France Press agency
400m hurdles, again champions at Tokyo Games: American Sidney McLaughlin imitated Norway’s Carsten Warholm the day before and took gold in that test with a new world record, this Wednesday, with Canadian Andre De. Grass behind Usain Bolt as the 200m champion.
In the “Bolt Era,” the end of the half-lap of the track used to be one of the highlights of every major event.
This time they were in a certain background to the 400-meter hurdles, as McLaughlin lowered his world record to 51 seconds and 46 hundredths.
McLaughlin, who at the end of June set a world record with a time of 51.90 in the pre-Olympic period in Eugene, beat compatriot Dalilah Muhammad (51.58), the 2016 Olympic champion at Rio and current world champion, in the Tokyo final. The Dutchman Vimke Paul (52.03) won the bronze.
“I still can’t believe it. I’m sure I’ll put it on my mind and celebrate later. It was a great race,” said the winner, who was the world’s runner-up in 2019 after Muhammad.
This is the third world record for this Olympic Games in athletics after Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas (15.67 metres) in the triple jump and an astonishing time of 45.94 achieved by Carsten Warholm on Tuesday in the men’s 400 meters hurdles.
Defeated Lyles
That final won by McLaughlin was the only one in the morning session on Wednesday in Tokyo. In the afternoon session, the eyes were inevitably directed to 200 metres.
Canadian Andre de Grasse won with a time of 19 seconds 62 hundredths, setting a new record for his country.
“I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I have trained hard to live in this moment,” highlighted the race winner.
De Grasse, 26, who had already taken bronze in the 100 meters at these Games, beat two Americans in the final, Kenneth Bednarek (19.68, silver) and world champion Noah Lyles (19.74, bronze).
American Erriyon Knighton, only 17 years old who has been identified as the potential future star, took fourth place (19.93).
Andre de Grasse, 26, is finally able to make the leap towards gold. With his personal best times, he became the eighth fastest man ever at distance.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics he was the runner-up in the 200 meters, then Bolt overtook him. In the Brazilian event, he also took bronze in the 100 and 4 × 100 meters relay.
He adds to the three metals in that Olympic version the two metals (gold and bronze) he already achieved in Tokyo 2020.
At the Doha World Cup 2019, de Grasse was confident of his ability to fight for the title, already with Bolt’s retirement two years ago, but he faced the phenomenon of Lyles, who was in a wonderful moment of brilliance and who took the win on the Qatari track. Then the Canadian runner was settled again for silver.
Poland dominates the hammer
For the rest of the day, Poland maintained dominance in the hammer throw and Kenya in the men’s 800m.
Wojciech Nowicki was crowned in the men’s hammer race (82.52 metres), one day after the success in the third consecutive edition for his compatriot Anita Lodarczyk.
In total, Poland took four of the six possible medals on the hammer, with two golds and two bronzes.
“We are good in this discipline. We are a confident team and you can see that, with four medals for Poland,” Nowicki celebrated.
In the 800 metres, the Kenyans have won their last four matches, Emmanuel Currier (1:45.06) behind David Rudisha. Kenyan Ferguson Rotich was second in Wednesday’s final.
For his part, Biruth Shimotai triumphed in the 3000m hurdles (9:01:45) and awarded Uganda its third Olympic gold medal in its history, considering all sports. (Dr)
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