Paris Thursday Recap: WR for Sydney, Gold for Holloway & Tebogo, Lyles Gets Bronze with COVID

PARIS – An incredible Olympics for the United States track & field squad continued on Thursday night at the Stade de France as Team USA added three more gold medals thanks to Grant Holloway (110 hurdles), Tara Davis-Woodhall (long jump), and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (400 hurdles). And for her sixth consecutive US/global championship, McLaughlin-Levrone claimed gold by setting a world record, clocking 50.37 to break the 50.65 she set at the Olympic Trials in June.

One prominent American was denied gold, however, as Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo streaked to gold in the men’s 200 by running 19.46 (#5 on the all-time list) to prevent Noah Lyles from completing the 100/200 double. Lyles, who said after the race he tested positive for COVID on Tuesday, had to settle for the bronze for the second straight Olympics in 19.70 with fellow American Kenny Bednarek taking silver, also for the second straight Olympics, in 19.62.

The other final of the night came in the men’s javelin, where Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won Pakistan’s first-ever Olympic medal in track & field by throwing an Olympic record of 92.97m, relegating defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India to silver.

Recaps and analysis from Paris below.

*Full results

Men’s 200: Letsile Tebogo Slays a Giant to Take Gold; Lyles Reveals COVID Positive

Entering the Olympics, Noah Lyles had been unbeatable in the 200 meters. Since turning professional at the end of 2016, Lyles had suffered just two defeats at the distance outdoors, the most recent of which came in the last Olympic final three years ago. But once again, Lyles could not come home with the Olympic 200m gold as he was defeated by 21-year-old star Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who ran a brilliant race to win his first global title in 19.46.

Lyles got out great, but Tebogo and Lyles’ countryman Kenny Bednarek were ahead of him off the turn. Still, Lyles was in prime position to strike, and when he’s close with 100 to go, it is usually bad news for the rest of the field.

Not this time. Lyles could not reach his usually devastating top gear, and he would have needed every bit of it tonight because Tebogo ran the fastest 200 ever at the Olympics outside of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. Bednarek, who said he felt he got his race 95% right, was 2nd in 19.62, his second-fastest time ever, with Lyles 3rd in 19.70.

Lyles seemed like a lock in the 200 after winning the 100 on Sunday night, but there were questions about him after Tebogo beat him in their semi and Lyles proceeded to skip the mixed zone following that race and were told he had to be taken to medical. No one provided any updates on Lyles’ status, but it was clear tonight something was off, and afterwards Lyles told media he tested positive for COVID two days before the race and was dealing with symptoms.

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LETSILE TEBOGO WINS THE MEN’S 200M FOR BOTSWANA! 🇧🇼 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/jL9jm4bTKZ

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024

Letsile Tebogo wins gold after overcoming death of his mom

Three months ago, Letsile Tebogo went through one of the hardest moments of his life: his mother, Seratiwa, passed away at age 43 after a battle with a brief illness. Tebogo was obviously crushed. 

“I thought my career was over,” Tebogo said. “I started to find ways of forgetting about athletics, you know, but the team that was around me, my coach, my teammates, they made sure that I take each and every day one step at a time.”

“I believe she would be the one of the happiest people on the planet (if she was here right now), because she believed in me, and I had so much doubt for myself,” added Tebogo, who had his mother’s initials and birthdate engraved on his orange Nike spikes, which he proudly repeatedly showed off after the race.

Letsile Tebogo’s mother died in May aged 43

Three months later he is the Olympic 200m champion

His mum was with him in spirit #Olympics #Paris2024 #200m pic.twitter.com/wAj1t2vHAs

— Francis Keogh (@HonestFrank) August 8, 2024

One step at a time is a great way to describe Tebogo’s immaculate season. He started the year working on strength by setting a 300 world record of 30.69 in South Africa. He then ran a 19.71 200 into a big headwind in Kenya all the way back in April, but that was before his mom died. His most recent 200 before Worlds was “only” a 19.87 in Monaco on July 12 – a win but not a time that suggested he could defeat the Americans in Paris. 

But Tebogo had been running well in the 100, tying his 9.88 pb in the London Diamond League and breaking it in the Olympic final (9.86) and tonight he translated it to the 200 by taking .04 off the pb he set in London last year. The time was an African record and also marks the first time an African man has won this event at the Olympics, a feat that pleased Tebogo greatly.

