The 5 Biggest Winners & Losers From The Paris Olympics
By Robert Johnson
Now that I’ve had almost a full week to recover from the Olympic track action and COVID-19, I’ve been able to come up with my five biggest winners overachievers and five biggest losers underachiever from the Paris Olympics. The term winners and losers works best for the headline but the word “losers” is too harsh and unair — showing up to the Olympics and giving your best doesn’t mean you’re a loser. So in terms of the negative category, instead of biggest losers, let’s consider these athletes the biggest disappointments / underachievers instead.
The list only involves track athletes and it’s definitely a distance and US-centric list (sorry Sifan Hassan and Faith Kipyegon fans) as all but one of my winners and losers have US ties of some sort.
Without further ado…
5 Biggest Underachievers In Paris – Those that had the worst Olympics
#1 Ethiopia / Gudaf Tsegay
At the 2022 Worlds, Ethiopia was #2 on the medal table with 10. So Ethiopia earning just four total medals at the 2024 Olympics was quite surprising. Let us remind you that the US men won five medals all by themselves in the mid-d and distance events.
How in the hell is that possible? Well, it certainly didn’t help that Letesenbet Gidey wasn’t at the Olympics and that Lamecha Girma tripped and fell in the men’s steeple. And while Gudaf Tsegay was there, she was horrible. I still think tripling Tsegay in the 1500/5k/10k was the correct call — she just got her peak wrong, way wrong.
But the main problem for Ethiopia is that their selection criteria (or what we understand of it) is horrible. Though admittedly, it’s the same horrible selection criteria they’ve been able to overcome at recent Worlds/Olympics.
At LetsRun.com, we’ve long said that picking Olympic teams isn’t that hard. What the top countries should do is hold a trials as late as possible and let the results speak for themselves.
Ethiopia doesn’t do this. This year, Ethiopia held trials races in the men’s 800, 1500, and 10k and women’s 10k. But for the women’s 1500 and both 5000 teams, they basically encouraged their athletes to peak way too early in the season as they generally select the team based on season’s bests. So athletes try to get in super shape early, put up a time that’s good enough to lock them into the Olympics, and then try to get it going again later in the year. And this year, on the men’s side, they didn’t even honor season’s best times and stupidly kicked Yomif Kejelcha off the 5k team.
Or look at the men’s steeplechase. Ethiopia’s Abrham Sime is the second-fastest steepler in the world this year based on season’s best at 8:02.36. But Sime started the season very slowly. He only ran 8:39 in Doha on May 10 but gradually improved throughout the year before running 8:02 in Monaco on July 7 (after Ethiopia named its team). Instead of Sime, Ethiopia chose Getnet Wale, who finished 9th at the Olympics and whose 8:09.69 sb was from his first steeple of the season on May 10. If there was a trials race in late June, Sime likely beats Wale and takes his spot on the team.
In the future, the solution is simple for Ethiopia: hold trials races for the 1500, 5000, and steeple teams at the same time as the US is holding their trials races.
And in terms of tactics, there are two options.
- Everyone for themselves, as is the case with the other athletes.
- If you insist on the pace being fast, DO NOT have all three entrants in a race share the load like Ethiopia did in the men’s 10,000. That’s only going to tire out all three of them. If you are going to employ a rabbit, that person must DO ALL of the work and totally sacrifice themselves.
But it’s not like we haven’t seen this before. In 2021, Ethiopia also won just four Olympic medals. And their performance in Paris probably wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Athletics Weekly has scored the 2024 Olympics eight-deep and Ethiopia did well, finishing 4th overall.
Top 8 Scoring
1 USA 322
2 KEN 112
3 GBR 100
4 ETH 78
5 JAM 70
6/7) ITA, NED 65
8 CAN 54
9 GER 51
10 AUS 50
#2 Nia Akins – Women’s 800
Akins dominated the US Trials but couldn’t find that form in Paris
Akins DOMINATED the US Trials, winning by nearly a full second in 1:57.36 off of a 57.8 first lap. Thus, to see her only run 1:58.20 in Paris and fail to make the final off of a 57.9 first lap was very disappointing, particularly when 1:57.79 made the final. I ranked Akins as the US’s #1 female medal hope before the Games and she didn’t even make the final.
