Fast Women: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone vs. herself
Winfred Yavi, Gabby Thomas earn Olympic gold.
Issue 308, sponsored by SOAR Running
During the Olympic Games, I’m sending out newsletters more frequently, so I can cover all the action in a timely manner. Fast Women will return to its regular once-a-week schedule on Monday.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is in a class of her own
One day after turning 25, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone celebrated by earning her second-straight Olympic gold medal in the 400m hurdles and breaking her own world record. She became the first woman to win the Olympic 400m hurdles twice, and she lowered the world record for the sixth time in just over three years, running 50.37 seconds.
"I crossed the line and was grateful for that time,” she told reporters afterwards. “I was hoping it’d be a little faster, but I’m sure there are some things in the middle there we can clean up." During part of her post-race celebration on the track, she fittingly wore a tiara that her sister-in-law brought for her. “She told me she was going to bring it,” she said. “I thought she was joking, but she was serious.”
Despite having to clear 10 hurdles, McLaughlin-Levrone’s time would have been enough to advance her to the semifinals of the flat 400m, and almost enough to get her to the final.
McLaughlin-Levrone was always the favorite to win this race, but Femke Bol of the Netherlands was expected to mount a significant challenge, especially after she became the second woman to break 51 seconds in the 400m hurdles a few weeks ago. But that clash never really materialized. The two were relatively close over the first seven hurdles, but McLaughlin-Levrone looked like she put on a jet pack for the final 100m. (In reality, looking at the splits, everyone was slowing down, but McLaughlin-Levrone did so the least.)
Bol paid the price for hanging with McLaughlin-Levrone for as long as she did, saying she died at the end because she went out too quickly. (Pretty much every runner can relate to that on some level.) Meanwhile, Anna Cockrell was having the race of her life, and just before the 10th hurdle, she pulled ahead of Bol and cruised to silver in 51.87 seconds. Cockrell’s time moved her to fourth on the world all-time list, and it was a PR by 0.77 seconds.
“I’ve always called myself a showtime girl,” Cockrell said. “When the lights come on, I come out to play.”
Bol earned bronze for the second-straight Games, running 52.15 seconds. Bol told reporters that she didn’t think that racing the mixed 4x400m relay impacted her performance in the hurdles. But she did reiterate that her pacing (hitting 200m in 24.04 seconds) affected her race. Her coach, Laurent Meuwly, agreed with that assessment, saying on Twitter that she did everything she could to have a shot at winning. “If she would have [raced] for second, she wouldn’t have been happy either,” he wrote.
We might have a chance to see McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol race one more time during the Games, in the 4x400m relay. (400mH replay)
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Who can challenge Faith Kipyegon as she chases a 1500m three-peat?
The field is set for Saturday’s Olympic 1500m final, which is bound to be incredible. Most of the favorites are through, as are Americans Nikki Hiltz and Elle St. Pierre. Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom, who I thought could be a medal threat, is out, as are Emily Mackay, Australia’s Linden Hall, and Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir. Ireland’s Ciara Mageean never made it to the starting line, due to injury.
Haylom, 18, didn’t look like the athlete who ran 3:53.22 in April. She ran 4:07.15 for 11th in the first round. That relegated her to the repechage round, where she went out very aggressively, splitting 58.9 for 400m and 2:02.9 for 800m. She slowed after that but held on to win, running 4:01.47 the hard way. That earned her a spot in Thursday’s semifinals, but racing for the third day in a row, she finished 10th in 4:03.24. It wasn’t the outcome she wanted, but that said, everything she’s doing is absolutely incredible for an 18-year-old.
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon led the way in the first semifinal, running 3:58.64. And St. Pierre made her way out of a box and kicked to finish third in 3:59.74, advancing with room to spare. The second semi was the much tougher one and Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji won in a blazing-but-not-surprising 3:55.10. Like St. Pierre, Hiltz was also third but had to run much faster—3:56.17. They looked very comfortable doing so. And I loved their post-race celebration with fellow Lululemon athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall.
