The second weekend of the Paris Olympics wrapped up at Stade de France with one of the tightest finishes in recent Olympic memory in the men's 100m final.
The quick hits:
- In a thrilling photo finish, Noah Lyles won his first Olympic gold medal, topping the men's 100m final by a hair. He finished just five thousandths of a second in front of silver medalist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica. American Fred Kerley took bronze.
- World record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine won her first Olympic gold medal in the women's high jump, edging Australia's Nicola Olyslagers, who claimed silver for the second consecutive Olympics. Mahuchikh's gold medal is the second of these Olympics for Ukraine.
- 22-year-old Canadian Ethan Katzberg ended a 112-year drought for Canada in the men's hammer, winning Olympic gold for the first time.
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made her much-anticipated debut in the women's 400m hurdles, fresh off setting a new world record for the fifth time. She breezed into the semis along with her U.S. teammates and Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who posted the top time of the day.
- Grant Holloway began his gold medal quest in the men's 110m hurdles. After taking silver to Jamaica's Hansle Parchment in Tokyo, Holloway enters as a favorite in Paris. He coasted into the semis with a time of 13.01 seconds in the heats.
- American standout and Tokyo bronze medalist Gabby Thomas coasted to victory in the first round of the women's 200m. She will be joined in the semis by 100m gold medalist Julien Alfred and U.S. teammate McKenzie Long in the semifinals. Jamaican superstar Shericka Jackson withdrew a few minutes beforehand.
- Jakob Ingebrigsten and Josh Kerr, plus all three U.S. men's 1500m runners, advanced to Tuesday's highly anticipated Olympic final.
Men's 100m final
In a thrilling photo finish, Noah Lyles backed up his talk: he's the world's fastest man.
Lyles squeezed by Jamaican Kishane Thompson to claim his first Olympic gold medal in a personal best 9.784 seconds, just five thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson, who posted a time of 9.789. The silver for Thompson is the 23-year-old's first Olympic medal. American Fred Kerley claimed bronze, his second Olympic medal in the 100m.
Lyles is the first American man to win gold in the 100m since Justin Gatlin at the 2004 Athens Games. After placing just seventh in the 100m at U.S. Trials in 2021, Lyles is now the top 100m runner on Earth for the second year in a row.
“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.”
Thompson told reporters in his media session that Lyles turned to him after the finish and said, "Hey Kishane, I think you got it done."
But Lyles was wrong. The photo showed his torso crossing the line ahead of Thompson's, which made Lyles the Olympic 100m champion. Thompson's foot may have crossed the finish line before any of Lyles' feet, but that's irrelevant. Olympic rules stipulate that the first athlete whose torso — not a foot, not the head — reaches the finish line is declared the winner.
A picture tells a thousand words, and the only word that mattered on Sunday night for Lyles was gold.
“I wasn’t patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me at the line," Thompson continued. “I know that Jamaica would have wanted me to get the gold. Everybody loves winners. I would have loved to win today, but big up to the whole field.”
Sunday's final set a few world records, according to World Athletics. It was the closest-ever global championship 100m final, with just 0.12 seconds separating the winner from the eight-place finisher. It was also the first wind-legal men's race in history with eight times under 10 seconds.
Women's high jump: Final
After taking bronze in Tokyo, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh won her first Olympic gold medal on Sunday.
Mahuchikh squeezed by silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers of Australia to secure gold in an epic women’s high jump final.
It’s been a life-changing year for Mahuchikh. In July, she smashed a world record that had stood since 1987 by clearing a height of 2.10 meters. Now, the Ukrainian can now claim an Olympic title, too.
After the country won fencing gold in the women’s team sabre event on Saturday, Mahuchikh’s medal is Ukraine’s second gold of the Paris Games. Mahuchukh has been living out of a suitcase for much of the year, practicing in Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium amid the ongoing war in her country.
“I represent my country,” Mahuchikh said “For Ukraine, every medal is important. I want to show people we’ll never give up and we’ll fight in difficult and different ways. I should show that we’ll be fighting, and now I’m competing for my people in Ukraine. Because sports gives warm memories and happiness.”
Australia’s Olyslagers is the Olympic silver medalist for the second time after doing so in Tokyo. On Sunday in Paris, she kept a beaming smile on her face from start to finish, wooing the crowd to her side with nonstop positive energy. Late in the competition, the 27-year-old cleared a height of 2.00m on her third attempt to stay alive and push Mahuchikh to 2.02m.
“I really want people to see that even in the most pressurized situations, I’m hoping people actually saw the joy inside of me," Olyslagers said.
That led to three make-or-break moments in which Olyslagers needed to clear 2.02m to take gold. But in three attempts, she couldn’t clear the bar, giving the gold medal to Mahuchikh.
Improbably, Australia and Ukraine each earned two spots on the medal podium in the high jump. Australia's Eleanor Patterson and Ukraine's Iryna Gerashchenko shared the bronze, both clearing 1.95m.
Men's hammer: Final
In his first Olympic appearance, Canadian Ethan Katzberg won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s hammer. It's Canada's first men's hammer Olympic medal since Duncan Gillis at the 1912 Stockholm Games.
Katzberg entered Paris as the reigning world champion and is now an Olympic champion at just 22. On Sunday, his first throw of the evening — a tremendous 84.12 meters — was enough to clinch the gold medal, clearing silver medalist Bence Halasz of Hungary by nearly five full meters.
The bronze medal went to Ukrainian Mykhaylo Kokhan, whose top toss of 79.39 earned his country its third medal of the evening session at Stade de France.