Consider this stat. At the US Trials, Akins beat Juliette Whittaker by 1.09 seconds. In Paris, Mary Moraa won the bronze by running 1.08 seconds faster than Whittaker.
#3 Val Constien – Women’s Steeple
Constien entered the Olympics as the 3rd-fastest woman in the world in the steeple. As a result, she had to be viewed as a medal contender. Considering that it took 8:55 to medal, Constien should not feel bad about not medalling — she doesn’t have the talent to run that. But her 9:34.08 last-place showing in the Olympics was shocking for a Mark Wetmore/Heather Burroughs-coached athlete.
But considering she was only a 9:36 performer in college, the fact that Constien is a two-time Olympian and is even on the disappointment list really is a compliment to her as she’s overachieved as a pro.
#4 Fiona O’Keeffe – Women’s Marathon
O’Keeffe’s distress was visible to those paying close attention to the start of the Olympic broadcast
At the US Olympic Marathon Trials in February, O’Keeffe took to the marathon like a fish to water. Considering we were told she thrives on hills, it seemed like the US had another good longshot candidate for a medal in Paris — Molly Seidel 2.0. Instead, O’Keeffe showed up injured in Paris and was seen hobbling way behind the pack 19 seconds into the race.
Given the fact that the top three ended up being the two fastest women in history plus Hellen Obiri, it seems like O’Keeffe didn’t miss out on a medal opportunity. That being said, you never know. At the US Trials, O’Keeffe beat Dakotah Lindwurm by 3:21. In Paris, Lindwurm finished 3:34 behind the bronze medallist Obiri.
#5 Jacob Kiplimo – Men’s 10,000/5,000
Kiplimo came into the Olympics as the half marathon world record holder and the two-time defending World XC champ who was looking to extend his dominance to the track. Considering he’d run 12:40 for 5000 this year, double gold on the track wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Would he arrive as the new king of distance? The heir apparent to Gebrselassie, Bekele, Farah, and Cheptegei?
No. Instead, after finishing only 8th in the 10,000, Kiplimo and reigning Olympic 5000 champ Joshua Cheptegei didn’t even try to win the 5000 as they pulled out (wouldn’t it have been cool to see the WR holder Cheptegei try to defend against Ingebrigtsen?). Kiplimo now looks to be the Paul Tergat of this generation: incredible on the roads and cross country but no golds on the track.
Non-Distance: Erriyon Knighton – Men’s 200
In 2021, Erriyon Knighton finished 4th in the Olympic 200 at age 17. In 2022, at age 18, he moved up to bronze. In 2023, at age 19, he moved up to silver. In 2024, at age 20, instead of moving up to gold he regressed to 4th once again after missing most of the year with a provisional doping suspension that was overturned.
To make matters worse, it appears Knighton’s doping case is now caught up in the ongoing political war between the US Anti-Doping Agency and WADA as the AIU is now appealing Knighton’s doping clearance to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The fact that Knighton, who has a 19.49 pb from 2022, only ran 19.99 at the Olympics when he opened up at 19.77 at the Olympic Trials in Eugene was extremely disappointing.
5 Biggest Winners In Paris – Those that had the best Olympics
#1 Cole Hocker – Men’s 1500
Cole Hocker wins Olympic gold. Photo by Kevin Morris.
When you win arguably the most-hyped race of the Olympics by running a 2.94-second pb (3:27.65), you easily take the top spot on this list. Heading into the Olympics, everyone knew Cole Hocker’s close was sensational but many assumed that would only be in a 3:30 race. To be able to close in 53.4 like he did in Paris is remarkable — certainly very impressive for a guy who had never finished higher than 5th in any big race on the circuit.