Tebogo isn’t going anywhere, either. After medalling in the 100 and 200 in Budapest last year at age 20, he is now the Olympic 200 champion at 21, the same age Usain Bolt was when he won his first gold in Beijing in 2008. Tebogo is actually a good deal younger – 302 days to be exact — than Bolt was when Bolt won in Beijing because Bolt was almost 22.

Tebogo isn’t the youngest Olympic 200m champ, though. American Bobby Morrow was 19 days younger when he won the 200 as part of the 100, 200, and 4 x 100 triple in Melbourne in 1956.

MB: Seratiwa Tebogo, Letsile Tebogo’s mother, unfortunately passes away

Tebogo doesn’t aspire to be the face of track and field — he’ll leave that to Noah Lyles

At the post-race press conference, we asked if Tebogo aspired to be like Bolt and become the face of track & field. 

“I can’t be the face of athletics, because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah. So I believe Noah is the face of athletics,” said Tebogo.

MB: Tebogo: “I can’t be the face of athletics, because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah..(he’s) the face of athletics”

It’s a shame Lyles was not at full strength 

In his post-race interview, Lyles said that he woke up early Tuesday morning with a sore throat, chills, and aches and knew that he had to test, as this is how he has felt when he had COVID before. Sure enough, his test came back positive, prompting him to quarantine in a hotel room outside the Olympic Village and get on “as much medicine as we legally could” to try to perform at his best. 

Although he said today is the best he has felt the last three days, Lyles estimated that he was only at 90-95%. And although he thinks he slept great, he said that his girlfriend, Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield, had to keep shifting his position to prevent him from coughing Wednesday night. 

Lyles said that not competing was never an option for him – there are no Olympic rules that prevent an athlete with COVID from competing – and that he kept the issue inside his camp in an attempt to quell the noise and to not give his competitors an edge. 

It is a shame Lyles did not have the opportunity to race at full strength, because a 100% Lyles against Tebogo tonight would have been a tremendous race. Lyles has run faster than what Tebogo did tonight only once – his 19.31 American record at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene (when he did not have three rounds of the 100 in his legs). In that way, it is similar to Lyles’ last defeat, to Andre De Grasse in the 2021 Olympic final. Lyles was not his best that night in Tokyo due to a knee issue but De Grasse’s 19.62 into a 0.5 headwind would have been tough to beat even if Lyles had his best day.

Lyles posted on Instagram on Thursday night that he believes his Olympics are now over, which means it’s safe to say he will not feature on the 4×100 or 4×400.

Women’s 400 Hurdles: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone delivers again with world record #6

The much-hyped Sydney McLaughlin-Femke Bol showdown in the women’s 400-hurdle final was close for about 200 meters. But in the end, the showdown turned into a blowout as SML powered away to yet another gold medal in a 50.37 world record while Bol would fade in the home straight and had to settle for a second straight Olympic bronze in 52.15 as Anna Cockrell (huge 51.87 pb) got up for silver.

McLaughlin-Levrone’s victory extended one of the most ludicrous streaks in track & field history as she has now broken the world record in her last six championship finals (either USAs, Worlds, or Olympics). She has not lost a 400 hurdles race since 2019 and now owns the three fastest times ever and seven of the top 11. SML became the 400 hurdle GOAT when she won the 2022 Worlds in a world record of 50.68, a performance viewed at the time as among the greatest in track & field history across any event. In 2024, McLaughlin-Levrone has lopped another .31 off that time. 

And she’s still not satisfied. McLaughlin-Levrone said she was hoping to run a little faster today and wants to one day break 50 seconds.

“Every race is you against 10 hurdles,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “There are people who are going to push you but it doesn’t matter if you don’t focus on the barriers in front of you. That was my focus, me trying to be as efficient as I could over my 10 hurdles, trying to lower that time every time.”

It’s hard to know what to say at this point about McLaughlin-Levrone. Six world records across a career is an incredible amount in a track career. But to do it like clockwork at the major championships is even more impressive. These meets carry the most pressure, expectations, and attention and also feature the best competition. 

SML makes it look so easy that some fans have come to expect a world record from her every time she runs a championship final. But it is not easy at all. And when this insane world record streak eventually comes to an end, we’re going to look back on it as one of the most impressive feats in athletics history.

There’s NO catching Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone!

