Sha’Carri Richardson powered the US to an Olympic sprint relay gold with a storming anchor leg Friday, as Algeria’s gender eligibility row boxer Imane Khelif limbered up for her gold medal bout.
With just three days left of the Games, history was made in Paris as breaking made its Olympic debut in Place de la Concorde and Chinese table tennis legend Ma Long captured the sixth gold medal of his career.
In the 4x100m relay, it was a case of redemption for sprint superstar Richardson, who made up for her silver in the individual 100m with a gold-winning anchor run.
Richardson turned on the afterburners to overhaul Britain, Germany and France in the home straight as the US quartet took gold in a season’s best time of 41.78sec.
But on a wet track at the Stade de France, the US men again failed in their bid to win their first 4x100m gold since Sydney in 2000 with a disastrous baton fumble.
Already missing 100m individual champion Noah Lyles through Covid, a botched baton change completely slowed the US momentum, allowing Canada to snatch gold ahead of South Africa and Britain.
– Historic treble –
Meanwhile, a nail-biting women’s heptathlon reached its climax, with double Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam on the brink of adding a third.
Thiam is 121 points clear of nearest rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson from Britain, meaning the British athlete needs to beat her by eight seconds in the closing 800m event.
Friday’s women’s 10,000m final sees Dutch runner Sifan Hassan attempt to defend her crown after coming up short in her bid for a historic long-distance treble.
Hassan could secure only bronze in the 5,000m final Monday and also competes in the marathon Sunday.
In the final event of the night, world record-holder Karsten Warholm from Norway is clear favourite to defend his title in the men’s 400m hurdles.
– ‘They are women’ –
The boxing ring will be the centre of attention late on Friday when Khelif, 25, takes on China’s Yang Liu in the 66kg final.
A row over the eligibility of Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting has overshadowed the Olympic boxing tournament and the Games as a whole.
The International Boxing Association disqualified both from last year’s world championships after they failed gender eligibility tests but both were cleared to fight in Paris.
Both have fought on the women’s circuit for years and competed at the Tokyo Games without controversy.
A row erupted when Khelif stopped her Italian opponent after just 46 seconds, with celebrities and politicians weighing in to make baseless claims over her gender.
But Khelif has won the support of fans in Paris, with cries of “Imane, Imane” ringing out repeatedly before and during her semi-final bout on Tuesday.
“I am like all athletes, I am here to achieve my dream,” she said.
Lin fights on Saturday in a different weight category.
IOC President Thomas Bach reiterated his support for the pair, stressing “they are women” and lashing out at the IBA and its tests.
He said the IOC would decide in the first half of next year whether boxing would have a place in Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics.
– ‘Balaton Shark’ –
Friday’s first event saw 31 men take the plunge into the River Seine for a gruelling 10-kilometre swim against strong current in water deemed clean enough for competition.
A hard-fought race finished with a sprint between Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky and Oliver Klemet of Germany, just won by the Hungarian, nicknamed the “Balaton Shark” after his club.
The water quality in the Seine has been a major talking point during the Games, with training sessions cancelled and the men’s triathlon postponed after elevated pollution levels.
China maintained its diving dominance, securing their sixth title medal of the Games as Chen Yiwen clinched women’s 3m springboard gold.
The Chinese can secure the clean sweep with victory in Saturday’s 10m men’s platform.
Dominance also in table-tennis as Ma, the Chinese flagbearer at the opening ceremony, led China to team gold over Sweden, the sixth title of his career.
That took him past divers Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin, and gymnast Zou Kai, to notch the most golds of any Chinese athlete in Olympic history.
Defending champions the Netherlands take on China in the women’s hockey final, chasing their fourth title in five Games after the Dutch men’s team won gold.
Away from the field of play, police arrested US rapper Travis Scott after a fight at a five-star hotel.
An Egyptian Olympic wrestler was also arrested over allegedly groping a woman in a bar.
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