyegon (2nd in 14:29.60). Sifan Hassan (3rd in 14:30.61) kicked hard for the bronze while world record holder Gudaf Tsegay could only finish 8th after tangling with Kipyegon with just over two laps to go. Kipyegon was initially DQ’d for the incident but later reinstated upon appeal.

After that, Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson lived up to her favorite status in the women’s 800, winning in a negative-split 1:56.72 (58.4, 58.3) as world indoor champ Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia took silver in 1:57.15 with 2023 world champ Mary Moraa taking bronze in 1:56.71.

Then Mondo Duplantis gave fans perhaps the signature moment of the 2024 athletics competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 6.25-meter world record in the pole vault.

Below we give you 11 takeaways from a great night of athletics.

*Full results

800: Hodgkinson takes gold with brilliant front-run

Keely Hodgkinson holds everyone off to finally win gold

The weight of a nation was on Keely Hodgkinson’s shoulders in Monday’s 800m final. With her chief rival Athing Mu absent from the Olympics and Hodgkinson having run a second faster than any other woman in the world this year, this was her race to lose.

She did not lose it.

Hodgkinson led from 300 meters to the finish, holding off all comers including a strong attack from world champion Mary Moraa on the final turn to take the gold in 1:56.72 and become the first British woman to win an Olympic running event since Christine Ohuruogu took the 400 in Beijing 16 years ago. Though Hodgkinson never surrendered the lead after taking it, the race was still very tight at 600 (1:28.4) before Hodgkinson ripped a 28.3 final 200.

Moraa was viewed coming in as the biggest threat to Hodgkinson, but she was unable to wrest control of this race from Hodgkinson, as Moraa was forced to run extra distance on the turns while Hodgkinson had a smooth ride on the rail. In the end, battling for the gold may have cost Moraa the silver as Duguma ran her down late, but Moraa was pleased to have won any medal in her first Olympic final.

Hodgkinson’s race did not go exactly to plan, but she maintained her composure to take the gold

Hodgkinson and her coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows decided she would try to run the first 400 in 56 seconds, feeling that she was fitter than everyone else and thus more prepared to absorb a faster pace the day after the 800 semi. In the London Diamond League two weeks ago, Hodgkinson went out in 56.5 and came back in 58.1 to win. Painter believed she could do that again tonight and if she did, no one would catch her.

Before the race, Meadows had asked Hodgkinson about other potential scenarios – what if someone got out ahead of her and boxed her in?

“She’s like, ‘That’s not going to happen, I won’t let that happen,’” Meadows recalled.

Turns out, Hodgkinson did get beaten to the break. And she wasn’t able to push the pace quite as hard as she liked, hitting 400 in 58.4. Painter admitted he was worried when he saw the split, but Hodgkinson adapted and still got the gold.

“It just didn’t happen [the way we drew it up],” Hodgksinson said. “Sometimes it doesn’t. I feel like you probably are a bit tired from yesterday. It’s hard to do the back to back rounds.”

If you need a VPN to watch the video click here.

Redemption for Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m with her FIRST Olympic gold medal. 🥇🇬🇧 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/dGgdflm9Rf

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2024

Coach Painter believes Hodgkinson is in 1:53 shape right now and she will try to run that at the Diamond League final in Brussels on September 13

Painter likes to use a predictor workout before big races, and it’s very simple: 400 meters, 30-second rest, 400 meters. It’s a workout that Meadows, the 2009 Worlds bronze medalist, used to use in her own career and Painter said “it was really, accurate, within half a second.”

Hodgkinson ran the session a week before the Olympics at the British holding camp in France and ran 56.0-57.0. That told them all that she was ready to go. And Painter said he was not worried about running such a hard session so close to the Olympics.

“My theory is all about maintaining the intensity and no volume,” Painter said. “So that was all she did that day, just two 400s.”

He acknowledged that the world record of 1:53.28 – which has stood for more than 41 years – is very difficult, but believes that if she can get in a race with Wavelight and good pacing, Hodgkinson can run 1:53-high right now. She will make an attempt in Brussels on September 13.

But first, Hodgkinson will go on a family vacation to Marbella in the south of Spain – a time to unwind after the stress of the Olympic buildup.

