Quincy Hall's gutsy blitz down the Stade de France track to claim 400m gold highlighted a stacked session of track and field.

In addition to Hall's gold, 11 additional Olympic medals were handed out on Wednesday. See below for full event recaps, highlights, athlete soundbites and more.

RESULTS

In a smash-hit Olympic debut, American Quincy Hall erupted down the home stretch to take home gold in the men’s 400m final, winning in a lifetime best 43.40 seconds.

"I told you guys I was going to get a gold medal this year," Hall said. "I know I can win. I knew it today. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career.

Hall's victory came thanks to an epic comeback. The 25-year-old appeared down and out after 300 meters. He was visibly grimacing as he fell behind Matthew Hudson-Smith, Muzala Samukonga and Jereem Richards. But fighting through pain, the Kansas City, Missouri, native absolutely tore down the final 100m to win gold in 43.40 seconds.

"I was just thinking, 'Get home, sir. Get home, sir,'" Hall said. "I don’t give up. I just grit, I grind. I’ve got determination.

Anything I think will get me to that line, I think of it. A lot of hurt, a lot of pain.

This Olympic title is also the first for an American man in the 400m since the 2008 Beijing Games, when LaShawn Merritt took home gold. Hall's time is the fifth-fastest ever in the event and fastest since the world record set by South African Wayde van Niekerk in 2016.

Great Britain’s Hudson-Smith took bronze in his second Olympic appearance — he previously finished eighth in 2016. Now, the Brit has catapulted to the podium with a lightning time of 43.44 seconds. Zambia’s Samukonga earned bronze, the first men’s 400m medal for his country, with a time of 43.74. Americans Chris Bailey and Michael Norman finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

Hall’s tenacious blitz down the home stretch will surely stand as one of the iconic moments of these Olympics. One month after winning his first national title, Hall has Olympic title No. 1 on the heels of an incredible 2023-24 glow-up. Hall entered 2023 as a 400m hurdles specialist (he was the 2019 NCAA 400m hurdles champion for South Carolina), but he elected to shift to the flat 400m in 2023.

"That decision changed my life," Hall said minutes after his gold medal dash.

Hall announced himself as a legit 400m contender when he took bronze at 2023 Worlds. He then posted the world’s top time in 2024 four weeks ago, posting a 43.80 at the Monaco Diamond League event.

In his debut at the Olympic Games, it has all come together for Hall, who simply wouldn't let gold slip away.

"It’s over," Hall said. "For the next four years I can say I’m an Olympic champion."

RESULTS

Jamaican Roke Stona set a new Olympic record with a toss of 70.00 meters as he hurled his way to men's discus gold in Paris. Not only is this Jamaica's first gold medal of the Paris Games, but it's the country's first Olympic men's discus gold ever. The 25-year-old Stona, also a former SEC discus champion from the University of Arkansas, is coached by American and three-time Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser.

Stona's record came moments after 21-year-old Lithuanian Mykolas Alekna set a then-Olympic record at 69.97 that stood for just a few minutes. Entering these Olympics, the previous record belonged to his Alekna's father, Virgilijus, who won back-to-back discus gold medals in 2000 and 2004. Now, the younger Alekna is an Olympic silver medalist.

Australian Matthew Denny, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Games, took bronze. It's Australia's first men's discus medal in history.

RESULTS

Australian Nina Kennedy took down defending Olympic champion Katie Moon to win women’s pole vault gold in Paris. Kennedy reached a height of 4.90 meters that Moon couldn't match, giving the Aussie gold.

This is the 27-year-old Kennedy’s first Olympic medal — and the first women’s pole vault gold medal in history for Australia. Entering these Olympics, the only Aussie woman with any pole vault medal was Tatiana Grigorieva, who took silver at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Now, a year after sharing the 2023 world title with Moon, Kennedy has created a class of her own in Australian pole vaulting history. Kennedy didn’t even advance to the Olympic final in Tokyo, but she has since honed in on her craft – training, sleep, diet – to elevate herself to Olympic champion level.

