PARIS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Reigning Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis set a new world record of 6.25m as he retained his men’s pole vault title at Paris 2024.
Duplantis headed into the event as perhaps the heaviest favorite of any competitor in any discipline at Paris 2024, and opted to skip the opening height of 5.50m.
The Swede instead opened his campaign at 5.70m, sailing over with consummate ease in a portent of things to come.
While the other competitors had all been knocked out by the 6.00m mark, Duplantis had cleared every bar with no fouls up to that point, and then cleared his next attempt of 6.10m to set a new Olympic record.
The Swede then set the bar at 6.25m, aiming to surpass his own world record of 6.24m, set earlier this year at the Diamond League meet in China’s Xiamen.
Though he failed on his first two attempts, the Swede would not be denied on his final run, setting a new world-leading mark to send the capacity crowd at the Stade de France into raptures.
Sam Kendricks of the United States collected the silver medal in 5.95m, with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis taking bronze in 5.90m.
In the women’s 5,000m, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet overtook compatriot Faith Kipyegon in the final 100m to take gold.
Seeking a third consecutive Olympic gold medal over 5,000m, Kipyegon remained in the leading group throughout before kicking on as the final lap bell tolled.
With Kipyegon and Chebet pulling clear of the rest, all that remained was to determine which Kenyan would win gold, and ultimately it was Chebet who edged ahead of her senior teammate to take her first Olympic gold medal with a time of 14:28.56 – the second fastest in Olympic history.
Kipyegon finished second on track, but was subsequently disqualified for obstruction, promoting the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan into second place in 14:30.61, with Italy’s Nadia Battocletti taking the bronze medal in a national record time of 14:31.64.
Also on track, Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson lived up to her pre-race billing as favorite by taking gold in the women’s 800m.
The Tokyo 2020 silver medalist emerged at the head of a congested pack by the start of the second and final lap, and maintained her lead to the tape to win in a time of 1:56.72.
Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia took the silver medal in 1:57.15, with Kenya’s Mary Moraa fading after a strong opening lap to finish third and take bronze with a time of 1:57.42.
In the women’s discus, reigning Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the U.S. retained her title at Paris 2024, with a fourth throw of 69.50m that proved to be the class of the field.
China’s Feng Bin took silver, while the bronze medal went to Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic, who threw an identical length to Feng, but finished third by virtue of having had more foul throws.
Tuesday’s athletics action at the Stade de France will play host to finals of the women’s hammer throw, men’s long jump, men’s 1,500m, women’s 3,000m steeplechase, and women’s 200m.