Sometimes I wonder if Hiltz gets tired of having to practically give a gender studies lecture after each round, but they do it well. And it produces some good quotes. “I feel like I have a superpower being queer out there,” Hiltz said after the semis. “I feel like no matter what, before the gun goes off, I know that I’m loved and supported and that allows me to run free. It doesn’t matter what the result is, I have so much love from my community.” (Here’s more from Hiltz, from Runner’s World, after the first round of the 1500m.)
After running 3:59.63 in the first round, Mackay finished 13th out of 13 in the second semi, running 4:02.03. She told reporters afterwards that she felt flat during the race, and she suspected that was due to mental and physical exhaustion. Though she tried to convince herself that it didn’t take too much out of her, Mackay said she poured so much into getting through the Trials and making the team. “I’m upset, but I’m also proud,” she said. Her success this year has been incredible, and few would have predicted she’d be here when she left the NCAA just over two years ago.
I was impressed by Kenya’s Susan Ejore, who ran a PR of 3:56.57 to make the final. She has improved by nearly six seconds in the 1500m this year. And France’s Agathe Guillemot ran a national record of 3:56.69 to advance. She has improved by more than six seconds this year.
Representing Poland, the University of Oregon’s Klaudia Kazimierska ran a PR of 4:00.21 and she’s on to the final. As of the NCAA Championships in June, her PR was 4:06.92. I never would have guessed that the third-place finisher from NCAAs would be in the Olympic final. She has made tremendous progress this summer. Spain’s Agueda Marques was the only runner to make it out of the repechage round and then also advance to the final.
At last summer’s World Championships in Budapest, Adelle Tracey ran a Jamaican record of 3:58.77 and was the fastest runner who did not make the final. This year, Poland’s Weronika Lizakowska ran a national record of 3:57.31 and did not advance. The way this event is going, plus the sport moving away from time qualifiers, I imagine the times that do not advance are just going to keep getting faster.
We’ll get another round to celebrate the finalists, so here are some additional speedsters who didn’t move on. In the semis, Marta Perez ran a Spanish record of 3:57.75, Sintayehu Vissa ran an Italian record (3:58.11), and New Zealand’s Maia Ramsden, who recently graduated from Harvard, ran a national record of 4:02.20. In the first round, Ireland’s Sophie O’Sullivan ran a PR of 4:00.23 and was the fastest runner not to advance to the semis. Competing for the University of Washington, she only finished 12th at NCAAs, but after coming back from injury, she’s been improving with each race this summer.
I expect the final could be one of the best races of the Games, and it will be the first time Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay have raced since their contentious exchange during the 5,000m. Neither American is favored to medal, but they absolutely have a shot. Running a high-level 1500m final these days is kind of like doing improv. You just have to go with it (within reason), no matter how ridiculous it might seem. (In the men’s race, I do think Cole Hocker benefitted from staying off the first-lap pace, ever so slightly, but he remained close enough that he was still in it.) I expect Saturday’s final will blow my mind. (1500m results)
World champion Winfred Yavi becomes the Olympic champion, too
The steeplechase final came down to an all-out sprint between defending Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and reigning world champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain. After several lead changes, Yavi pulled ahead to win her first Olympic title in 8:52.76. Chemutai took second, in a Ugandan record of 8:53:34. Yavi’s celebration afterwards was so high energy that she looked ready to run a few more laps.
“I just felt good about the race,” Yavi told reporters afterwards. “I believed in myself that I have that finishing speed."
Kenya’s Faith Cherotich, who just turned 20 last month, earned bronze, running 8:55.15. "I’m still young,” she told reporters. “I will have to improve my speed and endurance. At the next championships I hope to have improved my racing.” Cherotich dedicated her race to her parents, and thanked them for their encouragement.
Chemutai said she was not happy with silver, but she will be fine. “I need to work on my speed because I had it until the last 50m,” she said. “I need now to prepare for the Wanda Diamond League. I need to work hard and get back to winning ways.”
Yavi, 24, was born in Kenya but began representing Bahrain in 2016, when she was 15. She still trains in Kenya often. Yavi earned Bahrain’s second gold medal in this event, joining Ruth Jebet, who won in 2016. But in December 2017, Jebet tested positive for EPO and served a four-year ban.
To the delight of the home crowd, France’s Alice Finot had the race of her life to finish fourth in a European record of 8:58.67. She improved her PR by 6.34 seconds and became just the 13th woman to break 9:00 in the steeple. Then she did something that garnered even more attention: She proposed to her partner, Bruno Martínez Bargiela.
