The Paris Olympic track and field slate delivered in epic fashion.

Crowds of 70,000-plus packed Stade de France for nearly two weeks straight. Those fans were treated to Olympic and world records crumbling nearly every nightly. They dissected multiple photo finishes, followed legends of the sport, and welcomed in top up-and-comers. That crowd served as a major storyline of these Olympics.

"The crowd is super engaged," U.S. women's 400m hurdles silver medalist Anna Cockrell said. "The crowd is just bursting with energy, and I was feeding on it."

The hordes in Paris loved it, now it's time for you to relive it. Here's the story of track and field at the Paris Olympic Games.

FULL REPLAYS: TRACK AND FIELD
RESULTS: TRACK AND FIELD

After mixed results at the Tokyo Games, the U.S. owned the track and field slate in Paris. Americans combined to earn 34 total medals, the most by the U.S. in track and field since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Americans also swept all four hurdle events for the first time in history, and U.S. men earned a medal in nine of 10 individual track events.

American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own women's 400m hurdles world record for an astonishing sixth time (50.37 seconds), and Swedish star Mondo Duplantis set a new men's pole vault mark (6.25 meters) for a ninth time.

Those record-breaking marks served as defining moments of these Olympic Games, and they came on behalf of stars we'll watch for years to come: McLaughlin-Levrone just turned 25, and Duplantis is 24.

"The biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics," Duplantis said.

It’s one of those things that don’t really feel real, such an out-of-body experience.

On the track, McLaughlin-Levrone's new world mark also clinched her second consecutive Olympic women's 400m hurdles title.

“I'm grateful to God for this opportunity, grateful to be celebrating my 25th birthday like this," McLaughlin-Levrone said after her record-breaking moment. "Just a super opportunity, you can’t even imagine."

In a photo finish now seared into Olympic history, Noah Lyles backed up his talk: he's the world's fastest man in the 100m.

In the Paris Olympic men's 100m final, Lyles edged past Jamaican Kishane Thompson to win his first Olympic gold medal in a lifetime-best 9.784 seconds. Lyles crossed the finish line just five thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson, who posted a time of 9.789. The result wasn't clear until nearly 30 seconds after the end of the race, as the competitors waited nervously for the details of their photo finish.

When the result finally flashed on the Stade de France videoboard, Lyles' eyes bulged. He screamed jubilantly. He was a gold medalist. Thompson took silver, and American Fred Kerley claimed bronze, Kerley's second career Olympic medal in the 100m.

Noah Lyles crosses the finish line to win gold in the men's 100m final at the Paris Olympics.

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Lyles became the first American man to win 100m gold since Justin Gatlin at the 2004 Athens Games.

“It’s been a rollercoaster," Lyles said moments after winning gold. "In the 100m, it’s my first time here on the Olympic stage. You only need one. As long as that’s the last one, that’s all that matters.”

The Paris final was the tightest 100m final in global racing history — not just at the Olympics, but anywhere. When the race began, Lyles was actually in last place after 40 meters. He roared back but still trailed Thompson by .01 seconds after 90 meters. But the new Olympic champion drew from his reserves to launch himself forward in his final stride.

By winning two of the Paris Olympics' signature races, Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred and Botswana's Letsile Tebogo clinched historic firsts for their nations.

In a race hyped up as Lyles' quest for the 100m-200m double, it was the 21-year-old Tebogo pulling off one of the shockers of the Olympics in the men’s 200m final. Tebogo claimed gold with an electrifying victory in 19.46 seconds. Thanks to Tebogo, Botswana won its first-ever Olympic gold medal.

"It was really a beautiful race for me," Tebogo said.

It means a lot to the African continent because now they see Africa as a sprinting home, so we just had to make sure that the message is loud and clear.

Days earlier, the 23-year-old Alfred claimed the first-ever Olympic medal in Saint Lucia's history with a commanding win in the women's 100m final. Alfred erupted down the soaking Stade de France track in 10.72 seconds to claim victory in the final, finishing 0.15 seconds ahead of reigning world champion Sha'Carri Richardson, who took silver in 10.87 seconds for her first Olympic medal.

Continuing the history for smaller nations, triple jump gold medalist Thea LaFond secured the first-ever Olympic medal for the Caribbean island nation of Dominica. With a population of just over 72,000, Dominica is the smallest nation to collect an Olympic medal in Paris.

It's become a quadrennial tradition to say it: Ryan Crouser won shot put Olympic gold.

Already among the all-time great Olympians, Crouser entered a category of his own with a title in Paris. The 31-year-old American is the first shot putter ever — man or woman — to win three gold medals.

“Throwing a 16-pound ball as far as you can for a living beats you up," Crouser said. "Three golds is a testament to that, to be the first to win three golds."

In Paris, Kenyan legend Faith Kipyegon elevated her status to the top-tier of all-time greats.

She became the first woman in history to win the 1500m Olympic final three times. On top of it, the 30-year-old legend set a new Olympic record with her time of 3:51.29, winning by over a full second. She joined a trio of track icons — Paavo Nurmi, Usain Bolt and now Kipyegon — as the only athletes in Olympic history to win an individual track race at three Olympic Games.

"I knew the Olympic record was going to go down," Kipyegon said. "All the women were very strong, everybody was in good shape and everybody was going for this gold medal.

