Monday has never looked so good! Five finals highlight day four (2) of the athletics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with titles in the women&rsquo;s 5000m, discus and 100m hurdles, plus the men&rsquo;s long jump and 3000m steeplechase, up for grabs.
It&rsquo;s set to be a busy day for Sifan Hassan, who has announced that she&rsquo;s targeting a 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m treble in Tokyo.
Here are five things to follow on day four&hellip; 
<h2>First of three for Hassan?</h2>
Women&rsquo;s 5000m final 9:40pm Tokyo time | 2:40pm CEST
After winning world 1500m and 10,000m titles in Doha in 2019, it seemed that Sifan Hassan&rsquo;s focus had turned to a 5000m and 10,000m double for Tokyo. But a 3:53.63 1500m win in Florence last month convinced her to keep her options open and she is now set to contest all three events.
The 5000m final is the first in that treble and will come after Hassan races in the 1500m heats earlier on in the day. The Dutch star went quickest in the 5000m heats, clocking 14:47.89, with all the other main contenders joining her in the final.
In Gudaf Tsegay, Ejgayehu Taye, Senbere Teferi, Hellen Obiri and Agnes Tirop, the final features five of the world&rsquo;s 10 fastest ever 5000m women. Add Hassan &ndash; 12th on that all-time list &ndash; to the mix, and you have the recipe for a mouth-watering Olympic battle.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympics-preview-5000m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Title there for the taking</h2>
Men&rsquo;s long jump final 10:20am Tokyo time | 3:20am CEST
Based on 2021 form, the men's long jump looks to be one of the most wide open competitions on the Tokyo athletics programme. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece is the world leader thanks to his 8.60m leap at a domestic competition in late May, but Cuban star Juan Miguel Echevarria sits just 10cm behind him on the 2021 world list now as he soared out to 8.50m in Tokyo during the qualification round. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61069783a273f325523321cf.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="649" />
 US jumping sensation JuVaughn Harrison has made a habit of successfully doubling in the high jump and long jump this year. He&rsquo;s contesting both events in Tokyo and will look to build on his seventh place finish in the high jump final when he returns to the stadium on Monday. In the long jump his best is 8.47m which he achieved to win at the US Olympic Trials, where he also claimed the high jump title.
Jamaica&rsquo;s world long jump champion Tajay Gayle also managed to make the final, despite injuring his left knee on the run up to his first jump in the qualifying round. Heavily strapped, he recorded 8.14m from his third leap to progress.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/preview/tokyo-olympics-preview-long-jump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a>&nbsp; 
<h2>Gold for Girma?</h2>
Men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase final 9:15pm Tokyo time | 2:15pm CEST
Athletes from Kenya have won the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase at all but two Olympic Games since 1968 - and those were the two the nation boycotted. But for the first time in recent memory its squad does not include a reigning world or Olympic champion.
It was Ethiopia&rsquo;s world leader Lamecha Girma who led the qualifiers, winning his heat in 8:09.83. Teenager Ryuji Miura broke his own Japanese national record with 8:09.92 to also advance.
Kenya&rsquo;s Abraham Kibiwott is second-fastest so far this year with 8:07.81 behind Girma&rsquo;s 8:07.75 in Monaco and he won the second heat in Tokyo in 8:12.25. The third heat winner was Morocco&rsquo;s Soufiane El Bakkali (8:19.00) who sits third behind Girma and Kibiwott on times this year with 8:08.54 from Florence. They will be joined in the final by athletes including Kenya&rsquo;s Benjamin Kigen and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Getnet Wale.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/preview/tokyo-olympics-preview-3000m-steeplechase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Perkovic targets three-peat&nbsp;</h2>
Women&rsquo;s discus final 8:00pm Tokyo time | 1:00pm CEST
Croatian discus star Sandra Perkovic is vying for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal, having become only the second woman to ever win back-to-back discus golds at the Olympics with her victories in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.
She faces a loaded field in Tokyo, including world champion Yaime Perez of Cuba and US champion Valarie Allman, who led the qualifiers in Tokyo with a first throw of 66.42m.
Allman is one of two athletes to have thrown beyond 70 metres this year, having produced a throw of 70.01m at the US Trials, but world-leader Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands won&rsquo;t be joining them in the final as she could only manage 61.15m in qualification which was not enough to see her advance.
