Athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be held from August 1 to 11, including 48 events, most of which will take place at the Stade de France. Here are five events to watch:
Men’s 100m sprint
The men’s 100m sprint is set to add a new chapter to the burgeoning sprint rivalry between the United States and Jamaica. The two favourites for the flagship Olympic event are Jamaica’s rising star Kishane Thompson and Noah Lyles of the United States.
Thompson, 23, boasts a personal best of 9.77 seconds and emerged victorious at the Jamaican national championships in June.
Lyles, meanwhile, is the current world champion and US Olympic trials winner.
The 27-year-old, who will also compete in the 200m sprint in Paris, has a personal best time of 9.83 seconds in the 100m. But Thompson and Lyles are not the only contenders for the title of the fastest man on earth.
One of the potential candidates for the crown is Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, another athlete vying for both the 100m and 200m sprint. The 21-year-old claimed silver at the 2023 World Championships in the 100m and bronze in the 200m five days later. Other 100m medal hopefuls include Thompson’s compatriot, Oblique Seville, and reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs from Italy. Kenya Ferdinard Omanyala, who is the Africa 100m record holder, will also be spoiling for a surprise.
Women’s 100m sprint
The women’s 100m dash will offer a chance at redemption for Sha’Carri Richardson. The 24-year-old American missed out on a place in the US squad for the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for a “chemical found in marijuana.” A bid to revive her career at the 2022 World Championships failed after she produced a series of subpar performances at the US trials. It marked a change of direction in Richardson’s career. A year later, she stormed to victory at the World Championships in Budapest, clocking 10.65 seconds— the fifth fastest time in history. Among those standing in her way in Paris will be Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Jackson, a five-time Olympic medallist, took bronze in this event at the Tokyo Games, while 37-year-old Fraser-Pryce, the 100m champion at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, is seeking a golden farewell to her illustrious career.
Men’s pole vault
Few athletes have dominated their respective sports in recent years like pole vaulter Armand Duplantis. The 24-year-old Swede is the defending Olympic champion and the reigning world outdoor and indoor gold medalist. He is also the current world outdoor and indoor record holder. Duplantis has won every outdoor competition in which he has participated this year, narrowly missing out on a new world record at the Paris Diamond League meeting on July 7. A possible - though unlikely - threat to Duplantis could come from two-time world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States or Frenchman Thibaut Collet. The 2012 Olympic pole vault champion and former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France, 37, failed in his bid to qualify for the event.
Women’s 400m hurdles
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be the favourite for gold in the women’s 400m hurdles as she seeks to break her own world record in the event. The 24-year-old American lowered the record for a fifth time at the US Olympic trials in June with a time of 50.65 seconds. She is already a dual Olympic champion, having won gold in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay in Tokyo three years ago. Her main challenger will be Dutch runner Femke Bol, who is the second-fastest woman in history over the 400m hurdles. Bol clinched gold in the event at last year’s world championships in Budapest, which McLaughlin-Levrone missed because of a knee injury.
Women’s 1,500m
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon is aiming for an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s 1,500m. The 30-year-old, who is also the reigning world champion, is in peak form after breaking her world record in the event at the Paris Diamond League competition in early July. Despite her dominance, the task won’t be a pushover for Kipyegon. The presence of Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay and Australia’s Jessica Hull means the starting list includes three of the fastest female 1,500m runners in history. In addition to the 1,500m, Kipyegon’s Paris 2024 schedule includes the 5,000m, for which she is also the current world champion.