Gold medalist Armand Duplantis of Sweden poses in front of the scored board after setting a new world record

It's the sport 'par excellence' at the Olympic Games, leaving many impactful images to choose from: Femke Bol's comeback in the mixed 4x400m, Noah Lyles in the wheelchair, Sifan Hassan's Olympic record in the women's marathon or the first mixed walking relay and, of course... Mondo's wild leap.

The USA has had a strong showing at the Olympic Stadium in Paris 2024, where they took 34 of the 126 total medals won in the French capital (27%): 14 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze. The second best team, by comparison, was Kenya, with four golds, two silvers and five bronzes. Duplantis, Bol, Hassan and Lyles were just some of the stars of the athletics events. But there were many more names that stand out in the 10 days the sport was featured in Paris.



Athletics is always a long time coming. After the opening of the Games, it is one of the most awaited moments and it takes a few days to kick off. Walking was the first event to take place at Paris 2024, on 1 August with a A 20km race in the men's and women's categories. The Ecuadorian Brian Pintado and the Chinese Jiayu Yang were the champions in the men's and women's category, respectively, although Spain won two medals, bronze and silver through Álvaro Martín and María Pérez, who also won the mixed relay in the marathon distance of the walk race several days later, an event that was making its debut at the Games.

The first day at the Olympic Stadium was next. Many heats were underway, but also a final, the men's 10,000m. A vibrant and very fast final where the Ethiopians wanted to set the pace, but were unable to claim the win. Berihu Aregawi took silver by a whisker ahead of Grant Fisher of the USA, who claimed bronze. Instead, Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei was impressive on his way to the gold medal and also beat the Olympic record with a time of 26:43.14. He finally got the gold he was missing after taking silver in Tokyo 2020. Cheptegei had planned to do a double in the 5000m, but was eventually dropped, as was his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo.

Bol's comeback and the kings of speed

It was a great start at the Stadium: just two hours before Cheptegei's victory, the US 4x400m medley relay team had broken the world record, lowering their 2023 World Cup mark by more than a second, and leaving the record at 3:07.41. Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown were slightly slower the following day and missed out on gold. Femke Bol took the baton for the last relay in fourth place and took gold for the Netherlands with a comeback to remember.

However, it was not the only track & field postcard on 3 August as Julien Alfred won the sprint gold medal in the 100m, the first Olympic medal in Caribbean Island St Lucia's history, beating the big favourite, Sha'carri Richardson of the United States. Dominica also made an unprecedented splash, with Thea Lafond winning gold in the triple long jump. The day also saw Ryan Crouser crowned as the greatest shot putter in the history of the Games, winning gold in three consecutive editions. Norway's Markus Rooth, after two gruelling days, was proclaimed Decathlon champion, with excitement right up to the last event, the 1500m.

On 4 August, Noah Lyles also provided a memorable photo in the men's 100m. Coming in as the current fastest person in the world, he dazzled Paris with a time of 9.79, in a final that was extremely close.

The other big moment of the day was the battle between the Ukrainians and Australians in the women's high jump. The gold medal went to Europe's Yaroslava Mahuchik and silver to Australia's Nicola Olyslagers, while Iryna Gerashchenko and Eleanor Patterson shared the bronze. Canada's Ethan Katzberg won the hammer throw in a very comfortable final. It was clear from the first throw that he would win.

World records by Duplantis and McLaughlin-Levrone

Perhaps the greatest moment of athletics at the Paris Games came on 5 August. Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis was far superior to his competitors, but the challenge was to be superior to himself. First he set the bar at 6.10 to break the Olympic record. Then he took it to 6.25, one centimetre higher than his world record set last April. On the third attempt and with all his rivals cheering him on, he madei history... again.

Duplantis poses in front of the scored board after setting a new world record. GETTY IMAGES
Duplantis poses in front of the scored board after setting a new world record. GETTY IMAGES

Sifan Hassan also began her challenge to make it a historic triple in Paris. But the Dutch athlete failed at the first attempt. She took bronze in the 5000m, behind winner Beatrice Chebet, of Kenya, and Faith Kipyegon, who came in second. Hassan finished out of contention in a race that was close to the Olympic record but took the medal and had two more chances left. The one who did meet her prediction was Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m against the might of the Africans.

On the same day, the Olympic Stadium also vibrated with the American Valarie Allman, gold in the discus throw, but also with Sandra Perkovic, now surnamed Elkasevic, who once again won an Olympic medal, albeit a bronze. Her first gold was at the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010, and her first Olympic gold at London 2012.