India&rsquo;s Kamalpreet Kaur achieved 64.00m for the second-best mark in the qualifying round.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/preview/tokyo-olympics-preview-discus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a> 
<h2>Redemption for Camacho-Quinn</h2>
Women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles final 11:50am Tokyo time | 4:50am CEST&nbsp;
Five years on from the heartbreak of hitting a hurdle and missing out on the final when making her Olympic debut in Rio, world-leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn is racing for redemption in Tokyo. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610698a1a273f325523321d2.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 A Puerto Rican woman has not yet won an Olympic medal in athletics and Camacho-Quinn showed her intent to make history for her nation by breaking the Olympic record in the semifinals, running 12.26. She now has seven of the 10 fastest wind-legal times recorded in the world so far this year.
Another athlete left disappointed in 2016 was the USA&rsquo;s world record-holder Kendra Harrison (12.20) as she missed out on the Olympic team for Rio. She joins Camacho-Quinn in the final in Tokyo, along with her teammate Gabbi Cunningham, Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan and Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, who sits second on this season&rsquo;s top list behind Camacho-Quinn with a 12.40 PB to win her semifinal.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympics-preview-100m-110m-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full preview</a>

Monday has never looked so good! Five finals highlight day four (2) of the athletics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Five things to follow on day four in Tokyo

Even before the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympic-games-men-100m-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men&rsquo;s 100m final</a>, traditionally the most anticipated event of the Olympic Games, this was a thrilling night of athletics.
In the minutes before the world&rsquo;s fastest men took to the track for their showdown on Sunday (1), Venezuela&rsquo;s Yulimar Rojas had destroyed the 26-year-old <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/rojas-smashes-world-triple-jump-record-with-1567m-in-tokyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple jump</a> world record with her last leap of the competition and brothers in flight Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi had tied for the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/tokyo-olympic-games-men-high-jump-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high jump</a> gold medal and agreed to share it, having supported each other as they recovered from the same career-threatening injury after the Rio Olympic Games.
But it was another Italian who pulled off the greatest upset of all. Lamont Marcell Jacobs arrived at the Tokyo Olympic Games in career best form but in nobody&rsquo;s list of the top contenders to succeed Usain Bolt as the Olympic 100m champion, not even his own. His ambition went only as far as reaching the final.
However, almost the entire 100m field seemed gripped by nerves from the heats, perhaps mindful of the huge opportunity to claim the crown that Bolt had vacated. One by one, the leading contenders faltered. World leader Trayvon Bromell looked awful in his heat and never recovered, his US teammate Ronnie Baker ran a tight semifinal to undermine his chances and European champion Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start in the final.
Through all the mayhem Jacobs just got better and better. The Italian had never broken 10 seconds before May this year, when he set a national record of 9.95. But he improved that mark to 9.94 to win his heat on Saturday, then set a European record of 9.84 in the semifinals to scrape into the final as one of two non-automatic qualifiers. He lifted again in the final to take the most coveted title of all with a second European record of 9.80.
Having made his name as an exceptional sprinter over 60m indoors, Jacobs used his superior start to take an early lead in the final and held his advantage to the line, holding off the converted 400m runner Fred Kerley (9.84) and Canadian Andre De Grasse (9.89).
A former eight-metre long jumper of Italian and American heritage, 26-year-old Jacobs only decided to pursue sprinting four years ago.
He was completely stunned by the outcome.
&ldquo;I have no words," he said.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream, it&rsquo;s a dream, it&rsquo;s fantastic. Tomorrow maybe I can believe it, but today it is incredible. My dream was to run in the final and I won. I don&rsquo;t know what happened but I am very very happy.&rdquo; 
<h2>Rojas gets her goal</h2>
Emotions were high in the arena even before that finale. Rio Olympic silver medallist Rojas had stalked the world triple jump record of 15.50m for more than a year, having leapt 15.43m to set a world indoor record in Madrid in February last year and then matched that mark outdoors in May.
There seemed little doubt that she would break the long-standing record, the only question was when.
On her very first attempt tonight, she soared to 15.41m, agonisingly nine centimetres short of her goal. She mistimed her second jump, fouled her third, recorded 15.25m with her fourth and then had a second foul.
