Olympics track and field results: August 20
Recapping the track and field action on the penultimate day of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
An outstanding Rio Olympics on the track came to an end on Saturday, with more drama in seen event finals.
LaShawn Merrit closed out the competition with a strong anchor leg in the men’s 4×400 to win gold for the United States. The Americans were challenged the entire race by Botswana, which were leading halfway through and only fell off in the final 500 meters.
The race for the other medals was wild, as Javon Francis ran a terrific final 100 meters to pass three teams for silver and avoid disappointment for Jamaica. The Bahamas followed up its London gold with a bronze, beating Belgium by .03 and holding off fading Botswana.
As expected, the United States and Jamaica were well ahead of the field in the women’s 4×400 and just about dead even after three legs. Allyson Felix opened up a small lead and outkicked Novlene Williams-Mills to secure the United States’ sixth straight gold in the event.
Felix now has six golds and nine medals overall, furthering her lead as the most decorated female track athlete in American history. Great Britain continued its strong effort on the track with a bronze, anchored by Christine Ohuruogu’s strong leg.
Team USA won its first gold in the men’s 1,500 in over a century thanks to Matthew Centrowitz Jr.’s brilliant run in Saturday’s final. The pace was very slow for the first three laps with Centrowitz leading nearly the entire way, and he was able to hold off defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria in the final 100 meters, finishing in a pedestrian time of 3:50.00
Makhloufi was denied a chance to become the second athlete ever to win two golds in the 1,500. Eight years after winning silver in the event, New Zealand’s Nick Willis added a bronze to his collection.
In contrast, the finals of the men’s 5,000 meters started off with a fast past, as a pair of Ethiopian runners tried to disrupt defending champion Mo Farah of Great Britain. The Briton foiled that took the lead with four laps to go and held off a host of contenders in the final 400 meters to cement his status as one of the greatest distance runners in history
Farah joins Finnish legend Lasse Viren as the only athletes to win back-to-back Olympic titles in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Team USA’s Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo originally finished in second with an excellent kick, and was later disqualified for a push before being reinstated around an hour later to finally secure second.
Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia ended up with bronze after leading early. Bernard Lagat nearly secured his third Olympic medal at age 41, but the reinstatement dropped him back to fourth.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya won her first career Olympic gold to go along with two world championships in the finals of the women’s 800 meters. Semenya, the heavy favorite in the race, was a few strides behind with 200 meters to go, but used a devastating kick to easily outpace the rest of the field.
Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba looked poised for an upset late in the race and still did well to win silver. Kenya’s Margaret Wambui, thought to be perhaps the only threat to Semenya prior to the race, took home the bronze.
Saturday’s schedule opened with the finals of the women’s high jump. Just four athletes were able to clear the third height of 1.97 meters, leading to a battle for the medals.
Nobody was able to clear that height, but Spain’s Ruth Beitia won gold at 37 years old by virtue of clearing the first three heights on her first attempt. Bulgaria’s Mirela Demirev won silver, while two-time world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia took home bronze while struggling through injuries.
Continuing a theme from the field events for the entire competition, the men’s javelin final came right down to the wire. Germany’s Thomas Röhler unleashed a throw of 90.30 meters on his fifth attempt to outpace the rest of the field by over two meters and win gold.
Julius Yego of Kenya was the early leader at 88.24 meters, but unfortunately had to pass on his last two throws after suffering an injury. Defending champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago added another medal to his collection with a third-place final.