This is the fourth in a series of 13 posts in which TFI will preview all 48 events that will comprise the athletics portion of the Olympic Games in Paris. The track and field competition will run from Thursday, August 1, through Sunday, August 11. Once all of the preview capsules have been posted they will be pinned on the TFI home page for easy reference. The next post after this one? The men’s hurdles.
800 METERS
World Record: 1:53.28, Jarmila Kratochvilova (Czechoslovakia), 1983.
Olympic Record: 1:53.43, Nadezhda Olizarenko (Soviet Union), 1980.
World Leader: 1:54.61, Keely Hodgkinson (GB).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Mary Moraa (Kenya), 1:56.03.
2022 World Championships: Athing Mu (US), 1:56.30.
2021 Olympic Games: Mu, 1:55.21.
2019 World Championships: Halimah Nakaayi (Uganda), 1:58.04.
2017 World Championships: Caster Semenya (South Africa), 1:55.15.
2016 Olympic Games: Semenya, 1:55.28.
SCHEDULE
August 2: Round One, 1:45 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 3: Repechage, 5:10 a.m.
August 4: Semifinals, 2:35 p.m.
August 5: Final: 3:45 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain is favored to win her first global title after finishing second in the Olympic Games in 2021 and in the World Athletics Championships in 2022 and ’23. The 22-year-old Brit is unbeaten in four races this season and lowered her national record to 1:54.61 in a Diamond League meet in London on July 20 in which six of the top seven runners set personal bests and Hodgkinson moved to sixth on the all-time performer list while running the seventh-fastest time ever. Mary Moraa of Kenya won last year’s World title ahead of Hodgkinson and third-place Athing Mu of the U.S., but her season best of 1:56.71 is more than two seconds slower than Hodgkinson’s. Mu, the Olympic and World champion in 2021 and ’22, respectively, did not make the U.S. team after she fell to the track 200 meters into the final of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials while running in a tightly-bunched pack. However, her fifth-place finish in 2:00.29 in the Holloway Pro Classic on July 19 might have been an indication that hamstring issues that severely limited her training prior to the U.S. Trials could have prevented her from being a medal contender in Paris, assuming she made the American squad if not for her fall. Jemma Reekie of Great Britain, who finished fifth in last year’s World Championships and fourth in the Olympic Games, is squarely in the medal picture in Paris after running a personal best of 1:55.71 to finish second behind Hodgkinson in London after pushing her compatriot for the first 700-plus meters of the race. After Hodgkinson, Moraa, and Reekie, nine entrants in the Olympics have run between 1:56.83 and 1:57.86 this year, led by Jamaican veteran Natoya Goule-Toppin, who ran a season best of 1:56.83 to finish fourth in London. Following her across the line were Renelle LaMote of France in 1:57.06, 2019 World champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda in a national record of 1:57.26, and Allie Wilson of the U.S. in 1:57.52. Other runners to watch are Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa, who has run 1:57.26 this season, Nia Akins, who won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1:57.36 after finishing sixth in the World Championships last year, and World indoor champion Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, who has clocked 1:57.56 this year.
1,500 METERS
World Record: 3:49.04, Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), 2024.
Olympic Record: 3:53.11, Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), 2021.
World Leader: 3:49.04, Faith Kipyegon (Kenya).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), 3:54.87.
2022 World Championships: Kipyegon, 3:52.96.
2021 Olympic Games: Kipyegon, 3:53.11.
2019 World Championships: Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), 3:51.95.
2017 World Championships: Kipyegon, 4:02.59.
2016 Olympic Games: Kipyegon, 4:08.92.
SCHEDULE
August 6: Round One, 4:05 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 7: Repechage, 6:35 a.m.
August 8: Semifinals, 1:35 p.m.