6 August  was full of finals and the one that saw the biggest surprise was the men's 500m, where Jacob Ingebrigtsen missed out on a medal. He dominated the race, but was overtaken by three rivals in the final stretch as American Cole Hocker took gold and the Olympic record with 3:27.65. The other big favourite, Josh Kerr, was silver by a single hundredth of a second ahead of Yared Nurse, also from the USA.

Julien Alfred was looking for a double crown that very few people can achieve with the women's 100m-200m, but it was not to be. Gabby Thomas, the American, closed the door on her with no chance, and Alfred took silver. Bahrain's Winfred Yavi also won the 3000m steeplechase with an Olympic record time of 8:52.76. The same was true of Canada's Camryn Rogers in the hammer throw and Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou in the long jump, who won his second consecutive Olympic gold.

The seventh day of athletics also brought surprises. American Quincy Hall beat Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith in the 400m, and Jamaica's Roje Stona beat Lithuania's Mykolas Alekna in a very close final. Alekna broke his father Virgilijus' Olympic record, but Stona beat him by just three centimetres.

Australia's Nina Kennedy and USA's Katie Moon were once again the stars of the pole vault after sharing gold at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. This time there was no draw, with the Aussie taking the gold by staying a little closer to 5m.

The day ended with a prediction fulfilled. It was the majestic victory of Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali in the 3000m steeplechase (with a dramatic fall of Ethiopian Lamecha Girma). He settled in the group, let the fastest runners burn themselves out and, when he attacked, no one was able to beat him.

August 8 brought one of the most eagerly awaited duels in all of athletics at the Paris Games: The women's 400m hurdles once again featured Femke Bol, but American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had a lot to say. She said so much that she was alone in the race, with her rivals a world away, yet she kept pushing to break the world record she had set in Eugene on 30 June. She reduced it by almost three tenths of a second to 50.37. Bol could only take bronze, and had to sprint to the finish to avoid a US hat-trick, with Anna Crockell taking silver and Jasmine Jones just missing out on the other medal. Bol leaves Paris with one gold, one silver (women's 4x400m relay) and one bronze.

It was a day of American doubles. In the men's 110m hurdles, Grant Holloway was the favourite and he did just that. His compatriot Daniel Roberts took silver for being three thousandths of a second faster than Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell. In the women's long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall won gold and Jasmine Moore bronze, with Germany's Malaika Mihambo taking silver.

Noah Lyles also medalled in the men's 200m, though his lasting image was him being wheeled away after the race. He admitted to running with covid-19 and still ended up with a gold in the 100m and bronze in the 200m. Here was another American double but without winning gold as silver went to Kenny Bednarek. The gold was Letsile Tebogo's and Botswana's first ever, which merrtited a hero's welcome back home. He broke the African record and is the fifth fastest athlete in history to run this distance.

In the men's javelin, the result defies tradition. European domination of the javelin has always been the case, with the occasional American exception, but times are changing. Keshorn Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago was gold at London 2012, and bronze at Rio 2016, with Kenya's Julius Yego silver. At Tokyo 2020, India's Neeraj Chepra was gold. In Paris Chopra was silver, behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who broke the Olympic record with a throw of 92.97m. Grenada's Anderson Peters took bronze.

American dominance was not so overwhelming on the ninth day of athletics. But two more golds fell. One in one of the most anticipated races, the men's 400m hurdles. It was a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 podium, but in a different order. Rai Benjamin had already given notice this year, and certified his great form with a time of 46.46 to win the most prized medal. Norway's Karsten Warholm was far off his record and finished second, but well behind the American. Brazil's Alison dos Santos was bronze again.

The afternoon of finals had started with the other American gold, in the women's 4x100m relay. Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, who ran her 9.98, Gabby Williams and Sha'carri Richardson flew over the Olympic Stadium tartan, proving that in relays the USA always deserves credit. They had to come from behind after a first relay from the UK that made it very difficult for them.

In the men's 4x100m they missed out on a medal as they were disqualified on a bad relay handover. Canada took advantage to triumph. Brendan de Grasse finished off a magnificent race, with South Africa taking silver and Great Britain bronze.

Another great figure of the day was Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam, who won the heptathlon with excitement until the end, her third consecutive gold, after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.