Women's 400m Hurdles: Round 1
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the defending Olympic champion, stepped onto the Paris Olympic track for the first time and posted a time of 53.60 seconds in the 400m hurdles heats.
“It was just good to shake the rust off," McLaughlin-Levrone said. "I haven’t raced since the USA trials, but the track is pretty fast, and I wasn’t expecting it. It feels good to be back out there competing.”
McLaughlin-Levrone is onto the semifinals alongside U.S. teammates Jasmine Jones and Anna Cockrell, plus Dutch superstar Femke Bol, whose sensational anchor leg clinched mixed 4x400m relay victory for the Netherlands on Saturday night.
"I didn't sleep much, but I can stand a short night for once," Bol said. "It's very special what happened yesterday. On one hand I felt so super tired today, but the adrenaline helped me through it [today].
It wasn't my best race, but it doesn't have to be yet.
Men's 110m Hurdles Round 1
U.S. superstar Grant Holloway entered Paris with one mission: win gold. The three-time world champion was devastated coming out of the Tokyo Games, where he claimed silver to Hansle Parchment's gold. Holloway coasted through his heat on Sunday in 13.01 seconds, the top time by an astounding 0.21. Parchment just squeaked by to move into the semis on time (13.43).
"You guys think about Tokyo a lot, but this is Paris," Holloway said. "The biggest thing is to execute this time and not really worry about the past and continue to show great form.
All roads lead to the final.
Holloway's U.S. teammate Daniel Roberts is also through to the semis, but not Freddie Crittenden. Crittenden jogged through his heat in an ultra-slow 18.27 seconds and relayed his unique strategy to NBC Sports' Lewis Johnson minutes later:
"I'm doing well. I had a little bit of aggravation in my adductor yesterday from my pre meet. I went to the Team USA medical staff and doctors. They said it's not an injury. There's just a lack of activation in my muscle that's causing pain and discomfort.
"The plan was to come out here and get through the round as long as I didn't get disqualified or hit any hurdles. The idea was to get through and I'll have another opportunity to run in the repechage round. I wanted to get here and make sure it didn't feel any worse and make it through and give it everything I've got on Tuesday."
The repechage round is new to the Olympic format this year, and it allows Crittenden a chance to save his best form. So, the 30-year-old will run to keep his Paris Olympics alive on Tuesday.
Women's 200m: Round 1
Tokyo bronze medalist Gabby Thomas commenced her quest for her first Olympic gold when she ran in the first round of the women's 200m sprint. Thomas dominated the first heat, posting a time of 22.20 seconds that led the day.
Thomas also got a taste of what to expect in the coming rounds, with British star Dina Asher-Smith and Nigeria's Favour Ofili flying in the final heat to finish less than a tenth of a second behind her. Fellow American Brittany Brown came in fourth with a time of 22.38 seconds, while McKenzie Long rounded out a strong day for the United States by qualifying with a 22.55.
The 200m field is set to look quite different in Paris, after the surprise withdrawal of reigning world champion Shericka Jackson in the run-up to the first heat. Also missing is defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and American Sha'Carri Richardson, who did not qualify for the event at U.S. Trials.
Both 100m gold medalist Julien Alfred and Great Britain's Daryll Neita finished at the top of the standings. Along with Thomas, they are the only members from the top five at the 2023 World Championships still competing in the event.
After winning the women's 100m gold medal Saturday night at 9:20 p.m. local time, Alfred lined up for her preliminary sprint at 10:55 a.m. Sunday morning, just over 13 hours later.
Additional Events
Women's 3000m Round 1: Defending Olympic gold medalist Peruth Chemutai made the qualifying heat look easy, cruising to a day's best time of 9:10.51, along with defending world champion Winfred Yavi. Courtney Wayment looked strong for the United States, finishing fourth overall, and she will be joined by teammate Valerie Constien in the final.
Women's hammer throw Round 1: Americans DeAnna Price and Annette Echikunwoke both advanced to the final, posting the third and fourth best throws, respectively. Canadian Camryn Rogers, the reigning world champion, is through, as well.
Men's long jump Round 1: Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou posted the longest jump, by far, of the day at 8.32m, 0.17m longer than anyone else. No Americans advanced past Round 1. Jeremiah Davis finished .07m shy of the mark. Jarrion Lawson and Malcolm Clemons are out, as well.
Men's 400m Round 1: World-leader Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain made his first Olympic appearance since 2016 — he missed Tokyo with a torn hamstring and torn Achilles. Hudson-Smith posted a 44.78-second heat to qualify for the 400m semis on Tuesday, where Americans Quincy Hall, Chris Bailey and Michael Norman will join him. Grenada's Kirani James, who has claimed three Olympic medals including 2012 gold, advanced as well. Surprisingly, defending Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas withdrew from the heats just minutes before. Those who didn't advance in the heats will have a second chance via repechages on Monday.
Women's 800m Semifinals: Medal favorites Keely Hodgkinson and Mary Moraa both powered their way through the semis and into the women's 800m final on Monday night. American Juliette Whittaker advanced, but Nia Akins missed out by under a second. Hodgkinson's time (1:56.86) was the fastest of the evening.
Men's 1500m Semifinals: American Yared Nuguse posted the top 1500m semifinal time (3:31.72) to advance to the final alongside U.S. teammates Cole Hocker and Hobbs Kessler. Defending Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigsten of Norway took the first semifinal in 3:32.38 to edge rival Josh Kerr of Great Britain. All of them advanced to Tuesday's final, among the most highly anticipated track races of the Paris Olympics.