August 10: Final, 2:25 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, the greatest women’s 1,500 runner in history, is favored to win an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic title in Paris. However, she might get a closer run for her money than many previously expected. That became evident in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet on July 7 when Australian Jessica Hull ran close behind Kipyegon for the first 1,275 meters of the race before gradually losing ground to her during the last half lap of a contest in which the Kenyan ran 3:49.04 to trim seven hundredths of a second off the world record of 3:49.11 that she had set last year. In contrast to that race, which Kipyegon won by nearly eight seconds, Hull finished less than two seconds behind her in Paris as her 3:50.83 clocking slashed more than five seconds off her previous best and moved her to fifth on the all-time performer list. Gudaf Tsegay, the versatile Ethiopian who won the 10,000 in last year’s World Athletics Championships and capped her season with a world record of 14:00.21 in the 5,000, ran a stunningly fast 3:50.30 in the 1,500 in a Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, on April 20. However, she is reportedly planning to compete in the 5,000, 10,000, and 1,500 in Paris. If she does that, and advances to the final of each race, she will contest the final of the 1,500 a day after racing in the 10,000 and that race will have come after running two rounds of both the 5,000 and the 1,500. As talented as Tsegay is, it might be asking a lot for her to be a serious medal contender in the 1,500 if she has raced the 10,000 a day earlier. The same goes for Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who was down to run the 5,000, 10,000, 1,500, and marathon when World Athletics released the Olympic team rosters for each nation on July 8. In addition to Kipyegon, Tsegay, and Hull, the list of entrants for the 1,500 is expected to include three other runners who have run under 3:54 this year, as well as a trio of Americans who have broken 3:56. Ethiopians Birke Hayom and Diribe Weltej have clocked 3:53.22 and 3:53.75, respectively, and Laura Muir of Great Britain lowered her national record to 3:53.79 while finishing third behind Kipyegon and Hull in Paris. Welteji was the runner-up behind Kipyegon in the World Championships last year, while Muir placed sixth in that race after finishing third in the 2022 meet and second in the Olympic Games. Nikki Hiltz and Emily Mackay, who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 1,500 in the World Indoor Athletics Championships on March 3, ran 3:55.33 and 3:55.90 in taking the top two spots in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Third went to World indoor 3,000 champion Elle St. Pierre, who ran 3:55.99. Georgia Bell of Great Britain, who has run 3:56.54, is another competitor to keep an eye on as she cut more than three and a half seconds off her best in the 800 when she ran 1:56.28 while finishing third in a Diamond League meet in London on July 20.
Note — Competitors who do not automatically advance to the semifinals from their first-round heats in the 200, 400, 800, and 1,500 meters, as well as in the straightaway and one-lap hurdle races, will get a second chance to qualify for the semifinals by competing in a repechage race.
3,000-METER STEEPLECHASE
World Record: 8:44.32, Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya), 2018.
Olympic Record: 8:58.81, Gulnara Galkina-Samitova (Russia), 2008.
World Leader: 8:55.09, Peruth Chemutai (Uganda).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Winfred Mutile Yavi (Bahrain), 8:54.29.
2022 World Championships: Norah Jeruto (Kazakhstan), 8:53.02.
2021 Olympic Games: Peruth Chemutai (Uganda), 9:01.45.
2019 World Championships: Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya), 8:57.84.
2017 World Championships: Emma Coburn (US), 9:02.58.
2016 Olympic Games: Ruth Jebet (Bahrain), 8:59.75.
SCHEDULE
August 4: Round One, 4:05 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 6: Final, 3:10 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Peruth Chemutai of Uganda had run 9:16.07, 9:12.99, and 9:15.46 while finishing second, third, and second in her first three races of the season. However, she moved to sixth on the all-time performer list when she ran 8:55.09, the ninth-fastest time ever, in winning the Prefontaine Classic on May 25. That mark crushed her national record of 9:01.45 that she had set in winning the Olympic title in 2021 and followed a 2022 season in which she finished 11th in the World Athletics Championships and a 2023 campaign in which she placed seventh in the global title meet. Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain and world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya placed first and second in last year’s World Championships, but will enter the Olympics coming off contrasting recent performances. Yavi ran a season best of 9:03.68 to win the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet on July 7 after finishing ninth in 9:21.62 in her season-opening race in the Prefontaine Classic. Chepkoech placed ninth in Paris with a time of 9:27.21 after posting four victories and two second-place finishes in her first six steeplechase races of the season. Her season best of 8:55.40 came in the Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, on April 20 and she also ran 8:56.51 while finishing second to Chemutai in the Prefontaine Classic. While Chemutai, Yavi, and Chepkoech are regarded as the three strongest contenders for the gold medal, Valerie Costien ran 9:03.22 in winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in late June in a race in which second-place Courtney Wayment and third-place Marisa Howard also recorded personal bests with times of 9:06.50 and 9:07.14. Faith Cherotich of Kenya, Alice Finot of France, Elizabeth Bird of Great Britain, and Sembo Almayhew of Ethiopia are other competitors to keep an eye on. Cherotich was the bronze medalist in last year’s World Championships at age 19 and has a season best of 9:04.45. Finot lowered her French record to 9:05.01 while finishing second in the Meeting de Paris and Bird placed third in that race with a season best of 9:09.07. Almayhew posted her season best of 9:07.26 when she placed fourth in the Prefontaine Classic. Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan, who ran 8:53.02 to win the World title in 2022, missed most of last season after being provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for abnormalities in her Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), but was reinstated by a World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal last November. However, she has struggled in her two steeplechase races this season, placing third in 9:22.45 in the USA Track & Field Los Angeles Grand Prix at UCLA on May 17 and finishing 10th in 9:22.91 in the Prefontaine Classic eight days later.
