American Gabby Thomas cruised to Olympic glory in the 200 meters ahead of Julien Alfred in Paris on Tuesday, depriving Saint Lucia of a famous sprint double.
Alfred won a first-ever medal for her tiny Caribbean island nation when she won the 100 meters at the weekend, but she had no response when Thomas hit the corner and cruised down the final straight at the Stade de France.
The U.S. won gold and bronze either side of Alfred, as Thomas clocked 21.83 seconds to win and Brittany Brown rounded out the podium.
“I don’t think it could have gone any better,” said Thomas, who added that she was inspired by watching teammates Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson and even Alfred in the men’s and women’s 100 meters.
“My coach told me all I needed to do was get into the lead and finish strong, and I did.
There were no complaints from Alfredo.
“I felt ready for the 200 meters tonight,” she said. “I feel good, I have no complaints at all.
“First Olympics to come back with gold and silver, I can’t ask for more than that.
It is the first time since the 1976 Montreal Games that there have been no Jamaican sprinters on the podium in the women’s 100m or 200m.
There was a huge upset in the evening when Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr were denied victory in the men’s 1500m by fast-finishing American Cole Hocker.
The race was billed as a crunch match between Norway’s Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and Britain’s reigning world champion.
In the end, however, Hocker fought his way through the inside for a completely unexpected victory in an Olympic record time of 3 min 27.65 s.
Kerr took silver in a British record 3:27.79, while Ingebrigtsen finished fourth after being overtaken by another American, Yared Nuguse, who clocked 3:27.80.
Hocker may be a relative unknown on the circuit, but the American insisted becoming an Olympic champion was his season goal.
“I wrote it down and repeated it to myself even though I didn’t believe it,” said the 23-year-old.
“If they let me fly under the radar, that’s what happens. I think it might have been for the best.”
Ingebrigtsen complained that it was “just 100 meters too much” as she led the field at a fast pace in the opening 800 meters.
“Obviously it’s a tactical error,” he said.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who himself won two Olympic 1500m golds for Britain, predicted the final could be “a race for the ages” given the bitter rivalry between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr.
And so it turned out, but not quite in the way Coe had predicted, as the lackluster Hocker stole the show with his late surge.
In the hammer throw, Canada had more joy as world champion Camryn Rogers won the women’s event with 76.97 metres.
Her win came just 48 hours after teammate and fellow world champion Ethan Katzberg clinched the men’s hammer gold. The pair hugged the track, Rogers draped in a Canadian flag.
There were no surprises in the men’s long jump as multiple world medalist Miltiadis Tentoglou retained the Olympic men’s long jump title.
Tentoglou managed a best of 8.48 meters for his second gold, having also won at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock took silver with 8.36m, while Italy’s Mattia Furlani took bronze, just 2cm.
There was a second Olympic record on the night when Bahrain’s world champion Winfred Yavi won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8 minutes 52.76 seconds.
Uganda’s defending champion Peruth Chemutai took silver in a national record 8:53.34 and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich claimed bronze in 8:55.15.
US reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Netherlands’ Femke Bol set up a sensational final in the women’s 400m hurdles after each easily won their semi-finals. It also means Bol continues her audacious pursuit of triple gold, having already anchored the Dutch quartet to 4x400m medley relay glory. Her third venture will be the women’s 4x400m relay.