Shafiqua Maloney’s dream season ended with a 4th place showing

Before this year, 25-year-old Shafiqua Maloney of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had a personal best of 1:59.93 and had never advanced out of the rounds at a global championship. Tonight, she was .14 out of a medal at the Olympic Games. It’s a transformation few could have seen coming, but the Arkansas alum knew something special was in store this year when she ran 1:58.69 indoors back in February and still “hadn’t done any speed work.” 

She did not improve on that before the Olympics, running 1:59 three times outdoors, but ran the three fastest times of her life in the prelims, semis, and final in Paris, including back-to-back 1:57s in Sunday’s semis and Monday’s final. It’s been a remarkable journey, particularly because earlier this year she did not have a place to call home. She still does not have a shoe sponsor but expect that to change soon after what she did in Paris.

Maloney said she wasn’t happy with fourth but expects when she has some time to reflect on it, she will appreciate it.

“That within itself is an accomplishment and as much as I wish I had a medal, I just gotta take that and focus on the positives going forward,” Maloney said.

Juliette Whittaker caps incredible season with 7th in Olympic 800m final

When Whittaker planned out her 2024 campaign with coach J.J. Clark, her plan was always for it to go well into the summer. The aim was to peak at the Olympic Trials, and if she somehow made the team, they would plan from there. But as a collegiate athlete, Whittaker was also expected to be fit and racing for the team this winter, and she admitted it was a challenge to strike that balance.

“I was definitely concerned with having this season go so late and really worried that I’d feel pretty tired,” Whittaker. “But honestly I was feeling pretty great.”

If there is one word to describe Whittaker’s 2024 campaign, it is “clutch.” In the NCAA indoor final in March, she ran 1:59.53 – her fastest time in two years – to upset Michaela Rose of LSU. Rose went on to run 1:58 twice outdoors to make Whittaker the underdog at NCAA outdoors, but Whittaker came through clutch again to win the title. Then she summoned a 1:58.45 pb in the Olympic Trials final to make the team, and a 1:57.76 pb to make the Olympic final. And just 24 hours after that semi, she ran 1:58.50 in the Olympic final. 

Given all she has accomplished this year, the logical next step for Whittaker would be to turn professional. But she is only 20 years old and has two full years remaining at Stanford if she wants them.

Women’s 5,000: Chebet stuns Kipyegon to win her first Olympic gold

Beatrice Chebet’s unreal 2024 continues

So far in 2024, Beatrice Chebet has won World XC at the end of March, set a 10,000 world record at the end of May (28:54.14), and now won her first global gold on the track, outkicking the world record holder in the 1500 Faith Kipyegon in a tactical 5,000. Her final 400 was 57.7 (28.7, 29.0).

If she can win the 10,000 on Friday, she’ll join Tirunesh Dibaba in the history books. Dibaba is the only woman in history to have won World XC and Olympic golds in the 5,000 and 10,000 in a career, let alone in a single year (Dibaba did all three in 2008). Dibaba and Hassan are the only two women to win the 5,000 and 10,000 at the same Olympics but this is only the 8th Olympics where the 5,000 and 10,000 have been offered for the women.

It was the right call to reinstate Faith Kipyegon

Initially, Kipyegon was disqualified for jostling Gudaf Tsegay with just under two laps to go in the race. For a few hours, Italy’s Nadia Battocletti was listed as the bronze medalist, but Kenya appealed and was reinstated as silver medalist, bumping Battocletti back down to 4th. It was the right call.

Tsegay was trying to move in on Kipyegon and did not have quite enough room. When Tsegay’s left arm came in front of Kipyegon’s right, Kipyegon grabbed it in a proactive move and it threw off both women’s momentum. Ultimately the Jury of Appeal issued the following ruling:

The Jury of Appeal has reviewed all available evidence and agreed there was significant contact between, and by the two athletes. The Jury concluded that the incident did not warrant a disqualification.

The Jury wishes to make clear that jostling of this nature is never acceptable and therefore recommends that Faith Kipyegon receives a disciplinary yellow card which would carry throughout the remainder of the Games. 