5,000 METERS
World Record: 14:00.21, Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia), 2023.
Olympic Record: 14:26.17, Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya), 2016.
World Leader: 14:18.76, Tsigie Gebreselama (Ethiopia).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), 14:53.88.
2022 World Championships: Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia), 14:46.29.
2021 Olympic Games: Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), 14:36.79.
2019 World Championships: Hellen Obiri (Kenya), 14:26.72.
2017 World Championships: Obiri, 14:34.86.
2016 Olympic Games: Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya), 14:26.17.
SCHEDULE
August 2: Round One, 12:10 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 5: Final, 3:10 p.m.
OUTLOOK
This race is expected to include the three fastest performers in history, as well as six of the top 12. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands is the defending Olympic champion, but she has not turned in a high-quality performance — by her standards — in any track race this year. On top of that, her personal best of 14:13.42 in the 5,000 does not put her on the same level as Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia and Kenyans Faith Kipyegon and Beatrice Chebet, the three fastest runners ever with personal bests of 14:00.21, 14:05.20, and 14:05.92, respectively. Kipyegon won the World title last year after lowering the world record to 14:05.20 earlier in the season. Tsegay finished a disappointing 13th in the World Athletics Championships after winning the 10,000 earlier in the meet, but she capped her season with a 14:00.21 clocking in the 5,000 in the Prefontaine Classic in September in which she narrowly missed becoming the first woman to run under 14 minutes. Chebet finished second behind Tsegay in that race with a time of 14:05.92 after placing third behind Kipyegon and Hassan in the World Championships. Ethiopians Ejgayehu Taye and Medina Eisa are other runners to watch as they finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the World Championships last year and have bests of 14:12.98 and 14:16.54. American Elise Cranny’s personal best of 14:33.17 might not be in the same class as those listed above, but it’s worth noting that she ran it indoors. In addition, she has been a finalist in the last three global championships, with ninth-place finishes in each of the last two World Championships. Nadia Battocletti of Italy and Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdahl of Norway ran 14:35.29 and 14:38.62, respectively, while finishing first and second in the European Championships in early June.
10,000 METERS
World Record: 28:54.14, Beatrice Chebet (Kenya), 2024.
Olympic Record: 29:17.45, Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia), 2016.
World Leader: 28:54.14, Beatrice Chebet (Kenya).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia), 31:27.18.