On the heels of an injury-ravaged 2024 season, Moon rallied, fighting through Achilles tendinosis to earn Olympic silver. While she didn't defend the Tokyo gold, Moon has hardware to take back to Ohio.

Canadian Alysha Newman claimed bronze, reaching a top height of 4.85m. It's the 30-year-old's first Olympic medal.

This pole vault final was the toughest in Olympic history, featuring the most women ever to reach heights of 4.80m and 4.90m, respectively.

RESULTS

Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali is now a back-to-back Olympic champion in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. He is just the second man ever to defend a gold medal in the event, matching  Finland's Volmari Iso-Hollo, who took home gold in 1932 and 1936.

With a time of 8:06.05, El Bakkali emerged in a gritty race that saw world record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia tumble to the ground in the home stretch.

In a stunning surge, American Kenneth Rooks, a Walla Walla, Washington, native, exploded forward in the bell lap to briefly take the lead. Rooks was in gold medal position until El Bakkali overtook him for gold. Rooks placed second for a silver medal, just 0.36 seconds behind the champion.

Rooks’ first Olympic medal arrives on the heels of a breakout 2023 season as a senior at BYU. Rooks won the NCAA title and U.S. Championships, and was the No. 1 American at worlds. Now, he’s an Olympic medalist. The 24-year-old continues a recent swell of U.S. success in this event after Evan Jager claimed silver at the 2016 Rio Games.

Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot is the bronze medalist, which was his same placing at 2023 Worlds.

Men’s 110m hurdles semifinals: Grant Holloway is a three-time world champion and two-time world indoor champion. He’s already considered among the all-time hurdling greats. But there’s still one glaring white whale on his lifetime accomplishments: Olympic gold.

Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment stormed by Holloway for 110m hurdles gold in Tokyo, but it was Holloway surging past Parchment in Wednesday’s semifinal to book a spot in the Paris Olympic final.

Holloway’s time of 12.98 seconds was the top time of the day. Fellow Americans Daniel Roberts and Freddie Crittenden also soared into the final, set for Thursday evening. Parchment didn’t finish in the requisite top two for automatic qualification, but he did squeak by to the final based on time (13.19).

“When you put the gold and silver medalist from the last Olympics together, it’s going to be fireworks,” Holloway said. “I’ve been training to be an Olympic gold medalist. I just want to make sure I worry about my lane and my space.”

Men’s 400m hurdles semifinals: The big three of Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin and Alison dos Santos — who have combined for all of the top-15 times in this event — all qualified for Friday evening's Olympic final. Warholm and Benjamin sailed in their respective semis, but dos Santos faced a trickier path. The Brazilian finished third, which meant he needed to qualify based on time. After some suspense, he learned that his 47.95-second semi was enough to book a spot in the final.

Frenchman Clement Ducos delivered an electric performance in front of his home crowd, posting a scorching time of 47.85 to roll into his first Olympic final at 23. Ducos is a student-athlete at the University of Tennessee. 

Men’s 200m semifinals: Ahead of the highly anticipated men’s 200m final on Thursday evening, Americans Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton and Kenny Bednarek all cruised past their semis to ensure spots in the final.

With a time of 20 seconds flat, Lyles did not win his semi, however — Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo edged him by .04 seconds. On Thursday, Lyles will aim to become the first American man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to complete the 100m-200m Olympic double. But he’ll face a challenge from his countrymen, including Bednarek.

“I’m just trying to dominate,” Bednarek said after his semi. “Every time I step on the track, it’s me versus everyone else. I came here to win. That’s the only thing on my mind.”

Tokyo Olympic men’s 200m champion Andre De Grasse of Canada surprisingly did not qualify for the final — he finished his semi in just 20.41 seconds.

Women’s 400m semifinals: Tokyo silver medalist Marileidy Paulino ran as smoothly as anyone in the women’s 400m field on Wednesday, winning her semi in 49.21 seconds to qualify for the Olympic final. She enters Friday’s final among the strongest favorites.

