A Wild Femke Bol Anchor, Julian Alfred Claims Gold: Day 2 Evening Recap

Despite rain adding some difficulty to today's evening session, a combination of first-time and experienced Olympians came away with gold.

Aug 4, 2024 by Maxx Bradley

A Wild Femke Bol Anchor, Julian Alfred Claims Gold: Day 2 Evening Recap

The second day of track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has wrapped up, and it gave fans a handful of historic performances.

On the track, the women's 100m and mixed 4x400m relay both produced electric upsets, while gritty performances across the men's shot put, women's triple jump and decathlon provided just as much excitement on the field.

The third day of competition will begin with the women's 3,000m steeplechase heats at 4:05 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Sunday's slate of finals includes the men's hammer throw and women's high jump, as the men's 100m final will bring the session to a close.

The evening session gets started at 1:05 PM EST, with heats of the men's 400m at the top of the schedule.

Femke Bol Leads Netherlands To Mixed 4x400m Relay Gold

A day after the Americans re-set their own world record in the 4x400m mixed relay, Femke Bol and her Dutch teammates spoiled the United States' party in the final.

Team USA kept the same team and order for the finals, with Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown back for their medal hopes.

But the Netherlands switched things up, substituting Catheljin Peeters for Bol on the anchor leg.

Though it didn't look like she was laboring too hard, Bol gradually put herself in prime position with roughly 200m to go, then turned it up and past Great Britain's Amber Anning and the USA's Brown to win gold.

Bol split an unprecedented 47.93 for her lap around the track, nearly taking down the United States' one-day old world record.

Julian Alfred Wins First Gold For St. Lucia, Richardson And Jefferson Win Silver And Bronze

After taking down defending world champion and gold medal hopeful Sha'Carri Richardson in the semi-final earlier, St. Lucian Julian Alfred took down the field in the final.

Despite pouring rain and a lot of water sitting on the track, Alfred pulled away before stopping the clock at 10.72. That was a new national record and just a tenth off Richardson's top world-leading time for 2024.

Richardson didn't have quite the start that Alfred did, but she made up a lot of ground as she surged to silver, with teammate and training partner Melissa Jefferson sitting right behind her in third.

The pair of American medalists ran 10.87 and 10.92, respectively.

Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, one of the greatest sprinters in the history of the sport and the defending Olympic silver medalist, scratched just minutes before her semi-final heat.

Ryan Crouser Cements Legacy, Wins Third-Consecutive Shot Put Olympic Gold

Make that three in a row for the greatest to ever do it.

After needing just one throw to book his spot in the final, Ryan Crouser took care of business just before the rain started coming down, throwing a season's best of 22.9m on his third throw to put himself comfortably out of reach.

The latter half of the final was challenging to say the least, as the throwing ring became slick and dangerous due to rainy conditions.

But the greatest throw of the competition came from two-time defending silver medalist Joe Kovacs.

As the 35-year-old stepped into the ring for his final attempt, he was in fourth and coming off of back-to-back fouls.

In typical Kovacs fashion, the veteran exploded for a 22.15m throw, moving past Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, who won bronze with a throw of 22.15m.

Norway's Markus Rooth Upsets Heavy Favorite Leo Neugebauer In Decathlon

What a day.

After day one it was looking like Germany's Leo Neugebauer was going to continue on and win what would have been his first Olympic gold.

But then 22-year-old Markus Rooth appeared.

The Norwegian propelled his way to the top of the leaderboard in part to a crucial runner-up performance in the pole vault, where he cleared 5.30m.

Following the completion of the javelin, Rooth led Neugebauer by a mere 16 points, but then doubled down in the 1,500m, clinching Norway's first Olympic gold in the event in decades.

Thea Lafond Propels Herself To Triple Jump Gold, Breaks National Record

You could say that the Commonwealth of Dominica's Thea Lafond had a good day, but that would be a heck of an understatement.

While the rain was coming down during much of the triple jump final, Lafond didn't let the tough conditions throw her off as she was the only athlete who jumped past 15 meters.

On her second jump, Lafond barely improved on her previous personal best and national record, notching a mark of 15.02m.

Behind her, Jamaica's Shanieka Ricketts and American Jasmine Moore claimed the silver and bronze, with both posting season best marks of 14.87m and 14.67m.

When Are The Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

The Olympics begin on July 26 and end on August 11. The track and field events will begin on Aug. 1.

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