“I told myself that if I ran under nine minutes, knowing that nine is my lucky number and that we’ve been together for nine years, then I would propose,” Finot said after the race. “I don’t like doing things like everyone else. Since he hadn’t done it yet, I told myself that maybe it was up to me to do it.” He said yes. (Daily Mail link)
Tuesday’s race marked the first time that four women broke 9:00 in the same race. And fifth place finisher Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia came close, running 9:00.93. Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, the early leader, finished sixth in 9:04.24. And I am endlessly impressed by Great Britain’s Lizzie Bird, who finished seventh in a national record of 9:04.35. She passed the bar in February and is set to start a clerkship later this month.
According to World Athletics, it was the deepest steeplechase race in history, with “best marks-for-place” for third through 12th. (Meaning there’s never been a women’s steeplechase where the third through 12th place finishers have run faster.)
And that 12th place finisher was Courtney Wayment, who ran 9:13.60 in her Olympic debut. And Val Constien, the other American in the final, finished 15th in 9:34.08. The entire field hit 1K in 2:59 or faster, and I know from watching lots of steeples that going out just a little too fast hits different when you have to clear barriers. (Femke Bol would probably agree.) At the Olympic Trials, where both Wayment and Constien ran their PRs, they went out in 3:04 and 3:05, respectively.
Wayment hung on admirably, while Constien, who hit 1K in 2:57, struggled a little more. But it’s incredible that Constien made it here at all, after undergoing ACL reconstruction just over a year ago. “I can't be sad or disappointed,” she wrote. “It's been such an amazing year!” (Steeplechase highlights | Detailed results)
With the pressure on, Gabby Thomas delivers
These Olympic Games have offered up many reminders of how difficult it can be to go into an event as the favorite. Despite dealing with some significant nerves, Gabby Thomas kept her composure and blasted a 21.83 200m win, earning her first global gold medal in an individual event. She was the first American to win 200m gold at the Olympic Games since Allyson Felix did so in 2012.
“You prepare for this moment…but when it actually comes, it’s indescribable,” Thomas told reporters. “I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would become an Olympic gold medalist, and I am one. I’m still wrapping my head around that.”
The race wasn’t particularly close. Following up her 100m gold, St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred earned silver, running 22.08 seconds. And Brittany Brown overcame injuries and health issues to earn bronze with a time of 22.20 seconds.
“This is for all the dark-skinned girls that look like me, and I am so grateful that I can be a vessel,” Brown told reporters. “At (the) Trials nobody said my name, and I am happy to know that people are now saying my name.” (200m replay | Results)
Other notes from Paris
I loved watching Tara Davis-Woodhall, who has been such a great supporter to so many other track & field athletes, win gold in the long jump. Her best jump, 7.10m, came in the fourth round. Davis-Woodhall’s animated personality has brought many eyes to her event, and after securing the gold medal, she dramatically backflopped into the long jump pit and did some sand angels. Germany’s Malaika Mihambo, who talked about struggling with respiratory problems during the competition after having Covid in June, earned silver (6.98m). And after earning a bronze medal in the triple jump, Jasmine Moore earned a second bronze, jumping 6.96m. She became the second woman in Olympic history to medal in both at the same Games. Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva, who earned long jump gold and triple jump in 2004, was the first. But she was also banned for doping later in her career. (Long jump highlights | Results)
At last year’s World Championships, Australia’s Nina Kennedy and the U.S.’s Katie Moon shared gold. This time out, Kennedy’s goal was a gold of her own, and she pulled it off, clearing 4.90m. Moon, the 2021 Olympic champion, earned silver, clearing 4.85m. Alysha Newman also cleared 4.85m, a Canadian record, but she had more misses so she took bronze. (Pole vault highlights | Results)
Canada’s Camryn Rogers won gold in the hammer throw, with a toss of 76.97m. Annette Echikunwke of the U.S. won silver (75.48m). Both Canada and the U.S. had never medaled in the women’s Olympic hammer previously. And China’s Zhao Jie earned bronze (74.27m). This is an interesting article (Washington Post) that explains how Echikunwke came to represent the U.S. She was set to compete for Nigeria at the 2021 Games, but when she arrived in Tokyo, she and other Nigerian athletes were told that through no fault of their own, they hadn’t been drug tested enough to compete, so they were sent home. Echikunwke works full-time for a marketing agency in Cincinnati. (Hammer highlights | Results)
I’m still eager to learn more, but this article from Evelyn Watta, titled, “How Shafiqua Maloney went from homeless to making Olympic history,” fills in some of the gaps.
