American hurdler Freddie Crittenden ran an utterly bizarre 110m hurdles heat, cruising down the course to finish almost five seconds behind his rivals. The 30-year-old, ranked fourth in the world and considered a strong medal chance, simply jogged down the track with no effort.
Gerard Whateley said in commentary on Nine: “What on earth happened at the start?”
Tamsyn Lewis-Manou said: “He’s just popped up and not even tried.”
“That’s perplexing,” Whateley replied.
It turns out that Crittenden was deliberately going slow to nurse an injury, backing himself to make it through to the semis via the repechage.
“It was an intentional choice,” Crittenden told NBC . “Everyone gets through to the repechage. … So I decided to just, not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice, give my body time to recover a little bit from being aggravated, lean on my medical doctors, lean on God, and just wait for the repechage round, come out here and try to kill it in the repechage round.”
It’s the first time we’ve seen an athlete at these Games deliberately take it easy in their heats and focus on the newly-introduced repechage.
MASSIVE BLOW FOR JAMAICA
Superstar Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson has withdrawn from the 200m mere minutes before her heat was set to begin.
Jackson, who owns the second-fastest women’s 200m time in history, was carrying an injury into the Paris Games and opted to pull out of the 100m to focus on the 200m.
Jackson is infamous for missing out on the semi-finals in Tokyo after starting her heat hot before slowing too early.
The two-time world champion’s withdrawal is another hammer blow for the Jamaican team after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out of the 100m.
Jackson, 30, had described her decision to skip the 100m as a “good decision”.
“You have to do the best for your body and your mind and your soul. I’m OK with the decision.”
Jackson’s non-appearance in the heats was only evident by the late addition of “DNS” (Did Not Start) alongside her name on the official start sheet.
Jackson’s teammate Elaine Thompson-Herah, missing from Paris through injury, won both the 100m and 200m at the Tokyo Olympics.
LYLES HUNTS GOLD AFTER CONCERNING HEAT
US track star Noah Lyles will go for glory in the men’s 100m at the Stade de France on Sunday after a shock heat result added surprising jeopardy.
Lyles admitted to underestimating the “power of an Olympics” as he was left scrambling to eventually finish second in his heat on Saturday.
The American won treble sprint gold at the Budapest world championships last year and is desperate to transfer that to the Olympic stage.
“To be honest, I should have expected that knowing that this is the Olympics, but this is my first time in an Olympic 100m, so I didn’t, but that’s on me, I’m not going to let that happen,” he said.
Lykes said the 200m bronze he won at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago still “burned a hole in my chest”.
His bid for three – and potentially four – golds starts with some tough competition in the blue riband event.
There are semi-finals to negotiate before the final, the result of which will define Lyles’ week of competition in Paris.
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh carries the weight of a nation’s hopes on her shoulders in the women’s high jump final – with all due respect to her teammate and fellow finalist Iryna Gerashchenko.
Mahuchikh admits there is more pressure on her, though, she says it is due to being the world record holder and not the expectations of her compatriots in beleaguered Ukraine.
The 22-year-old world champion seemed relaxed after qualifying and spoke about how important it will be to give Ukrainians some cheer.
She may be the hot favourite but Australians Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson – arch-rivals from school days – will be in the mix.
Olyslagers looks the most dangerous of the two as the silver medallist from Tokyo three years ago won world indoor gold earlier this year.
The 27-year-old showed she was in form by taking second behind Mahuchikh in Paris in July but her best of 2.01 metres paled in comparison to the new world record set that day of 2.10m.
One of the most hotly anticipated events of the Olympic athletics gets under way with 2021 gold medallist and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opening the defence of her 400m hurdles crown.
The 24-year-old American arrives in Paris in blistering form after smashing her own world record at the US trials in June, clocking 50.65sec.
As well as her Olympic title, McLaughlin-Levrone will be seeking to keep a five-year unbeaten streak going. Her last defeat in the 400m hurdles came in the final of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she was pipped by compatriot Dalilah Muhammad.
McLaughlin-Levrone though will be wary of the threat posed by reigning world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands.
Bol has also been in the form of her life ahead of the Olympics, clocking a personal best of 50.95sec last month.
All eyes are on Jamaica’s reigning world champion Shericka Jackson as she chases her first individual Olympic gold medal in the women’s 200m.
Jackson produced a scintillating run to claim World Championship gold in Budapest last summer, clocking 21.41sec – the second fastest time in history after the late Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34sec.
But the 30-year-old’s fitness remains shrouded in uncertainty after she pulled up towards the end of a race in Hungary three weeks ago.
Jackson has withdrawn from the 100m in Paris to concentrate on her preferred event.
The Jamaican’s biggest challenge is expected to come from Gabby Thomas of the United States, who warmed up for the Olympics with a stirring fightback to win the 200m at the recent London Diamond League meeting.
Like Jackson, Thomas is chasing her first individual gold medal after securing a bronze medal in the 200m in Tokyo.
In the 110m hurdles, American Grant Holloway begins his quest for the medal lacking from his extensive collection: Olympic gold.
The 26-year-old is a three-time world champion and the second-fastest man in history at the event with a personal best of 12.81sec.
But he was surprisingly beaten into silver at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games by Jamaican Hansle Parchment.
His fluid style is a joy to behold and Holloway, coming off a victory in the US trials in 12.86sec, the fourth fastest time in history, looks unbeatable.
Source Agencies