In Paulino’s semi, American Alexis Holmes fell behind early but scorched down the track in the final 50m to earn her spot in the final. U.S. teammates Aaliyah Butler and Kendall Ellis did not qualify.

Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser posted the top time of the day (49.08) and will race in the final. 

Marathon race walk mixed relay: In the event's Olympic debut, the Spanish duo of Martin Alvaro and Maria Perez prevailed in the race walk mixed relay with a time of 2:50.31. Ecuador's team of Brian Pintado and Glenda Morejon earned silver in 2:51.22. Australia's Rhydian Cowley and Jemima Montag claimed bronze, crossing the line in 2:51.38.

Twenty-five teams competed in the race — each team was made up of one male and one female athlete who completed the marathon distance in four stages of approximately 10km each, alternating throughout the race (man, woman, man, woman). 

Women’s 100m hurdles Round 1: Defending Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn posted the day's best time (12.42 seconds) to coast into the semifinal. Americans Masai Russell, Grace Stark and Alaysha Johnson all advanced, along with Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas, who holds the women's 60m hurdles world record. In all, 18 total hurdlers are through to the semi. Those who didn't move on will compete in repechages on Thursday morning. Need a repechage explainer? Here you go.

Men’s 800m Round 1: Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi posted the day's top time at 1:44.64 to cruise into the 800m semis on Friday. U.S. teammates and training partners Bryce Hoppel and Hobbs Kessler both moved on. Kessler, who competed in Tuesday night's thrilling men's 1500m final, admitted he was exhausted just 15 hours later.

"I was pretty tired today," Kessler told Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports. "I'm proud to be an American miler, that's for sure. It'd be nice to come home with a medal, but it's still a great time to be a miler. I'll go get some rest now."

Fellow American Brandon Miller finished just 1.37 seconds out of qualifying so will have to advance via Thursday's repechages.

Men’s 5000m Round 1: One night after stunningly falling off the medal podium in the men's 1500m final, Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen opened the Paris Olympic men's 5000m. Ingebrigtsen posted a 13:51.59 opening round, the day's top time. The 23-year-old is the two-time reigning world champion in the 5000m and will run in the final alongside American Grant Fisher. Fisher is attempting the 5000m-10,000m double after taking bronze in the 10,000m. American teammate Graham Blanks is also moving on.

The first of two heats featured a massive fall involving multiple runners, including Great Britain's George Mills. Moments after crossing the finish line, Mills approached France's Hugo Hay and the two tussled for a bit. Both will compete in the final on Saturday.

Women’s 1500m repechages: The women's 1500m semifinal looms on Thursday, and Ethiopia's Birke Haylom led a group of six who advanced through the repechage round to qualify. Great Britain's Revee Walcott-Nolan, the 2021 British 1500m champion, is among them.

Men’s high jump qualification: American Shelby McEwen nailed the requisite height of 2.27m to qualify for the high jump final in a session rife with struggles.

In a poignant moment, Qatari high jump legend Mutaz Barshim — who shared gold in a heartwarming moment at the Tokyo Games with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi — fell down hard with a severe left calf cramp after one of his jumps. Both an athletic trainer and Tamberi came over to attend to Barshim, who was visibly writhing in pain. Barshim then rallied to make his next attempt and successfully cleared 2.27m to advance, but he appeared to be in intense pain immediately after.

Tamberi, meanwhile, spent the first part of his week at the hospital with kidney stones. But the Italian still managed to qualify for the final, where he'll look to defend his gold medal. 

Reigning world silver medalist and American JuVaughn Harrison didn't move on, so his Paris Games are over.

Women’s javelin qualification: Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Maria Andrejczyk of Poland tossed a season's best 65.52 meters to lead the javelin field and advance to the final. 2016 Olympic gold medalist Sara Kolak of Croatia is also through, but American Maggie Malone-Hardin didn't move on.

Men’s triple jump qualification: American Salif Mane reached 17.16 meters to secure a spot in the Paris Olympic final along with the day's leader, defending Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, and 10 others. U.S. teammates Russell Robinson and Donald Scott didn't reach the final.