By AA Correspondent
Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali made light of his sub-par preparations following injuries and retained his 3000m steeplechase gold in his characteristic style as the Paris Olympics athletics action wound up at the State de France on Wednesday (Aug 7).
It has been 92 years since any man retained his steeplechase title, historians pointed out after the race in which world record-holder Lemecha Girma of Ethiopia took a tumble while clearing a hurdle on the back-straight in the last lap and failed to finish. He had to be stretchered out.
Roje Stona provided a stunning upset in men’s discus, winning the title with an Olympic record of 70.0m, ahead of world-record holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania. Defending champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden finished seventh with 66.95m
It was also a day that witnessed the crowning of another new Olympic champion, Quincy Hall of the US in the 400m ahead of Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain who had won the silver at last year’s World championships, in a personal best 43.44s. Michael Norman, the 2022 world champion, finished last.
Nina Kennedy stops Moon
Australian Nina Kennedy posted a national-record-equalling 4.90m while taking the pole-vault gold at the expense of defending champion Katie Moon of the US. Moon who has a personal best of 4.95m could clear only 4.85m. Alysha Newman set a Canadian record of 4.85m, the same height as Moon, to take the bronze.
El Bakkali was not given the tag of the favourite by experts even a month prior to the Games, when he had apparently recovered from a knee injury that had curtailed his preparations for his Olympic title defence.
Before coming to Paris, however, the 28-year-old Moroccan did suggest that despite running just one steeplechase race, he felt ready to go for his second Olympic title.
Once the race started, with Indian Avinash Sable setting the early pace and the Ethiopians taking turns after that, it was clear El Bakkali was back in form and hungrier than before to court success. On a stage as big as the Olympics, there are very few who can match the Moroccan in race strategy and judgement of pace. Sable finished 11th in 8:14.18, unable to keep pace with the front bunch and hopelessly placed in the last 300 metres.
El Bakkali knew when to make the final move. As in several past races, it came on the last 300-metre stretch, where, unfortunately Girma fell. Once the Ethiopian who had taken the silver behind El Bakkali at the last Olympics as well as in the last two World championships, was out of the race, the biggest threat to the Moroccan was out of the way.
Yet, nothing could be said of the final outcome as El Bakkali pushed ahead of American Kenneth Rooks and Kenyan Abraham Kibiwott, the bronze medalist at the last World championships. At third place with 200 metres to go, the Moroccan still looked as though someone could come storming on the home straight.
The doubts, if any, did not last for long, though. He had the race under his control from 100 metres out to the finish with Rooks in furious pursuit. Though it looked for a brief moment El Bakkali might struggle in the end, he came off the final hurdle confidently and strode to the finish, arms raised, a smile crossing his lips. He timed a season best 8:06.05, Rooks a personal best 8:06.41 and Kibiwot a season best 8:06.47.
It was El Bakkali’s 23rd sub-8:10 timing. He has now remained unbeaten through 13 finals beginning with the Kip Keino Classic at Nairobi in September 2021.
For the 24-year-old Rooks it was the first global medal. From 8:15. 08 earlier this season, the American has improved to the present. For Kibiwot, Commonwealth Games champion in 2022, the colour of the medal in a global championship remained the same as he had to settle for the bronze like he did at last year’s World championships.
Coach and trainee are champions
Jamaica, known for its sprinting prowess, is producing throwing champions nowadays. Stona won his first major title of a young career by improving his personal best by 95cm this year. In a rare coach-student double in an Olympics, he and American Ryan Crouser have become gold medalists in the same championships. Crouser’s other trainee in these Games, Rajindra Campbell, had finished with the bronze in shot put that the American won.
Alekna had improved his father Virgilijus Alekna’s Olympic record with his second-round throw that measured 69.97m, but that did not last the distance as Stona threw 70.00m in his fourth attempt. He and Alekna fouled their last two attempts.
Australian Matthew Denny, fourth last time in Tokyo, took the bronze with 69.31m while Kristjan Ceh of Slovakia finished fourth with 68.41m
“I’ve done some things that I didn’t know I was capable of doing. But I believed, and I had faith, so I was in the moment and I enjoyed it,” said Stona.
“Jamaica should be proud right now, they should celebrate,” he said. “Field events are taking a step in the right direction (in Jamaica) now. We are getting medals,” Stona said.
In a race in which the top-7 cracked 45.0s, with top five clocking 44-plus, Hall was able to overhaul Hudson-Smith over the final 30 metres. Running in lane eight, Hall clocked a world-leading 43.40s, his best in his career, while Hudson-Smith timed an area record of 43.44s.
Behind the Briton, who might have been surprised to see Hall emerging out of nowhere to grab the gold in the end. In the rush to the finish, former Olympic and World champion Kirani James of Grenada, pushing 32, clocked 43.87s for his fifth place. Zambia’s Musala Samukonga was third in a national record of 43.74s. Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago also had a national record at 43.78s behind him That was the depth of an exceptionally fast quarter mile.
Spain takes walk marathon relay gold
Spain won the inaugural mixed marathon relay in the morning session, edging Ecuador in a keen finish in a competition that attracted 25 teams.
Asia did not win a medal, but one of the two Japanese teams finished eighth and the other 13th while the two teams from China ended up 14th and 15th. The Indian team did not finish.
The Spanish team of Alvaro Martin, bronze winner in Paris in the men’s 20km walk event, and Maria Perez, the silver medallist in the individual event, clocked 2:50:31 for the 42.0km 195.0m course to beat Ecuador to the gold.
Ecuador had the individual champion Brian Daniel Pintado and Glenda Morejon who eventually finished in 2:51:22.
Martin and Pintado were evenly matched on their opening legs of 12.195km but the Spaniard was a shade faster on the male walkers’ final leg of 10km compared to Pintado. Likewise, Perez was about 48.0s faster than Morejon on the anchor, both having covered their opening legs with almost same timings.
For Australia, with Jemima Montag doing an excellent job on the female legs, had the satisfaction of clinching the bronze in 2:51:38. The male Aussie was Rhydian Cowley.
The Japanese team of Masatora Kawano and Kumiko Okada clocked 2:55:40 to come eighth while the Chinese-2 team of He Xianghong and Shijie Qieyang was 14th in 2:59:133.
Salwa Naser leads qualifiers
In the women’s 400m semifinals, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser projected herself as a strong contender by leading the qualifiers with a time of 49.08s. World champion Marileidy Paulino of Dominican Republic won another heat in 49.321s while Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek was home in 49.45s in the third heat.
Defending champion Andre De Grasse of Canada missed the cut in the men’s 200m semi-finals, clocking 20.41 to come third in his heat won by American Kenny Bednarek. The 100m champion Noah Lyles and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo were among the qualifiers in a heat in which Japanese Towa Uzawa came sixth in 20.54s to go out. The 400m world record-holder Wayne Van Niekerk, finished last in his heat in 20.72s.
In triple jump qualification round, China’s Fang Yaoqing, sixth at last year’s World championships and eighth at the Tokyo Olympics, bowed out, with 15.85m that placed him at 31st place in the 32-man field.
India also had to be disappointed in triple jump as its jumpers, Abdulla Aboobacker (21st, 16.49m) and Praveen Chithravel (27th, 16.25m) were eliminated. Korean Kim Jang Woo (16.31m) also did not progress.
