Athletes race in the women's 1500m semifinals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Day eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is full of finals – starting with the men’s 50km race walk and coming to a close with the 4x100m relays.
It’s a busy day and speaking of being busy, one athlete who has had quite the programme of events in Tokyo is Sifan Hassan. She competes again on Friday (6).
Having won 5000m gold on Monday despite falling in her 1500m heat earlier that day, she returned to contest the 1500m semifinals on Wednesday and two days later will go for her second gold. Oh, and the Dutch two-time world champion is also set to race the 10,000m final on Saturday, too.
As well as the women’s 1500m, men’s 50km race walk and 4x100m relays, Friday features the men's 5000m final, plus the women’s 20km race walk, javelin and 400m finals.
Here are (at least) five things to follow on day eight…
One down, two to go
Women’s 1500m final
9:50pm Tokyo time | 2:50pm CEST
Sifan Hassan completed the first part of her Tokyo treble target by winning the 5000m title in 14:36.79 on Monday and now she returns for the 1500m – one of the two events in which she won world gold in 2019. In the lead up to the Games it seemed like her focus would be on the 5000m and 10,000m double but she decided to throw the 1500m into the mix and was among the athletes to ease through the qualifying rounds, running 4:05.17 despite a fall in her heat and then 4:00.23 to win her semifinal.
The other semifinal was won by Kenya’s defending champion Faith Kipyegon in 3:56.80. The resurgent Kipyegon will be a much tougher opponent than she was in Doha, which was just a year after she gave birth to her first child. On that occasion Kipyegon finished a well-beaten second to Hassan but with almost two more years of training behind her, the determined Kenyan finally turned the tables at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco last month, when she produced a brilliant performance to win in 3:51.07, the fourth fastest time in history.
This underlines the danger for Hassan: that she will be picked off by specialists on fresh legs.
Joining them in the final will be Britain’s ever-reliable Laura Muir, Ethiopia’s Freweyni Gebreezibeher Hailu, Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, US champion Elle Purrier St Pierre and Australian Linden Hall.
Get ready for the relays
4x100m relay finals
Women’s – 10:30pm Tokyo time | 3:30pm CEST
Men’s – 10:50pm Tokyo time | 3:50pm CEST
The first round provided some shocks as sprint powerhouse USA finished sixth in their men’s heat and so will not feature in the final. That race was won by China, with the Canadian team – anchored by 200m champion Andre De Grasse – finishing second.
Jamaica won the first men’s heat ahead of Great Britain and Japan, with the final also including Italy after they ran a national record, plus Germany and Ghana.
After injury affected her 100m and 200m hopes, world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith returned to action to help Great Britain qualify for the women’s final, with the quartet clocking a national record of 41.55 for the fastest ever heat time at the Olympics.
With Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson, the Jamaican squad looks to be the team to beat on paper should they all run the final. But the USA will be looking to retain their title, with Germany and Switzerland among the teams who will also be aiming for a medal.
History to be made?
Men’s 50km race walk and women’s 20km race walk
Men’s – 5:30am Tokyo time | 10:30pm CEST (5 August)
Women’s – 4:30pm Tokyo time | 9:30am CEST
No country has ever swept the medals in the women’s race walks at the Olympics. Similarly, no Asian nation has achieved a medal sweep at the Games. China could make history on both counts in Sapporo. Liu Hong claimed her third world title in Doha two years ago and now the former world record-holder will aim to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic 20km race walk titles.
Her teammate Yang Jiayu, the 2017 world champion, will be a formidable opponent, however, having clocked 1:23:49 to break Liu’s mark earlier this year. And joining them on the team is Qieyang Shijie, a consistent championships performer.
But the race walks can be unpredictable and among those ready to step up will be Brazil’s Erica de Sena, Colombia’s Sandra Arenas, Ecuador’s Glenda Morejon, Italy’s Antonella Palmisano and Japan’s Kumiko Okada and Nanako Fujii.
The men’s 50km race walk is set to see Slovakia’s defending champion Matej Toth duel with France’s world record-holder Yohann Diniz, but Japan’s Masatora Kawano, Satoshi Maruo and Hayato Katsuki will all be looking for success on home soil. Kawano broke the national record with 3:36:45 in 2019, while Maruo is the world leader with 3:38:42.
Portugal’s Joao Vieira competes in his sixth Olympics but remarkably he won’t be the oldest or most experienced in the field as Spain’s 1993 world champion Jesus Angel Garcia will be competing at his eighth Olympics – a record tally of appearances for athletics.
Andrejczyk goes for gold
Women’s javelin final
8:50pm Tokyo time | 1:50pm CEST
Five years ago in Rio, Maria Andrejczyk came within two centimetres of Olympic bronze. This time, the 25-year-old Polish athlete is one of the favourites for gold.
The world leader needed just one throw in qualifying to book her spot in the final, where she will be joined by the USA’s Maggie Malone, world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia, China’s Lyu Huihui and Liu Shiying, Germany’s Christin Hussong and Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi.
The winners of the past three Olympic titles won’t be challenging them, however, with defending champion Sara Kolak and two-time gold medallist Barbora Spotakova not making the final.
Miller-Uibo and Felix rematch
Women’s 400m final and men’s 5000m final
5000m – 9:00pm Tokyo time | 2:00pm CEST
400m – 9:35pm Tokyo time | 2:35pm CEST
The women’s 400m looks open, with a number of medal contenders. After racing in the 200m, Rio Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo – the world-leader with 49.08 – returns for the one-lap final, setting up an Olympic rematch against the USA’s six-time Olympic gold medallist Allyson Felix.
Another leading contender is Stephenie-Ann McPherson, who ran a personal best of 49.34 in the semifinals, while Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic has also improved in Tokyo, to 49.38 when winning her own semifinal.
After claiming 10,000m silver and bronze respectively on the first day of athletics action, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo will line up to race over half the distance. In terms of pure speed, Cheptegei tops the bill as he owns the world record for the distance with his 12:35.36 clocking from 2019. Kiplimo, however, hasn’t been beaten on the track since the 2018 World U20 Championships.
Spain’s Mohamed Katir has had a breakthrough this year and will start the event with fresh legs, which could give him a slight advantage. Also among those to watch will be Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight of Canada, Kenyan trials winner Nicholas Kimeli, Bahrain’s Asian champion Birhanu Balew and Ethiopia’s world U20 cross-country champion Milkesa Mengesha.
