Audrey Leduc blazes to a new Canadian record in the 100m heats; Mohammed Ahmed just misses bronze
Audrey Leduc proved to the world that she is a force to be reckoned with. The 25-year-old stormed onto the track topping her heat with a blistering new Canadian record time of 10.94 seconds. Her Olympic debut in the 100m, the first sprint event on the track for women at Paris 2024, confirmed what many believed, that the newly laid track is fast.
“The goal was to get a feel for the track and experience what it was really like,” said Leduc. “We had seen how fast it was during practice, but performing in front of people helps you be even more prepared for tomorrow.”
Leduc, who broke the 36-year-old 100m Canadian record with a time of 10.96 seconds back in April, has a simple process gearing up for the semifinal tomorrow,
“I rest, eat and talk to my coach and be ready to run again.”
Jacqueline Madogo also competed in the 100m. Finishing fourth in her heat Friday morning with a time of 11.27 seconds, Madogo will not advance to the next round. The top three finishers in each heat advance. The 24-year-old will continue her Olympic debut in the 200m and 4x100m relay events.
Tokyo 2020 decathlon champion Damian Warner returned to compete in his fourth Olympic Games with a commanding performance in the 100m sprint, topping his heat with an impressive time of 10.25. In the field events, he scored 822 points in the high jump and 756 points in the shot put.
Warner had mixed feelings about his performance in the field events. “The long jump was solid but I left some points on the board, shot put was pretty rough.”
The Olympic decathlon record holder capped off Day 1 with a season’s best time in the 400m of 47.34. Warner sits in fourth place, 89 points off the leader, Leo Neugebauer of Germany. Day 2 begins with the 110m hurdles, Warner will race in heat three. At 34, Warner is the oldest competitor in the event but doesn’t appear to be bothered by that fact.
“It’s up to me to come out tomorrow and finish strong.”
To the hammer cage where World Athletics 2023 hammer throw champion Ethan Katzberg towered over the entire field with a top qualifying throw of 79.93 to advance to the final on August 4.
Rowan Hamilton tops group A in the men’s hammer. The 24-year-old’s Olympic debut was highlighted with a personal best throw of 77.78 to advance to the final. Hamilton’s first throw was initially disqualified, he protested and the throw was eventually allowed but it was not measured. He would register his best mark on his final throw. After a harrowing start to his Olympic debut, Hamilton is looking forward to the final and shared his game plan going into Sunday’s competition, “Stay calm, throw far. I can’t ask for much more.”
Back on the track in distance racing, in a crowded 1500m men’s heat, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot missed out on making it to the 1500m semifinal posting a time of 3:36.92 to finish 14th in his heat. The 2,000m and 3,000m Canadian record holder will have another chance to advance tomorrow in the repechage which is new to the Olympic Games and serves as a second chance for athletes to qualify for a semifinal.
In the women’s 800m, Jazz Shukla relied on her long strides to keep up with the pack and challenge for a top spot at the bell lap. With 150m to go the 25-year-old was in fourth place but was not able to move up to third spot which would have automatically qualified her for the semifinal. Shukla would finish in fifth place with a time of 2:00,80. Shukla will have a chance to match or better her personal best time of 1:58,20 tomorrow in the repechage.
Distance runner Briana Scott posted a time of 15:47.30 finishing 19th for her Olympic debut, in the highly competitive 5,000m heat. Scott will not advance.
The capacity crowd at the Stade de France of close to 80,000, was treated to a thrilling 10,000m race, the final event of the day and the first medal event on the track. Tokyo 2020 5,000m silver medallist, Mohammed Ahmed, sprinted to a top position as the race began with 25 runners all in hot pursuit of Olympic glory. Taking furtive glances at the jumbotron, Ahmed kept an eye on his time and his competitors. The 33-year-old handily maintained the punishing pace which averaged 65 seconds, with 5,000m to go. With 5 laps to go the pace slowed to 69 seconds, Ahmed remained in third position and appeared in control.
“I mean, I knew this race was going to be really, really tough” said Ahmed, “…because it had eight of the top 14 all time.”
Gritting his teeth and digging deep for the last 100m kick, the 5,000m Canadian record holder, was in second place but Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi Teklehaimanot passed Ahmed with 60m to go and the American, Grant Jackson Fisher, dipped at the line just ahead of Ahmed for the bronze medal. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei topped the field setting an Olympic record with a time of 26:43.14.
“Well, I just didn’t have anything left over the last 50.”
A heartbreaking fourth-place finish for the Canadian who left it all on the track with a season’s best time of 26:43.79.