The question now is, ‘How does anyone beat Hocker moving forward?’ It looks like he can run 3:27 flat, he has a huge kick, and he just turned 23 in June — he’s 262 days younger than Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
#2 Kenneth Rooks – Men’s Steeple
Rooks’ fan club had reason to celebrate in Paris. His wife is on the far left and his mom and dad are on the right.
I’m still sticking by my claim that watching Kenneth Rooks run the men’s steeple final in Paris was the most fun I’ve ever had as a fan of US distance runners. Rooks and coach Ed Eyestone may have foreseen the possibility of a medal, but I sure didn’t. And this guy wasn’t coming from behind from eighth at the bell to steal a bronze. He was boldly running for gold and had the lead on the backstretch. When Lamecha Girma, went down, I thought to myself, “He might do it.” In the end, he got silver and a huge pb in 8:06.41 (previous pb of 8:15.08) in an epic race.
#3 Bryce Hoppel – Men’s 800
In terms of performance, and not result, it can be argued that Bryce Hoppel should actually be #2 on this list. Hoppel was sensational in Paris. He destroyed his own personal best of 1:42.77 as well as Donavan Brazier‘s American record of 1:42.34 by running 1:41.67 in the Olympic final. To run a 1.10-second pb in an Olympic final is about all you can ask for as an 800 runner. Admittedly, it didn’t result in a medal (he was 4th) but Hoppel was GREAT in Paris. Three other guys were just better.
#4 Georgia Bell – Women’s 1500
At the start of 2023, Georgia Bell had a 4:16.96 1500 pb that dated to 2015. Heading into the Olympics, her story was already wild as she’d improved that to 3:56.54 and was the British champion. Now she’s the British record holder at 3:52.61 and the Olympic bronze medallist. Unbelievable. Truly incredible for someone who had to take a sabbatical from her software sales job to run in the Olympics and never even made a Pac-12 final when she was running for Cal.
“Talent doesn’t go away” is one of my favorite adages about the sport. And Bell as a teen was a talent as she ran 2:08 at age 14 and 2:03 at age 20. Bell’s talent did not go away, but in this case, it went into deep, deep hibernation.
#5 Grant Fisher – Men’s 5000/10,000
Grant Fisher had plenty of reason to celebrate
Fisher no longer has to worry if he’ll be the greatest American distance runner to never medal on the track. He slayed that moniker in Paris x2. First off, he did it in style by taking bronze in a loaded men’s 10,000. He then came back and repeated the feat in a watered-down 5000 to become the first US man to medal in both the 5000 and 10,000 in the Olympics or Worlds.
Non-Distance: Letsile Tebogo – 100/200/4 x 400
It’s a tough call for my biggest non-distance winner from the Paris Olympics. Both Grant Holloway and Noah Lyles absolutely had to leave Paris with an Olympic gold and they did that. In terms of who needed it more, I’d say it was Lyles as he talked way more heading into Paris and he wants to be a mainstream star. But can I give the award to Letsile Tebogo? It’s my list and it’s my website, so I think I can. My disappointment list had one athlete without US ties so this list can as well.
Tebogo had an amazing Paris. He PR’d in the 100 (9.86, +1.0) and 200 (19.46, +0.4), where he pulled off a gigantic upset and won Olympic gold over Noah Lyles. Then he ran great legs in both the prelims and finals of the 4 x 400. In the final, he split 43.04 and nearly pulled off another huge upset of the USA.
Think about that. Tebogo almost pulled off two of the greatest upsets in Olympic history in the span of 48 hours. And all of this happened just months after the 21-year-old unexpectedly lost his mother.
Noah Lyles wants so desperately to carry the sport like Bolt or Michael Johnson did, but the new sprint superstar appears to be named Letsile Tebogo.
Talk about this list on the world-famous Letsrun.com messageboard/fan forum: My 5 biggest overachievers and underachievers in Athletics at the Paris Olympics .