This is what was in my mind, just execute and just defend the title.

The U.S. dominated the track and field medal podium, and it featured a slew of first-time gold medalists.

Cole Hocker (men's 1500m), Grant Holloway (men's 110m hurdles), Gabby Thomas (women's 200m), Tara Davis-Woodhall (women's long jump), Noah Lyles (men's 100m), Rai Benjamin (men's 400m hurdles), Masai Russell (women's 100m hurdles), Quincy Hall (men's 400m) all claimed their first Olympic gold medals, at last topping medal podiums.

The U.S. women's 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, plus the men's 4x400m relay, all took home gold, meaning first-time golds for Sha'Carri Richardson, Twanisha "TeeTee" Terry, Melissa Jefferson, Shamier Little, Alexis Holmes and Chris Bailey.

Sha'Carri Richardson of Team USA celebrates winning the gold medal after competing in the women's 4x100m relay final on Day 14 of the Olympic Games at Stade de France on Aug. 9, 2024.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

"I'm really in disbelief because having an Olympic gold medal is something in my wildest dreams," Thomas said after her 200m victory. "But at the same time I know how hard I’ve fought for it. This has been six years in the making, head down, working hard.

This is the happiest moment of my life.

For the U.S., these individual gold medals included a resurgence of American success in men's sprints. At the Tokyo Games, the U.S. took home zero individual men's sprint golds for the first time in the nation's Olympic history. In Paris, the U.S. collected four, courtesy of Benjamin, Lyles, Hall and Holloway.

And while it wasn't a sprint event, Hocker's record-breaking men's 1500m victory served as one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the Games. Hocker was in fifth place entering the bell lap. But the 23-year-old from Indianapolis took the inside lane and blazed down the home stretch to sprint by Tokyo Olympic champion and presumptive favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen, reigning world champion Josh Kerr and U.S. teammate Yared Nuguse to claim the Olympic title. With a time of 3:27.65, he set an Olympic record in the process. "Hocker's Shocker" became a reality thanks to a devastating final kick, in which Nuguse took home bronze for the U.S.

Like Nuguse, Grant Fisher leaves Paris with bronze — but Fisher has two. The Michigan native is the first American man in history to complete a distance double of any type, collecting bronze medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m finals. After his second bronze, Fisher said, "My legs are completely toast now, but it feels really, really good."

Sifan Hassan just wanted to finish.

“It's my crazy thing,” she said. "I just want to complete it. I’m very curious. Could I podium? Could I even complete? Am I strong enough?”

Hassan, 31, had been full of questions all week in Paris.

It’s no wonder — what she attempted at the Paris Olympics is a bit crazy, to use her language. In Olympic history, only Emil Zátopek of Czechia has earned a medal in the Games’ three longest races: the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon.

She wanted to finish. She won.

In an Olympic record time of 2:22.55, Hassan won gold in the women’s marathon on Sunday. She came to Paris with a stomach-turning “crazy” plan, and she'll head home with three Paris Olympic medals — and a record to top it off.

“I have so many emotions," Hassan said moments after her marathon victory. "I was scared of this race.

I was never more focused in my life, until that moment. For two hours, I was focused every step. 

In Paris, Hassan collected marathon gold, 5,000m bronze and 10,000m bronze. In Tokyo, she won gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m, plus a bronze in the 1500m. It's a lot to keep track of, but put it all together, and she is the first athlete in history with Olympic medals across those four races. Hassan is her own category now.

“I feel like I am dreaming," Hassan said. "I only see people on the TV who are Olympic champions. The marathon is something else, you know. When you do 42 kilometers in more than two hours and 20 minutes, then every single step you feel so hard and so painful."

Hassan’s time just edged the previous Olympic record, set by Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana at the 2012 London Games in 2:23.07.

Two Olympic records and one world record (thanks, Mondo) fell in the field events.

Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan hurled a javelin throw 92.97 meters down the Stade de France inner circle, breaking a 16-year-old Olympic mark and earning him his first Olympic medal, a gold. Nadeem became the first Pakistani in history to qualify for the final of any Olympic track and field event, and he will soon return to his country with a gold medal.

In the men's discus, Jamaican Roke Stona set a new Olympic record with a toss of 70.00m on his way to men's discus gold in Paris. The medal gave Jamaica its first Olympic men's discus gold in history. The 25-year-old Stona, also a former SEC discus champion from the University of Arkansas, is coached by the legendary Crouser.

Joining those newcomers in making history was Belgium’s Nafi Thiam, who has claimed her third consecutive heptathlon Olympic gold medal in Paris. With her victory, the 29-year-old became the first woman to win three Olympic titles in the event. U.S. legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee won back-to-back golds in 1988 and 1992 (and bronze in 1996) — now Thiam stands alone with three golds.

As on the track, the field medal podiums were full of U.S. flags. Davis-Woodhall and Crouser were joined by fellow medalists Valarie Allman (women's discus gold), Katie Moon (women's pole vault silver), Shelby McEwen (men's high jump silver), Annette Echikunwoke (women's hammer silver) and Jasmine Moore (women's long jump and triple jump bronze). Moore became the first U.S. woman to compete both events at the Olympics, let alone earn a medal in both.