Americans had a big day in track and field on Wednesday at the Paris Olympics, with Quincy Hall pulling off a stunning comeback to win gold in the men’s 400.
Katie Moon (women’s pole vault) and Kenneth Rooks (men’s 3,000 steeplechase) earned silver medals, while other Team USA runners including Noah Lyles and Alexis Holmes advanced to the 400 finals.
Here’s how Wednesday night unfolded at the State de France:
Katie Moon wins silver in women’s pole vault
SAINT-DENIS, France — Katie Moon added to Team USA’s medal count Tuesday with a silver medal in the women’s pole vault event at the Stade de France venue of the Paris Olympics. Moon vaulted 15 feet, 11 inches in her final successful attempt to reach the podium.
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Nina Kennedy of Australia took the gold medal (16 feet, ¾ inches), while Canada’s Alysha Newman won bronze.
Moon cleared her first four vaults without a failed attempt, one of only two competitors, along with Angelica Moser of Switzerland, to do so.
— Chase Goodbread
Team USA’s Kenneth Rooks wins silver in 3,000 steeplechase
SAINT-DENIS, France – American Kenneth Rooks, ranked 24th in the world in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, shocked the field with a silver medal Wednesday at the Paris Games, clocking a personal-best 8:06.41. After 1,000 meters, Rooks trailed 11 racers, and was running just ninth after 2,000 meters. From there, however, Rooks found another gear and passed the entire field to take the lead with a few hundred meters remaining.
He was overtaken by gold medalist Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco (8:06.05), and Rooks barely beat bronze medalist Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya (8:06.47). Rooks, the only American in the race, earned Team USA’s first men’s steeplechase medal since Evan Jager won silver in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
— Chase Goodbread
Quincy Hall wins gold in men’s 400
SAINT-DENIS, France — United States runner Quincy Hall won the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter dash Wednesday – besting Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith and Zambia’s Muzuala Samukonga and posting a time of 43.40 to set a personal best.
Hall trailed early but a spectacular straightaway dash allowed him to catch Hudson-Smith steps before the finish line.
The Raytown, Missouri native took third in the event at last year’s world championships. He was also part of the mixed 4×400-meter relay team that won gold at that meet.
But the story for Hall, 26, entering these Games was his online war of words with Lyles, the 100-meter gold-medalist.
– Chris Bumbaca
Women’s 400: Team USA’s Alexis Holmes qualifies for finals
SAINT-DENIS, France – Team USA’s Alexis Holmes qualified for the finals of the women’s 400 meters with a 50.00 time at the Paris Games’ Stade de France venue for track and field.
The top two finishers in each of three heats, plus the next two fastest times, qualified for medal finals. Holmes finished second in her heat, behind Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (49.21). The medal race is scheduled for Thursday night.
Team USA’s Aaliyah Butler finished sixth in Heat 1 with a 51.18, while Kendall Ellis failed to qualify with a 50.40 in Heat 3.
— Chase Goodbread
Noah Lyles reaches 200 finals with second-place finish
SAINT-DENIS, France — As expected, Noah Lyles advanced to the Olympic final in the men’s 200-meter sprint. However, he took second in the semifinals.
In semifinal heat two, Lyles ran out of lane six. Lyles sped around the turn, but he was behind Letsile Tebogo of Botswana. Lyles attempted to catch Tebogo but the Botswanan sprinter was too far in front as he crossed the line a stride ahead of Lyles.
Tebogo’s winning time was 19.96. Lyles came in second at 20.08 to get the second automatic qualifying spot.
Lyles is trying to become the first American to win the Olympic sprint double (100 and 200) in 40 years. He won gold in the 100 in a dramatic photo finish.
Rai Benjamin advances to 400 finals
SAINT-DENIS, France – Rai Benjamin cruised through the men’s 400-meter semifinals to Wednesday to secure his spot in Friday’s finals.
Benjamin won his heat – almost too easily – with a time of 47.85 seconds. His best time this season is 46.46 seconds. During heats, Benjamin jogged the end of his run – conserving fuel for the races to come. The defending Olympic silver medalist in the event won a gold in Tokyo as part of the men’s 4×400-meter relay team.
Benjamin took his time out of the gates but dialed it up at about the one-third mark and essentially jogged the straightaway once again.
CJ Allen of the USA took an early lead into the straightaway during the second heat. But he ran out of steam and finished fourth. Allen, the American indoor 400-meter record-holder, did not make the final with a time of 48.44.
American Trevor Bassitt, the eighth-ranked 400-meter hurdler per the world rankings, also finished fourth in the first heat and didn’t make the finals either.
Norway’s Karsten Warholm, who set the world record in the event at the Tokyo Olympics, won the first heat with a time of 47.67 seconds. Warholm also had the fastest time during heats.
Frenchman Clement Ducos took second in the first heat to make the finals, much to the delight of the crowd at Stade de France.
– Chris Bumbaca
Going for gold: Grant Holloway heavy favorite in 110 hurdles
SAINT-DENIS, France — Grant Holloway is entering the men’s 110 hurdles final as the clear favorite.
Holloway cleared all 10 hurdles and won his semifinal heat easily, running a time of 12.98. He crossed the line a few strides ahead of Spain’s Enrique Llopis, who ran a 13.17 to place second.
Tokyo Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaica finished third with a time of 13.19.
Holloway has dominated the 110 hurdles in 2024 and is undefeated in the event this year. He’s won three consecutive world championship golds but he took silver at the Tokyo Olympics in the event, losing to Parchment.
The three-time world champ will be joined in the finals by fellow U.S. hurdlers Freddie Crittenden and Daniel Roberts. Crittenden finished second in his semifinal heat with a time of 13.23 to advance and Roberts took second in the third heat, running a 13.10.
The 110 hurdles final is set for Thursday.
Olympic track and field schedule today
Qualifications: men’s high jump (4:05 a.m.), women’s javelin throw group a (4:25 a.m.), women’s javelin throw group b (5:50 a.m.), men’s triple jump (1:15 p.m.)
Repechage rounds: women’s 1,500m (6:45 a.m.)
Round 1s: women’s 100m hurdles (4:15 a.m.), men’s 5,000m (5:10 a.m.), men’s 800m (5:55 a.m.)
Semifinals: men’s 110m hurdles (1:05 a.m.), men’s 400m hurdles (1:35 p.m.), men’s 200m (2:02 p.m.), women’s 400m (2:45 p.m.)
Finals: marathon race walk mixed relay (1:30 a.m.), women’s pole vault final (1 p.m.), men’s discus final (2:25 p.m.), men’s 400m (3:20 p.m.), men’s 3,000m steeplechase (3:40 p.m.)
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