With just one attempt left, she channelled all her energy into the runway, hitting the take off board perfectly, holding her speed through the hop and step, then stretching out her long legs as she landed in the sandpit 15.67m later. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106cbcc825c977117289d46.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" /> (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 She exploded into joyous celebration, as did her coach, the great Cuban long jumper Ivan Pedroso. And as the realisation of her achievement hit her Rojas buried her head in the Venezuelan flag and sobbed.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t describe this feeling and this moment," she said. &ldquo;Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record, and a world record ... Wow. It is a fantastic night.
&ldquo;I was looking for it, I knew we had that distance in my legs to get it today. I was failing a bit in the technical aspect, but the last jump was one to give everything, and it was like that.&rdquo;
Portugal&rsquo;s Patricia Mamona was the only other athlete to clear 15 metres, winning the silver medal with a 15.01m national record, and Spain&rsquo;s Ana Peleteiro (14.87m national record) completed the latin sweep of the medals. 
<h2>Shared success</h2>
The men&rsquo;s high jump had an equally intense denouement as great friends and rivals Barshim and Tamberi could not be separated on the mats. Both maintained identical clean sheets up to and including first-time clearances at 2.37m which left them locked together at the end of the competition.
They then agreed to share the gold medal rather than contest a jump off. Both men have been through the ringer over the last five years. Tamberi was in career-best form going into the Rio Olympics five years ago when he tore a ligament in his ankle and needed surgery that ruled him out of the Games. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106a3e4242dbd90615124e0.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="640" />
 Barshim won the silver medal in Rio but sustained the same ankle ligament injury in mid-2018 and was out of the sport for a year. However he recovered in time to claim the world title in his hometown Doha in late 2019.
Tamberi&rsquo;s recovery was slower but he took inspiration from Barshim&rsquo;s comeback and now they will stand together on the medal podium.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable," Barshim said. &ldquo;If this is a dream, I don&rsquo;t want to wake up.&rdquo;
Tamberi, who used the cast from his injured ankle, inscribed with the words 'Road to Tokyo 2020' (crossed out for 2021) as the marker for his run up in the final, was even more emotional.
&ldquo;After that injury I said to myself if I want to come back I am coming back to win this competition and it happened," he said. 
<h2>Qualifying drama</h2>
If there is an event guaranteed to offer thrills and spills it is a hurdles race and the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles semifinals and men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles semifinals featured both tonight.
Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn set a sizzling personal best and Olympic record time of 12.26 to lead the qualifiers in the sprint hurdles, equalling the fourth-best time in history and just 0.06 from Kendra Harrison&rsquo;s world record.
A similar performance in tomorrow&rsquo;s final will surely secure her the Olympic title although nothing is certain in a race as perilous as this. Jamaican Britany Anderson was the next fastest (12.40), ahead of Harrison (12.51).
In a prelude to Tuesday&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final, world record-holder Karsten Warholm and his US challenger Rai Benjamin met for the first time this year in the semifinals.
Benjamin (47.37) was leading coming off the final hurdle but Warholm (47.30) ensured that he was in front at the finish line. Both kept something back for the final. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106cdcd140b1b3a1caa6020.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" />
 Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos (47.31) and Qatar&rsquo;s Abderrahman Samba (47.47) were also impressive.
The men&rsquo;s 800m almost lost one of the pre-race favourites in a tangle of legs on the final bend in the third semifinal.
Botswana&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos and the USA's Isaiah Jewett both hit the deck and had no time to recover and fight for a place in the final.
The two men then made an admirable gesture of sportsmanship, shaking hands, and walking away from the scene of their seemingly crushed dreams with their arms around each other.
Kenyan champion Ferguson Rotich went on to win the race in the fastest time of the round (1:44.04) and Amos was later advanced to the final by the referee.
Australian Peter Bol set his second Oceania and Australian record in as many days, clocking 1:44.11 in a controlled performance to win his semifinal from the USA's Clayton Murphy, while the other semifinal also tossed up a surprise winner as Poland&rsquo;s Patryk Dobek (1:44.60) crossed first, followed by Emmanuel Korir (1:44.74).
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

Sunday evening saw a 100m win by Lamont Marcell Jacobs, joint triumph for Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi, and a world triple jump record for Yulimar Rojas.