Letsrun nation is this a DQ? Faith Kipyegon and Gudaf Tsegay tangle (and for those of you who don’t know who got DQd look at the next post) pic.twitter.com/YDvbxQ9vwI

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) August 5, 2024

That’s the right call. Kipyegon shouldn’t have done it, but she came out the worse for wear as she lost her position and was bumped back to third while Tsegay got the lead. To issue a DQ with an Olympic medal at stake requires a very high standard. This was perhaps a small step beyond the bumping that takes place in typical championship racing but it was closer to that than a DQ-worthy foul.

Props to Italy’s Nadia Battocletti for taking 4th

Battocletti may not have wound up with a medal tonight but she still ran a brilliant race to take 4th, the highest finish by a non-African woman in this event since Russia’s Yelena Zadorozhnaya was 4th in 2004. Battocletti ran away from two-time Worlds medalist Margaret Kipkemboi and sub-14:20 Ethiopian women Ejgayehu Taye and Medina Eisa on the final lap thanks to a 59.5 last lap. And she did it while running a personal best of 14:31.64.

Battocletti showed she was in good shape by winning the Euros in Rome in June in a pb of 14:35 but this was definitely a surprise given she was only 5th in the Monaco Diamond League 5,000 last month. Her performance tonight suggests she is capable of running well under 14:30 in the right race.

American medal drought continues in women’s 5,000

The women’s 5,000 meters was added to the World Championship program in 1995 and the Olympic program in 1996, meaning there have been a combined 23 Worlds/Olympics that have featured the event. Yet the United States has the same number of medals in this event now as it did back in 1995: zero.

Outside of the race walks, the US has medalled in track & field event at the Olympics other than the women’s 5,000 and women’s hammer. But the hammer drought could end soon as the US has won five women’s hammer medals across the last three World Championships. Meanwhile the women’s 5,000 World/Olympic drought will stretch at least one more year to Tokyo 2025.

First American honors tonight went to Karissa Schweizer in 9th in 14:45.57 — 17.01 seconds back of the win. But the most impressive run of the night went to Elise Cranny. She was still with the lead pack with 900 to go and was making a move up towards the front right when Gudaf Tsegay decided it was time to go herself and eventually had her dustup with Faith Kipyegon.

Seventeen seconds is roughly the time it takes to run the homestraight. As the world’s best were finishing, America’s best still had 100 to go. The Americans’ highest placement at a world final since the event was introduced in 1995? 6th, a feat accomplished in 2013 by Molly Huddle. The highest finish at the Olympics? 8th place by Kara Goucher in 2008.

Cranny afterwards said she was focused on just staying with the leaders as long as possible and paid the price at the end. She too has been wondering why the American women haven’t had more success in this event especially compared to the 1500 and 10000m.

***

Mondo Duplantis gets WR #9 in pole vault

Mondo Duplantis, was there ever a doubt? After opening his 2024 outdoor season with a world record in Xiamen in April, Duplantis did it again on the sport’s greatest stage, clearing 6.25m on his third attempt to break the world record and send the Stade de France into rapture.

Duplantis clinched the win by clearing 6.00 meters, cleared 6.10 on his first attempt to set the Olympic record, then went 6.25m to get the WR and make it 12 wins from 12 meets in 2024. You could have not written a more storybook ending for the best track & field athlete in the world.

With four consecutive global pole vault gold medals, he still trails Sergey Bubka in total global titles (7) but four straight is something Bubka never did (the most he won in a row was three). He becomes the first man since 1956 to win back-to-back Olympic pole vault gold medals, which Börje Strand accomplished in 1920 and 1924 (in Paris) and Bob Richards in 1952-1956. 

MONDO DUPLANTIS ENDS THE NIGHT WITH A NEW WORLD RECORD. 🌎 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/0egeRdxphW

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2024

Julien Alfred v. Gabby Thomas and the battle for Austin sprinting is set in the Olympic 200 final

After a dominant 100 victory, St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred clinched her spot in Tuesday’s 200m final by running 21.98. Standing in the way of the gold medal is world leader Gabby Thomas, who ran even better in the semis, clocking 21.86, just a shade off her seasons best of 21.78. One of those two is your likely gold medalist with Thomas a slight favorite given she beat Alfred head-to-head in London two weeks ago. Not only is this a battle Olympic champion, it’s also a battle for local bragging rights. Both Alfred and Thomas train in Austin, Tex., but under different coaches (Edrick Floreal for Alfred, Tonja Buford-Bailey for Thomas).