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PARIS: Armand Duplantis fulfilled a childhood dream by breaking his own pole vault world record on Monday to retain his Olympic title, but Simone Biles proved she is human after all.
A day after American sprinter Noah Lyles won the men’s 100m by the slimmest of margins and set a record, a bustling Stade de France witnessed another historic night of athletics.
Not for the first time, the night belonged to the invincible Duplantis.
The US-born Swedish star was the only vaulter to break the six-metre mark, with Sam Kendricks of the United States trailing far behind in silver and Emanuel Kallalis of Greece taking bronze.
After winning the gold medal again, it will now depend on how high the 24-year-old Duplantis can run.
In April this year, he set the record of 6.24 meters, but in front of the breathless Stade de France, he broke the record with 6.25 meters in his third and final attempt to deafening applause from the audience.
“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, which is the highest stage for a pole vaulter,” Duplantis said.
“My biggest dream since I was little was to break a world record at the Olympics, and I’ve done it in front of the most ridiculous crowd.”
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet won the women’s 5000m with a tactical run that ended defending champion Sifan Hassan’s dream of a long-distance triple crown.
Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson won the women’s 800m with a stellar performance from the start to the finish, while American Valarie Allman successfully defended her discus title.
In the early rounds of the meet, the “Big Three” easily advanced in the men’s 400m hurdles preliminaries, an event considered one of the most hotly contested of the Games.
Defending champion Karsten Warholm and his challengers, American Rai Benjamin and Brazilian Alison Dos Santos, all crossed the finish line without incident.
Fresh off his thrilling victory, Lyles easily won the 200m preliminaries in 20.19 seconds to advance to the semifinals.
Britain’s Keeley Hodgkinson celebrates after winning the women’s 800m final in athletics during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 5, 2024.
Biles chooses silver
Earlier in the day, all eyes were on Biles to see if she could write more history of her own.
The American gymnast, widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, will look to add another gold medal to her three in Paris in the balance beam and floor exercise finals at the Bercy Arena on the final day of competition.
But the 27-year-old slipped off the balance beam as he walked backwards to complete his performance, an unusual mistake that cost Italy’s Alice D’Amato the gold medal.
A furious Biles walked out of the competition to compete in the floor exercise final, which also ended in heartbreak as she had two mishaps on her landings and ultimately finished behind Brazilian Rebeca Andrade for the silver medal.
“Today has been crazy,” Biles said, adding that she was “actually very happy and proud and even more excited that it’s finally over.”
She famously fell victim to what gymnasts call a “distorted” mental block at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, but she stormed back with momentum, silencing critics who accused her of being a quitter.
Biles won three gold medals and a silver medal in Paris, bringing her total Olympic titles to 11, seven of which are gold.
Kenyan athlete Beatrice Chebet crosses the finish line to win the women’s 5000m final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in athletics at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 5, 2024.
‘Food poisoning’
Despite uncertainty about levels of contamination and pre-race illness rates, the Seine was judged clean enough to host the mixed triathlon relay.
It was an exciting race, with Germany’s Laura Lindemann taking the gold medal, beating off stiff challenges from the United States and Britain.
Belgium withdrew from the race after an athlete fell ill after racing in the Seine last week, but officials allowed Monday’s event to go ahead after assessing the water quality.
The Seine has been a focus of attention during the Olympics as its water quality has consistently failed tests despite Paris spending 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to upgrade its sewage and water treatment systems.
On the 10th day of the tight schedule, the track cycling race kicked off at the National Velodrome.
Britain will be hoping for a taste of things to come as they break five world records en route to their first gold medal in the women’s team sprint.
South Korean player An Se-young won the women’s badminton gold medal, and Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen retained the men’s badminton gold medal.
China topped the medal table with 21 gold medals, one more than the United States. —AFP
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