At long last, Olympic track and field is back in full force. Debuting on the unique purple track at Paris’ Stade de France, the track and field slate kicked off on Friday with opening rounds in the women’s 100m, men’s 1500m, decathlon and more.
Reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson stepped on an Olympic track for the first time for the women’s 100m first round, while Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr made their much-hyped debuts in the men’s 1500.
Women’s 100m Round 1
Richardson’s first Olympic race was a beauty. The reigning world champion scorched the purple Stade de France track in 10.94 seconds to cruise to victory in her heat and qualify for Saturday’s semifinal round. In that heat, Luxembourg’s Patrizia van der Weken and Australia’s Bree Masters also qualified. Unlike in the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and hurdles events, the 100m does not feature a repechage round, so only the top-three finishers qualify for the semifinal.
Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, another medal contender in the event, hit 10.95 seconds to win her heat and advance to the semi. Alfred won the 60m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in March and is on a quest for Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal, in any sport.
The final 100m heat delivered the most riveting action of the morning. Great Britain’s Daryll Neita posted the top time at 10.92 seconds, just edging American Melissa Jefferson (10.96). Boglarka Takacs placed third, setting a Hungarian national record in the process with a run of 11.10 seconds to reach Saturday’s semi.
In the rest of the heats, medal contender Tia Clayton of Jamaica and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain both advanced smoothly, as did American Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry.
SEE MORE: Sha’Carri Richardson flies through first Olympic race
Men’s 1500m Round 1
After years of trading verbal barbs, defending world champion Kerr and Tokyo Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen both qualified for the 1500m semifinals Friday morning. Americans Hobbs Kessler, Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker all advanced, as well, avoiding the repechage round by finishing in the top six.
Kerr, Ethiopian Ermias Girma and Dutchman Stefan Nillessen won the three heats. In a new feature of Olympic track and field, all runners in this event who did not qualify will compete in repechage (“lucky loser”) rounds on Saturday.
Decathlon
RESULTS: Decathlon 100m | RESULTS: Decathlon long jump | RESULTS: Decathlon shot put
The Paris Olympic decathlon began with the 100m, long jump and shot put — and after those initial events, German Leo Neugebauer, Canadian Damian Warner and Puerto Rican Ayden Owens-Delerme lead the field.
Additional Events
- Men’s hammer: Reigning world champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada threw a day’s best 79.93m to qualify for the men’s hammer final, along with fellow Canadian Rowan Hamilton, American Rudy Winkler and nine more throwers. U.S. star Daniel Haugh, who took silver in the hammer at the 2023 USA Championships, didn’t qualify for the final.
- Women’s high jump: American Vashti Cunningham, who finished 13th at the Rio Olympics and 6th in Tokyo, is on a quest for her first Olympic medal. The 13-time U.S. champion hit 1.92m to qualify for the women’s high jump final. Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.95m) hit the top height of the morning, meaning the world record holder also charged her way into the final. Mahuchikh took bronze in Tokyo and is vying for her first gold.
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