PARIS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United States continued their women's 4x400m dominance while Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi won a thrilling men's 800m final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
In the last evening athletics session of the 2024 Games, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran an explosive second leg as the United States secured their eighth consecutive Olympic women's 4x400m relay title.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who won the 400m hurdles gold in Paris, powered away from her rivals with a split of 47.71 seconds after taking the baton from Shamier Little.
Gabrielle Thomas and Alexis Holmes maintained the lead as the U.S. finished in three minutes, 15.27 seconds. The Netherlands took silver in 3:19.50 and Britain bronze in 3:19.72.
Earlier, Wanyonyi held off a late challenge from Canada's Marco Arop to win gold in the men's 800m.
Wanyonyi crossed the finish line in a personal best time of one minute, 41.19 seconds, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Arop, who took silver. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati claimed bronze in 1:41.50.
"This race was tough. I felt more pressure because I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Wanyonyi said. "I needed to set a fast pace and that's why I led from the start."
The winning time was only 0.59 seconds shy of the world record, set by Kenya's David Rudisha at the London 2012 Games.
There were six other track and field gold medals decided at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Rai Benjamin, the 400m hurdles champion at these Games, withstood a late charge from Botswana's Letsile Tebogo as the United States won the men's 4x400m relay final.
The U.S. quartet - which also included Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwwod and Bryce Deadmon - finished in an Olympic record time of two minutes, 54.43 seconds, shattering its own previous mark by almost a second.
Botswana took silver in 2:54.53 and Britain bronze in 2:55.83.
American sprinter Masai Russell continued her rapid ascent by winning gold in the women's 100m hurdles.
The 24-year-old clocked 12.33 seconds to finish just one hundredth of a second ahead of France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who took silver.
Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn claimed bronze in 12.36.
"I'm the fourth-fastest woman ever in this event, so it wasn't about knowing if I could or couldn't do it," Russell said. "It was just about remaining focused on what I could do, and honestly, just get over those hurdles and get to the line first."
It marked Russell's first medal at a major international competition. She competed in the event at the 2023 world championships but did not qualify for the final.
Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen lived up to his pre-race favorite billing by clinching gold in the men's 5,000m.
The 23-year-old reigning world champion broke away from the leading pack with 200m remaining to charge home in a season best time of 13 minutes, 13.66 seconds.
Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi took silver in 13:15.04 and American Grant Fisher bronze in 13:15.13.
"For me, the 5,000m is over triple my usual distance, so it was a very tough race," Ingebrigtsen said. "With the level being so high, people are running so fast this year, I knew I had to be at my very best to be able to fight for medals."
The result marked a redemption of sorts for Ingebrigtsen, who failed to win a medal in the 1,500m.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon set a new Games record as she secured her third straight Olympic 1,500m title.
Kipyegon finished in three minutes, 51.29 seconds to shave almost two seconds off her own Olympic record set in Tokyo three years ago.
Australian Jessica Hull claimed silver in 3:52.56 and Britain's Georgia Bell took bronze in 3:52.61
Hamish Kerr bagged New Zealand's first athletics gold medal in Paris by winning the men's high jump final.
Kerr took the title after clearing an area-record height of 2.36 meters, finishing ahead of American Shelby McEwen. Qatar's Mutaz Barshim pocketed the bronze medal.
Japan's Haruka Kitaguchi produced a season-best throw to win gold in the women's javelin.
The reigning world champion prevailed with a winning throw of 65.80m, almost 2.00m ahead of South Africa's Jo-Ane van Dyk, who took silver.
Nikola Ogrodnikova of the Czech Republic took bronze with a best effort of 63.68m.
In the men's marathon earlier in the day, Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola broke the Olympic record to win gold in two hours, six minutes and 26 seconds.
Tola's time beat the previous Games record of 2:06:32 set by Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Belgium's Bashir Abdi took silver in 2:06:47 and Kenya's Benson Kipruto bronze in 2:07:00.
"I trained hard, so hard for this. This is my great achievement in life," Tola said after the race.
Eliud Kipchoge's attempt to become the first man to win the Olympic marathon three times ended in disappointment as the Kenyan failed to finish due to a back injury.
Another to fall short of expectations was Ethiopia's three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele. The 42-year-old, who won the 5,000-10,000m double at Beijing 2008 and the 10,000 at Athens 2004, could only manage 39th place. ■