Kudos to the person who came up with the line “from backside to trackside” line for Kendall Ellis’ post about her Charmin sponsorship.
There was a fair amount of discussion online about the fact that there was a stadium-wide light show leading up to the men’s 100m, but not the women’s. I held off on weighing in because I had read that there was going to be a show for the women’s 200m instead, because there was a field event happening at the same time as the women’s 100m. And that proved to be the case. In the end, it probably worked out for the best, because it poured rain during the women’s 100m.
This is a good article about the Olympic marathon course. “Paris 2024 organizers may have saved the most sadistic test for last,” writes Scott Cacciola. (NY Times, gift link)
After Noah Lyles revealed that he had Covid when he competed in yesterday’s 200m final, journalist Cathal Dennehy tweeted, “Have a feeling Covid is having a far bigger impact at these Games than most people realize.”
Other News
USATF has released the selection criteria for the 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon team. And the announcement comes just in time, because if one or more athletes finish in the top 10 in the Olympic marathon, that could earn them a spot on the team. Only one athlete will be selected that way. It sounds like if Americans finish 5th, 8th, and 11th, the 5th placer will have the option. If she turns it down, the 8th placer will be next in line. But if she turns it down, no one will be selected that way. The rest of the spots will be based on rankings.
I was pleased to read that Nia Akins plans to compete in the Lausanne Diamond League meet on August 22nd. Assuming she can rebound physically and emotionally from the Olympic Games, I think she has some big races in her.
“What a privilege it is to be dissatisfied with a seventh-place Olympic finish,” Juliette Whittaker wrote on Instagram. After a long collegiate season, Whittaker is now taking a break.
I appreciated this New York Times article on what it’s like to be drug tested. (Gift link)
And on that note, it was disappointing to hear that Kenya’s Esther Gitahi, who was a top runner for the University of Alabama, has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for EPO. (It’s good she got caught, but it’s disappointing that she doped, assuming the suspension stands.) Gitahi finished third in the 2019 NCAA Outdoor 5,000m, recently won the Ryan Shay Mile, and she was third at the Boston 5K in April, running 15:08.
The NCAA track & field and cross country rules are changing to align with World Athletics’ rules. This will allow for more performances in NCAA meets to help athletes qualify to compete internationally. One thing this will mean? No more Vaporflys on the track.
Podcast Highlights
I loved listening to Nikki Hiltz on Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, and there’s some spicy content in there. I loved Hiltz’s explanation for why they’ll never run a marathon.
If you enjoyed the Tested podcast, or if you haven’t had a chance to listen, host Rose Eveleth was on Good Game with Sarah Spain on Wednesday, and I really enjoyed their conversation.
Australia’s Genevieve Gregson has quite the comeback story after rupturing her Achilles at the 2021 Olympic Games, and then having a baby. She was great on Kicpod, and she’ll run the Olympic marathon on Sunday.
Valarie Allman talked to Citius Mag after winning her second Olympic gold medal in the discus.
It’s tough keeping up with all of the Olympic action, but so fun. Today’s 10,000m final, scheduled for 2:57 p.m. ET, should be excellent.
Can you tell I’m still working without an editor? All mistakes are my own. Thanks to SOAR Running for sponsoring Fast Women. And thanks to all of you who help keep this newsletter going via your contributions on Patreon and Venmo. More to come soon.
Alison
Alison, I’m loving your updates and appreciate the time and effort going into them this 10 days of Olympic action. And I know it’s hard self editing! Normally I wouldn’t mention this, but was on the edge of my seat with the rest of the missing sentence about Noah Lyles in the newsletter. Can you fill us in? Thank you!!!
Here’s the quote and where it dropped:
“After Noah Lyles revealed that he had Covid when he competed in yesterday’s 200m final, Ca”