She adds ANOTHER 400m hurdles gold medal and WORLD RECORD to her collection. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/RJ7reApKfV

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024

Anna Cockrell ran OUT OF HER MIND for silver

Before tonight, only three women in history had run sub-52 in the 400 hurdles. Now that club has four members as Anna Cockrell ran 51.87 for a sensational silver medal. Cockrell, a two-time NCAA 400 hurdles champ at USC, was DQ’d for a lane violation in the 2021 Olympic final, didn’t make the Worlds team in 2022, and was 5th at Worlds last year.

2024 has been her breakout year. Just two months ago, her pb was 53.34. Then she broke 53 for the first time at the Olympic Trials, running 52.95 in the semis and 52.64 in the final, and today she took another huge chunk off by running 51.87 in the Olympic final. 

“It’s hard to put it into words right now,” Cockrell said. “Y’all know I’m a yapper. The fact that I’m very much speechless right now. I’m a little bit in shock, I don’t know if it’s from the joy or the exhaustion…I don’t know if I can put what it felt like into words. I was just in flow, I felt really good and I was just going.”

Femke Bol could not explain her result tonight, but we have an idea

After competing in front of a lot of Dutch fans, Bol was in tears after this one as she came up short of her goal of Olympic gold and ran 52.15 for bronze, almost a full second slower than the 51.30 she ran in London in her last pre-Olympic race. She was at a loss to explain it.

“All you want to do in an Olympic final is to put up your best race,” Bol said. “I screwed it up. I’m not sure where I made the mistake. I just got so much lactic acid with 300m to go. I’m not sure why, I really have no explanation.”

Well considering Bol went out with McLaughlin-Levrone in this race, we have an idea why she went lactic. SML’s 50.37 time tonight is nearly a second faster than Bol’s sea-level pb of 51.30. Running for gold and trying to hang with SML was always going to carry a risk of blowing up and that is the simplest explanation for what happened to Bol tonight. She also had a 47.9 split from the mixed 4×400 in her legs, but considering that was five days ago, it’s hard to say how much of an impact that may have had.

Either way, Bol should carry zero shame over tonight’s result. Going out with SML and trying to run for gold is something to be admired, not criticized.

Men’s 110 Hurdles: Grant Holloway finally gets Olympic gold

2017, 2018, 2019 indoor and outdoor NCAA champion, 2019 world champion, 2020 Olympic silver medalist, 2022 world indoor champion, 2022 world outdoor champion, 2022 Diamond League champion, 2023 world champion, 2024 world indoor champion. Eleven times under 13 seconds and second-fastest man of all time in the 110 hurdles. World record holder in the 60 hurdles. Prior to tonight, Grant Holloway had done almost everything there was to do as a high hurdler. The only two gaps on his resume were an Olympic gold medal and the world outdoor record. Tonight in Paris, Holloway filled one massive gap on his resume by running 12.99 to claim the gold in dominant fashion, by a tenth of a second over longtime rival Daniel Roberts (13.09) and Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell (13.09).

Holloway was uncharacteristically beaten by Roberts to the first hurdle, but he quickly accelerated away from Roberts and everyone else, building a massive lead midway through the race. As usual, the field began coming back to Holloway late, and he said he developed a cramp around hurdle 9, but no one ever got that close and Holloway was a clear winner in the end.

Grant. Holloway. 😤

DOMINATION on his way to 110m hurdles gold! #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/G3bqBRXYsD

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024

Holloway was quick to shoot down the idea that this was a redemption tour after getting the silver as favorite in Tokyo.

“Tokyo was three years ago,” Holloway said. “Obviously, [Tokyo champion] Hansle [Parchment] ran a great race. This was my time.”

It may not be redemption, but the lack of Olympic gold weighed on Holloway, and his coach Mike Holloway admitted that race in Tokyo “haunted him and it haunted me.” When Grant unleashed a primal scream into the Paris night just after crossing the finish line, he said it was not joy but relief that he felt in that moment. 

Now Grant Holloway has what he calls the “career grand slam” winning an indoor, outdoor, Diamond League and Olympic title. 

Coach Holloway said he told Grant he will not be tearing this race apart from a technical standpoint even though he and Grant are perfectionists. Before the race, he simply told him, “Go win the race.” Go win the race.”

“We’ve got that monkey off our back now,” said Mike Holloway. “I’m just extremely proud and happy for him for all the hard work he put in to get here.” 

Now that Grant is the Olympic gold medallist, coach Holloway told us “I guarantee you” that Grant will be better than ever.

“I think now we’re gonna see an even better version of him because he can tick that box now,” said Mike Holloway, who added that the 2024 version of Grant is clearly the best version ever.

