American Masai Russell delivered a blockbuster performance to climax a rip-roaring athletics programme at the Paris Olympics with home star Cyrene Samba-Mayela walking away the biggest applause from a raucous crowd that saw Faith Kipyegon attain legendary status here on Saturday.
For a moment the sold-out Stade de France crowd thought they finally had a French medallist on the ninth night of athletics action as Cyrene Samba-Mayela unleashed a sensational run in the women’s 100m hurdles, speeding off the blocks and holding the momentum until the finish line.
Russell, who ran a season-leading time of 12.25 seconds during the American trials in June to arrive at her debut Olympics in top form, however ran an equally sensational race too, catching up with Samba-Mayela in the final dash and then going toe-to-toe with her.
The two absolutely gave it their all and after they crossed the finish line, they were forced to wait as the big screen flashed photo finish. And after a minute it confirmed the 24-year-old Russell as the winner with a timing of 12.33 seconds, the American jumping in delight and scarcely believing at her accomplishment.
But what brought the crowd to life was Samba-Mayela being adjudged as the silver medallist with a timing of 12.34, France tasting some joy on the turquoise blue track that has witnessed some spectacular performances over the last week. Defending Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who was supposed to duel with Russell for the gold, shrugged off a poor start to take home a bronze after crossing the line in 12.36
Kenya’s Kipyegon, who won 1500m gold at Rio 2016 and in Tokyo five years later, was the overwhelming favourite to complete a hat-trick and the 30-year-old accomplished that in electrifying fashion to propel herself into a league of legends.
Fourth after the opening 400m and second after 800m, Kipyegon stepped on the accelerator at the start of the final lap itself and just kept throttling ahead, her power and strength just too much for the rest of the field to match up to. When she hit the final straight motoring like a freight train with a commanding lead, all eyes were on the board on whether she could break her own world and Olympic record. She wasn’t able to smash the world but obliterated the Olympic record she’d erased in Tokyo.
Jakob Ingebrigsten made up for his disappointment in the 1500m to successfully defend his 5000m gold with a brilliant final lap. Having failed to finish on the podium in the 1500m despite being the overwhelming favourite, the Norwegian freak, running comfortably amidst the bunch, took charge after the opening bend of the final lap.
Leaving nothing to chance, he opened up a handsome lead on the ensuing straight, maintained that with a smooth run towards the finish line to take gold in 13.13.66 in what can be termed a masterclass. Kenya’s Ronald Kwemo was a far-off second at 13:15.04 while American Grant Fisher settled for bronze.
Results (finals):
Men
On Saturday:
800m: Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Ken, 1:41.19) 1; Marco Arop (Can, 1:41.20) 2; Djamel Sedjati (Alg, 1:41.50) 3.
5000m: Jakob Ingebrigsten (Nor, 13.13.66) 1; Ronald Kwemoi (Ken, 13:15.04) 2; Grant Fisher (US, 13:15.13) 3.
On Friday:
4x100m relay: Canada (37.50s) 1; South Africa (37.57s) 2; Great Britain (37.61s) 3.
400m hurdles: Rai Benjamin (USA, 46.46s) 1; Karsten Warholm (Nor, 47.06s) 2; Alison dos Santos (Bra, 47.26s) 3.
Triple jump: Jordan Alejandro Fortun Diaz (Spa, 17.86m) 1; Pedro Pichardo (Por, 17.84m) 2; Andy Hernandez Diaz (Ita, 17.64m) 3.
Women:
On Saturday:
100m hurdles: Masai Russell (US, 12.33s) 1; Cyrene Samba-Mayela (Fra, 12.34) 2; Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Pur, 12.36) 3.
1500m: Faith Kipyegon (Ken, 3:51.29 (OR; Old: 3:53.11; Faith Kipyegon, Aug 2021, Tokyo) 1; Jessica Hull (Aus, 3:52.56) 2; Georgia Bell (Gbr, 3:52.61) 3.
On Friday:
400m: Marileidy Paulino (Dom, 48.17s, OR) 1; Salwa Eid Naser (Bah, 48.53s) 2; Natalia Kaczmarek (Pol, 48.98) 3.
4x100m relay: USA (41.78s) 1; GBR (41.85s) 2; Ger (41.97s) 3.
10000m: Beatrice Chebet (Ken, 30:43.25) 1; Nadia Battocletti (Ita, 30:43.35) 2; Sifan Hassan (Ned, 30:44.12) 3.
Heptathlon: Nafissatou Thiam (Bel, 6880 pts) 1; Katarina Johnosn-Thompson (GBR, 6833 pts) 2; Noor Vidts (Bel, 6707 pts) 3.
Shot put: Yemisi Ogunleye (Ger, 20m) 1; Maddison-Lee Wesche (NZ, 19.86m) 2; Jiayun Song (Chn, 19.32m) 3.