2022 World Championships: Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia), 30:09.94.
2021 Olympic Games: Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), 29:55.32.
2019 World Championships: Hassan, 30:17.62.
2017 World Championships: Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia), 30:16.32.
2016 Olympic Games: Ayana, 29:17.45 WR.
SCHEDULE
August 9: Final, 2:55 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
OUTLOOK
The field for this event could be one of the most talented in the Olympics as it is expected to include five of the seven fastest performers in history, as well as seven of the top 13. Topping the entry list will be Beatrice Chebet of Kenya, who was best known for her exploits in the 5,000 meters on the track until she became the first woman ever to break 29 minutes in the 10,000 when she ran 28:54.14 to win the Prefontaine Classic on May 25. Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, the world record-holder in the 5,000, was intent on breaking the world record of 29:01.03 — set by compatriot Letesenbert Gidey in 2021 — as she toed the starting line for that race. But she was upstaged by two-time defending World cross country champion Chebet, who ran behind the reigning World 10,000 champion for the first 8,750 meters of the contest before moving past Tsegay and never looking back. While Tsegay finished second in 29:05.92, the third-fastest time ever, Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk finished third in 29:26.89 to move to sixth on the all-time performer list and compatriot Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi placed fourth in 29:27.59 to move to seventh. The field is expected to include three other women who have run under 30 minutes in the event, including defending Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who held the world record at 29:06.82 for two days in 2021 before Gidey lowered it. Hassan had a small lead over Tsegay with 50 meters left in the World Championships last year, but she ended up falling to the track with about 30 meters to go as she tried to fend off the hard-charging Ethiopian who appeared to be on the verge of passing her. Ethiopians Fotyen Tesfay and Tsigie Gebreselama should be the other two sub-30:00 entrants as they have run 29:47.71 and 29:48.34, respectively, this year. Weini Kelati of the U.S. heads the list of remaining entrants with a best time of 30:33.82, followed by Lauren Ryan of Australia at 30:35.66 and Megan Keith of Great Britain at 30:36.84. Parker Valby of the U.S., who won five NCAA titles for the University of Florida during the recently completed academic year, could play an interesting role in the race as she will most likely be looking to lower her personal best of 30:50.43. While that time might not seem particularly noteworthy in a race with seven sub-30 performers, Valby’s quest to better it could prevent the early pace from being run at a 32- or 33-minute tempo.
MARATHON
World Record: 2:11:53, Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia), 2023.
Olympic Record: 2:23:07, Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia), 2012.
World Leader: 2:15:55, Sutume Asefa Kebede (Ethiopia).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Amane Beriso (Ethiopia), 2:24:23.
2022 World Championships: Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia), 2:18:11.
2021 Olympic Games: Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya), 2:27:20.
2019 World Championships: Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya), 2:32:43.
2017 World Championships: Rose Chelimo (Bahrain), 2:27:11.
2016 Olympic Games: Jemima Sumgong (Kenya), 2:24:04.
SCHEDULE
August 11: Final, 2:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
OUTLOOK
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya would become the first two-time winner of the women’s marathon in Olympic history with a victory in this race, but accomplishing that will not be easy as the field is expected to include the first-, second-, and fifth-fastest runners in history in Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia at 2:11:53, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands at 2:13:44, and Amane Beriso of Ethiopia at 2:14:58. Jepchirchir followed her Olympic win in August of 2021 with victories in the New York City Marathon in November of that year and in the Boston Marathon the following April. However, her training was hampered by injuries for more than a year after that. Nonetheless, she ran 2:18:38 to place third in a tightly-contested London Marathon in April of last year before winning this year’s contest in a personal best of 2:16:16, which was the fastest ever in a race with no men in it. More important than any record was the fact that she finished seven seconds ahead of Assefa after surging away from her with about 400 meters left in the race. Assefa had turned the marathoning world upside down when she ran 2:11:53 in the 2023 Berlin Marathon while annihilating the world record of 2:14:04 set by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya in the 2019 Chicago Marathon. But Jepchirchir’s victory over her showed that she is not unbeatable. Megertu Alemu of Ethiopia, who ran a personal best of 2:16:34 in finishing fourth in this year’s London Marathon, is expected to head the list of six other entrants who have run under 2:19. Among the others is Lornah Salpeter of Israel, who has a best of 2:17:45 and placed third in the 2022 World Athletics Championships and fourth in last year’s meet. The four other sub-2:19 entrants are national-record holders Joan Chelimo Melly of Romania at 2:18:04, Emily Sisson of the U.S. at 2:18:29, Magdalena Shauri of Tanzania at 2:18:41, and Honami Maeda of Japan at 2:18:59. Kenyan Hellen Obiri has never run under 2:21, but the former two-time World champion in the 5,000 could be in the hunt for the gold medal in the marathon in Paris as she won the Boston and New York City marathons last year and repeated as the Boston Marathon champion in April when she finished eight seconds ahead of Sharon Lokedi, who recently replaced an injured Kosgei on the Kenyan roster.