De Grasse wins men’s 200m crown

Canada’s Andre de Grasse became the new 200 metres king, blazing to Olympic glory leading a new generation of speedsters across the line at the Tokyo National Stadium on Wednesday.

De Grasse held a slender lead coming out of the bend but had Bednarek and Lyles for company with the Canadian holding on to cross the line in a time of 19.62 seconds. Bednarek followed in second with a personal best of 19.68, with Lyles bagging bronze in 19.74.

Three nights earlier, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs became the surprise heir to Usain Bolt’s vacant 100m crown, with De Grasse now laying claim to the iconic Jamaican’s title in the 200m.

The Canadian has demonstrated his propensity to perform on the big stage, stepping onto the podium at every major championship he has competed in since 2015.

Five years ago, he locked horns with Bolt in the 200m final in Rio 2016 but like so many before, he bowed the knee to the Jamaican to claim a creditable second place.

The 26-year-old often operates under the radar between major competitions but produces the goods when it matters most.

While De Grasse has three individual medals at the world championships – including the 200m silver medal from Doha in 2019 – the top step has evaded him over the past six years.

Highlighting his temperament for the big moment, De Grasse improved on his previous personal best he set at Rio 2016 again in the semi-final at the Olympic Games. He qualified for the final as the fastest man with a national record of 19.73, chopping 0.07 off the mark from five years ago.

Emmanuel Korir leads Kenyan 1-2 in 800 metres

Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir won the men’s 800m final, leading home a Kenyan 1-2 in 1:45.06 seconds. The 26-year-old athlete, who is the sixth-fastest 800m runner of all time, stormed to the front to take an impressive gold ahead of teammate Ferguson Rotich (1:45.23).

The bronze medal went to Poland’s Patryk Dobek who finished the race in 1:45.39. However, there was disappointment for Botswana’s Nijel Amos – the fastest man in the world this year over 800m – who finished eighth in 1:46.41.

There was always going to be a new gold medallist in the 800m, after double Olympic champion (London 2012 and Rio 2016) and world record holder David Rudisha withdrew from contention due to injury in May. And with the legend missing it left the door open for others to write their names in the history books.

Korir has taken that mantle in Tokyo, winning gold and the title of Olympic champion.

Botswana’s Amos was the presumptive favourite prior to the race, having posted a personal best of 1:41.73 and a season’s best of 1:42.91 – faster than anyone in the field.

His preparations for the final were far from ideal after a fall in his heat saw him jog to the finish line along with fellow stumbler Isaiah Jewett. However, the 27-year-old Amos was reinstated and given a place in the final, with the gold medal event taking place with nine competitors instead of eight.

The second-fastest this year was Korir, with fellow Kenyan Ferguson (named after Manchester United legend Sir Alex) Rotich third after a COVID-disrupted athletics season.

But it was Korir who stormed to victory, driving for the finish line to secure a memorable win and with it the top spot on the Olympic podium.

“It’s amazing I mean I’m so happy and grateful, this is a big achievement,” he said. “I’ve been praying and hoping to maybe one day have a medal and today I have it and I’m so thankful,” said Korir.

“I will still continue running the 400 and 800m. I want to achieve the 43 seconds in the 400m and maybe to do my best and maybe one day 1:40 in the 800m and maybe a world record.

“It’s going to be my happiness if I make it.”

While Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai won the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, Wojciech Nowicki of Poland bagged the gold in the men’s hammer throw.

Chemutai won gold with a time on 9:01.45 as she edged out USA’s Courtney Frerichs, who won silver and Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng, who clinched bronze.

Wojciech Nowicki of Poland threw farthest to claim gold with a distance of 82.52 metres.

It was a personal best for Nowicki, who completed a Tokyo 2020 hammer throw double for Poland as his win came just a day after Anita W?odarczyk won the gold medal in the women’s event. The Pole was followed to the podium by Norway’s Eivind Henriksen who threw a national-record distance of 81.58. The bronze medal was scooped by Pawel Fajdek of Poland after a throw of 81.53.