The 2024 Olympic games have been a resounding success for the United States so far, both in entertainment factor and in medal count. Track and Field, in particular, has been going incredibly well, with many surprise performances leading to medals. The USA has always been a force in the sprinting events, but this year, the distance runners have also stepped up to the plate, providing the US with the most well-balanced team in the field.
The sprinters are headlined by Noah Lyles, who became the first American man to win gold in the 100m since Justin Gatlin in 2004. Lyles was not the favorite, as Jamaica's Kishane Thompson had the world-leading time of 9.77 heading into the race. Noah started poorly but slowly reeled in the rest of the field, leading to a nail-biting photo finish with Thompson at the line. The race was so tight that NBC commentator Leigh Diffey called a win for Thompson, but after a suspenseful wait, Lyles was celebrating the gold medal. After securing silver in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics, Fred Kerley took home bronze, his second consecutive Olympic medal.
As well contested as the 100m was, perhaps the race of the games thus far came in the men's 400m. One of the only races without a clear-cut favorite, Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith had looked the best through the early rounds. 400m legend Kirani James from Granada was also set to be a factor, as he medaled in the last three Olympics. After a very even first 300m, Hudson-Smith looked like he would take the win, but here came Quincy Hall. What Hall did is almost indescribable, coming from 4th off the turn, digging deep, and accelerating past all the other runners to win by only .04 of a second. Anybody who has run a 400m race before can tell you that the last 100m are grueling, and you're dying on your feet. To glide past everyone and take the win in an Olympic field defies logic; it's impossibly great.
In the 1500m, Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Scotsman Josh Kerr were set to duke it out on the world stage once again. Ingebrigtsen was the gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics and has been a prodigy since he was a teenager. Josh Kerr is the defending World Champion, beating Ingebrigtsen at last year's World Championships in Budapest. Three Americans were in the field, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, and Hobbs Kessler, each with prospects of medaling, but a win seemed unlikely. Ingebrigtsen ran boldly, pushing the pace and taking the lead early. Kerr, Hocker, and Nuguse stayed in the mix, running stride for stride. Coming into the last 100m, Kerr took the lead on the outside lane, but Hocker showed his resilience; he ran past and held off Kerr in the final 40m to win gold. This was a massive upset, as Hocker not only won gold, but he also set an Olympic record while doing so, at 3:27.65. Yared Nuguse won bronze, marking the USA's first two podium finishes in the 1500m since 1912.
On the women's side, both Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone took home gold comfortably in the 200m and 400m hurdles, respectively. It was Thomas' first individual gold medal of her Olympic career, and she did it with style, easing through the rounds and jumping to an early lead that she never gave back in the final. McLaughlin-Levrone, who won gold in Tokyo, asserted her dominance as she broke her own world record, dropping it from 50.65 to 50.37. She destroyed a field that included the Netherlands' Femke Bol, who ran an absurd 47.93 split in the open 4x400m relay. McLaughlin-Levrone also now holds seven of the ten fastest times ever run in the women's 400m hurdles, with this medal securing her status as the undisputed greatest ever in this event.
The women's 4x100 team consisted of 100m silver medalist Sha'carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Twanisha Terry, and 100m bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson. The team was a heavy favorite, boasting the fastest time throughout the qualifiers, but it was no easy task. A few questionable baton exchanges made this a tighter race than expected, but Richardson stormed past Germany and Great Britain to win gold. It was a return to form for the team after losing to Jamaica in 2021.
Other American track medalists include Kenny Bednarek, Grant Fischer, Rai Benjamin, Brittany Brown, Kenneth Rooks, Anna Cockrell, Grant Holloway, and Daniel Roberts. The Olympic Games may be coming to an end, but the United States' dominance in the sport of track is as strong as ever.
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