Beatrice Chebet double

Sifan Hassan was back in the Olympic Stadium on 9 August. She had missed out on the most difficult medal, but in the 10,000m she might have had a better chance. She came up against the same obstacle as in the 5000m: Beatrice Chebet. The Kenyan once again had a more convincing sprint and was proclaimed champion of the long distance after a tough fight with the Italian Nadia Battocletti, who had been fourth in the 5000m and who had the luxury of beating Hassan, who once again took bronze.

Chebet had broken the world record last May. In Paris the race was much slower. Her sprint finish makes her one of the greats of these Olympic Games. And she is only 24 years old.

In other finals, the Olympic record in the women's 400m was broken as Dominican Marileidy Paulino won with a 48.17 time. The record had been held by Frenchwoman Marie-Jose Perec since Atlanta 1996. The women's shot put final was won by Germany's Yemisi Ogunleye with a throw of just 20 metres. The Triple Long Jump final was won by Spain's Jordan Diaz with a very close result. His best was 17.86, two centimetres better than Portugal's Pedro Pichardo. Along with bronze-medallist Andy Diaz, an Italian national, the three formed an all-Cuban born podium.

Double Olympic marathon record

The men's marathon opened Saturday, the penultimate day of the Games, with the farewell of the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola broke the Olympic record that dated back to 2008 and needed to run a very lonely race in the last part of the course to do it. There were more than 12km to go when he was left alone. His pace had to be high to avoid last minute surprises, and also to be able to break the record, which he leaves at 2:06.26, six seconds off the previous mark. Belgium's Abdi Bashir took silver and Kenya's Benson Kipruto bronze.

The final day at the Olympic Stadium confirmed the USA's superiority. The closing was the 4x400m relay, as usual at the Games, and two more golds for the US team. In the men's category, the USA broke the Olympic record and came very close to winning the world record. Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin needed to fly because of Botswana's strong performance. Tebogo squeezed Benjamin to the finish. In a 1600m race, there was only a tenth of a second difference between the two teams.

USA fell 14 hundredths short of the world record they themselves have held since 1993. The race saw the African, European (Great Britain), and Asian (Japan) records broken, plus the national records of Belgium and South Africa. A very fast relay.

The women's 4x400m world record is also very old. It was last broken at the 1988 Seoul Games by the Soviet Union. It also came close to falling in Paris. Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes clocked 3:15.27, one tenth of a second off the current record. They set an American record, and four other national records fell.




In sprinting, the USA also won the gold medal in the women's 100m hurdles with Masai Russell. No records were broken here, but there was a tie that the photo finish settled. Russell beat France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela (France's only medallist in athletics) by one hundredth of a second and Olympic record holder Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico by three hundredths.

Jacob Ingebrigtsen took the disappointment of the 1500m with gold in the 5000m. His sprint finish made it impossible for the rest of the field to finish close behind, but only to play for the rest of the medals and places of honour. The 23-year-old Norwegian already has two Olympic golds. If he decides to go all the way, he has plenty of opportunities to add to his record.



There was also an Olympic record in the women's 1500m. Kenya's Kipyegon, silver in the 5000m, won comfortably with a time of 3:51.29, far from her own world record, but she win her third consecutive gold at this distance, first woman to do. She is another of the stars of world athletics and of Paris 2024. It was easier for Japan's Haruka Kitaguchi, who won the javelin with a lead of almost two metres.

The men's 800m was much more exciting. Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi tried to lead the entire race, but resisted all who tried to overtake him. He was almost beaten by Canada's Marco Arop, who came in just one hundredth of a second behind the Kenyan.

In the men's high jump, the gold medal went to New Zealand's Hamish Kerr. Of the big favourites, who shared the gold medal at Tokyo 2020, Bahrain's Mutaz Barshim took bronze and Gianmarco Tamberi, who arrived in Paris with health problems, finished eleventh.

On the last day, only the women's marathon was left. It was worth watching, because it was exciting all the way to the finish line. With less than two kilometres to go, there were still four athletes together. Hassan had the start to win with about 400m to go to beat Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa. Olympic record for the Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman, 2:22.55, with Assefa entering the finish three seconds later. Kenya's Hellen Obiri was bronze medallist.

As the closing ceremony drew to a close, the final medal ceremony took place. Paris 2024 bade farewell by crowning Hassan as the last queen of the Olympic Games. A gold and two bronzes that confirm she is a great champion, as she had shown in Tokyo 2020, when she was gold in 10,000m and 5000m and bronze in 1500m.