Chopra wins India’s first gold in athletics, Hasan’s double, Felix’s golden end
Neeraj Chopra gave India’s first Athletics Olympic gold medal in 121 years
It was not quite the treble she had in mind, but Sifan Hassan won the Women’s 10000m yesterday to add to her gold in the 5000m and bronze in the 1500m and cap a remarkable week for the Dutch athlete at Tokyo 2020.
Hasan ran the heats, semi-finals and the final of the 1500m, and the finals of the 5000m and 10000m in the space of six days.
Yesterday, she ran a well-calculated race in the final of the 5000m, spending the first half of it with the middle of the field, before moving up and sitting on the shoulder of leader Letensenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, who had been leading since the 3000m mark.
With 200m left in the race, Hassan forced Gidey into a test of pace, which the thoroughly spent Ethiopian could not match up to, a fight that resulted in her losing her hold on second place, which went to Kalkidan Gezahegne of Bahrain.
Hasan clocked a time of 29:55.32secs, almost a full second ahead of Gezahegne.
“I am so happy and I cried during the medal ceremony. I actually realised that I am done, the Games are over,” a relieved Hassan said after her race.
The Men’s 1500m, the final individual track event at Tokyo 2020, proved a little more unpredictable with 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway taking gold ahead of World Champion and favourite Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya and setting a new Olympic Record.
America swept the Men’s and Women’s 4x400m relays, with Allyson Felix winning her eleventh Olympic medal, becoming the most decorated American track and field athlete of all-time.
Running the second leg, Felix took over from 400m gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin with the USA in second, and took them ahead, a position Dalilah Muhammad and Mu Athing would ensure they kept, to win with a time of 3:16.85secs.
Poland finished second in a time of 3:20.53 and Jamaica took third in 3:21.24.
The American Men’s team won with a time of 2:55.70 secs ahead of Netherlands and Bostwana.
India’s Neeraj Chopra, ranked 17th in the World, won gold in the Men’s javelin, with his second round throw of 87.58m.
The Czech Republic took the other two podium positions, with Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vadlejch (85.44m) throwing Season’s Bests and taking silver and bronze respectively.
Johannes Vetter of Germany who had the best ten throws for 2021, finished in ninth among the four athletes who were eliminated after the first three rounds of the final.
Mariya Lasitskene of the Russian Olympic Committee took gold in the Women’s High Jump with a Season’s Best jump of 2.04 m, ahead of Nicola McDermott of Australia (Oceania Record of 2.02m) and Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine (2.00m)