The Stade de France had already played host to its fair share of roughhousing in a single day, before the proceeding event featuring 28 hurdles and seven water jumps across a 3,000-metre track. The spectators braced themselves for round two as Soufiane El Bakkali took on Lamecha Girma.
El Bakkali, three years ago in Tokyo, put an end to Kenya’s consecutive eight-title Olympic steeplechase monopoly, stemming from 1984 to 2016. Now, at 28 years of age, the Moroccan was determined not to relinquish his crown without a substantial challenge.
Girma was considered the main contender to overthrow El Bakkali. The Ethiopian showcased his prowess at the previous year’s Paris Diamond League where he established a world record with a time of 7:52.11. Notwithstanding this accomplishment, Girma had been dethroned twice by his Moroccan opponent at the last two World Championship events.
Throughout the race, Girma and El Bakkali tracked each other meticulously. However, Girma’s daring manoeuvre to lead the race at the penultimate barrier resulted in him stumbling and subsequently toppling onto the track due to a clipped leg. Although the tumbling was unsightly, reports confirm that no significant injury was sustained.
With Girma convincingly eliminated, El Bakkali had to yet overcome Ken Rooks hailing from the US and Abraham Kibiwot representing Kenya. El Bakkali emerged victorious with a time of 8:06.05, making him the first man to successfully retain the title since 1932.
In the day’s earlier session, a series of falls occurred in the men’s 5,000m heats, implicating six runners in three separate incidents. Among these unfortunate athletes was Britain’s own George Mills; he subsequently was one of the quartet reinstated for Saturday’s final, extending the field to a total of 20 competitors.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway made his return to the race track just a tad over half a day following his fourth-place finish in the 1,500m run. He secured first place this time round with a formidable time of 13:51.59, taking the lead on the final lap, an approach which he is fond of. Unfortunately, Irish contestant Brian Fay did not make it into the top eight and ended up in 13th place with a time of 13:55.35, which was just under four seconds behind but still far from the deciding race.
For a majority of the men’s 400m final, Matt Hudson-Smith seemed ready to claim the title as the first Brit to secure victory since Eric Liddell, also known as The Flying Scott, did so at the Paris games in 1924. His achievement was later commemorated in the film ‘Chariots of Fire.’ Hudson-Smith broke the national record last month with 43.74 seconds, placing him amongst favourites for the coveted gold medal. However, American runner Quincy Hall had other plans, overtaking Hudson-Smith in the closing stages to claim victory in 43.40 seconds setting a personal best for himself. Hudson-Smith held on to clinch the silver medal, simultaneously shattering the national record again ending with a commendable 43.44 seconds. There was a mere .04 seconds difference between gold and silver.
A year ago, Australian athlete Nina Kennedy joined ranks with USA’s Katie Moon to clinch gold in the women’s pole vault at the Budapest World Championships. Their subsequent encounter in Paris was anticipated to be a close call, and it indeed was. This time, Kennedy came out on top winning the Olympic gold by achieving a personal best of 4.90 metres. Despite coming in second place with a maximum height of 4.85 metres, Moon seemed highly satisfied with her silver medal finish.