Holloway plans to go “sub-13 hunting” the rest of the year

With Olympic gold in his pocket, the world record is the only thing Holloway has yet to achieve in this event, and he will take some cracks at it the rest of the season. A student of the sport, Holloway is well aware of Aries Merritt’s epic 2012 campaign in which he broke 13.00 eight times. Three of those came after his Olympic victory, and he set the world record of 12.80 in his very last race of the year in Brussels (Holloway’s pb is 12.81).

“The relief is finally off the shoulders, so now these next couple races we can just go sub-13 hunting,” Holloway said. “That’s what Aries Merritt did in 2012 and at the end he was able to find a rhythm and figure that out.”

Holloway’s next sub-13 will make history, world record or not, as it would give him the most ever. His two sub-13s in Paris (12.98 in the semis, 12.99 tonight) tied him atop the all-time list with Allen Johnson.

With Olympic gold, Holloway is now in the conversation for the greatest 110 hurdler of all time

Mike Holloway has long told Grant that he believes Johnson to be the greatest high hurdler in history, in part because of those 11 sub-13s and in part because he won the most global titles of any hurdler (five, including the 1996 Olympic title). Johnson’s pb of 12.92 is tied for #10 all-time, (it was #6 at the time of his retirement), but that is less important to Mike Holloway.

“My GOAT is Allen Johnson,” Mike Holloway said. “I think Grant got real close to that now. He may be my GOAT now. I’ve always told him Allen is my GOAT and Allen is my GOAT because of his consistency and he was always a champion.”

Grant Holloway’s resume is now very close to Johnson’s. Holloway has a faster pb (12.81 vs 12.92), Johnson has more global titles (five v four), and both have the same number of sub-13s.

Grant Holloway himself does not like to wade into such conversations, leaving it to the media to decide. For now, we’ll still give Johnson a narrow edge since he has one extra gold medal, but Holloway seems set to overtake him soon. If Holloway gets the world record, that would swing the argument in his favor, but even if he doesn’t, Holloway is only 26 and well-positioned to win another global title or three before he retires. But Holloway getting Olympic gold tonight helps his argument a ton as it’s hard to be called the GOAT when you never won the biggest prize in the sport.

Grant Holloway is particularly proud of his championship record, and it is a very impressive one. If you start in college and count every NCAA, US, world, and Olympic final Holloway has run in his career in the 60/110 hurdles, he is a combined 15-4. And three of those losses came as a collegian at USAs when he was 19, 20, and 21 years old. Starting with his first World title in 2019, Holloway has lost a total of one championship final, the 2021 Olympics., winning 9 out of 10 including 7 in a row. Consistency and always a champion – just what his coach values.

Women’s Long Jump : Tara Davis-Woodhall Gets Gold as Jasmine Moore Gets Medal #2 in Paris

American Tara Davis-Woodhall kept her perfect season going as she jumped 7.10 meters to remain undefeated on the year and win the Olympic title, a moment that she has been dreaming of since she was “four years old”. Defending Olympic champ Malaika Mihambo of Germany had to be content with the silver medal as her 6.98 edged out American Jasmine Moore’s 6.96 for the bronze. Moore became the second woman in history to win two medals in jumps at the same Olympic Games (first being doper Tatyana Lebedeva at 2004 Olympics), as she also got bronze in the triple jump.

Men’s Javelin: Gold for Nadeem and Pakistan

Arshad Nadeem launched an Olympic record throw of 92.97m in the second round. His 6th round throw also was better than the previous Olympic record of 90.57m. The 27-year-old from Pakistan won handily, well ahead of Indian Neeraj Chopra, who was the defending Olympic champion. This was Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in track & field and first in any sport since 1992.

Talk about the action on our world-famous fan forum / messageboard:

• 8/8 PM Official Olympic Track and Field Live Discussion Thread – Grant, Sydney and Noah go for gold (Live reaction show at 7pm ET)
• Bol Goes Home DEVASTATED – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 50.37 She’s done it again. Another WR and another gold.
• Grant Holloway gets his gold and deserves some love
• Noah Lyles goes home DEVASTATED – Bronze in 200m at TEBOGO runs 19.46!!!
• Tebogo: “I can’t be the face of athletics, because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah..(he’s) the face of athletics”
• CONFIRMED: Lyles Has COVID, Was Reeled Off Track In Wheelchair
• Should USATF and/or Noah Lyles told the world before the race that Lyles was positive for Covid?
• Lyles only mistake was the post-race injury theatrics
• They let Lyles run with COVID?