A thrilling night of breakthroughs, comebacks and records in Tokyo

No one saw this coming.
Italy&rsquo;s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, a former long jumper appearing in his first Olympics, stunned the field on Sunday (1) to claim the first men&rsquo;s 100m gold medal of the post-Usain Bolt era.
Overlooked as a serious medal contender, the 26-year-old Jacobs clocked a European record of 9.80 to win Italy&rsquo;s first ever Olympic 100m gold and claim the unofficial title of the world&rsquo;s fastest man.
The Italian pulled in front after 60 meters and glanced to his right as he crossed the line in front of the USA's Fred Kerley, who took silver in a personal best 9.84, and Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse, who earned his second consecutive bronze in a PB of 9.89.
Three other runners also ran sub-10 seconds in the final: South Africa&rsquo;s Akani Simbine finished fourth in 9.93, the USA's Ronnie Baker was fifth in 9.95 and China&rsquo;s Su Bingtian was sixth in 9.98.
The pre-Olympic favorite, US champion and world-leader Trayvon Bromell, failed to qualify for the final. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106a555242dbd90615124e9.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" />
 In a race with no obvious favourites, Jacobs was still a major surprise.
The bald-headed, barrel-chested Italian did not come completely out of nowhere. He is the European indoor 60m champion and broke the Italian 100m record in May with a time of 9.95. But he chose the right time and place to announce himself on the world&rsquo;s biggest stage.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream, it&rsquo;s fantastic,&rdquo; Jacobs said. &ldquo;Maybe tomorrow I can imagine what people are saying, but today it is incredible.&rdquo;
It was the first time since 2004 that gold in the marque event was won by someone other than Bolt, the Jamaican great who swept three consecutive 100m titles in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro, as well as three straight 200m crowns.
Few would have predicted that the man to succeed Bolt on the top podium would be Jacobs, who became the first European to win the 100m at the Olympics since Britain&rsquo;s Linford Christie in Barcelona in 1992.
Even his race rivals didn&rsquo;t see Jacobs as much of a threat.
&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know anything about him,&rdquo; Kerley said.
De Grasse added: &ldquo;I didn't expect that. I thought my main competition would have been the Americans, but definitely he came to play. He executed. He did his thing so congrats to him."
Jacobs is the first Italian to win a sprint event since Pietro Mennea took gold in the men&rsquo;s 200m in 1980. And his time? The fastest in the men&rsquo;s 100m by an athlete not from the US or Jamaica.
Jacobs&rsquo; victory capped a golden night for Italy, coming minutes after another Italian, Gianmarco Tamberi, shared gold in the men&rsquo;s high jump with Qatar&rsquo;s Mutaz Essa Barshim. The two Italians embraced and celebrated together on the track.
&ldquo;Being here together is something spectacular," Jacobs said. &ldquo;I believe in him and I believed in myself.&rdquo;
Jacobs&rsquo; story may not be known by the general public: He was born in El Paso, Texas, to an American father and Italian mother. He moved to Italy with his mother when he was one-year-old. Jacobs started out as a long jumper but, after a series of injuries, he changed to the sprints. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106a5eb242dbd90615124ef.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="638" />
 Signs that something special was about to happen in the final came earlier during the semifinals, which produced some stunning results, including a record-breaking heat in which three men ran under 9.85.
Su blazed to victory in the third heat in an Asian record 9.83 to become the first Chinese sprinter to reach an Olympic 100m final. Baker finished second with a personal best 9.83 and Jacobs was third in a European record 9.84. For good measure, Simbine clocked 9.90 to finish fourth in that heat.
Only twice previously had three men gone inside 9.85 in the same 100m race &ndash; the Olympic final in 2012 and the 2009 World Championships final in 2009.
Kerley (9.96) and Britain&rsquo;s Zharnel Hughes (9.98) won the other two semifinals. Hughes was disqualified from the final after a false start.
Bromell missed out after finishing third in his heat in 10 seconds flat. He got off to a quick start and took the early lead but never found a second gear and was passed in the final metres by Nigeria&rsquo;s Enoch Adegoke and Hughes.
There were signs that Bromell was not in medal-winning form a day earlier when he finished only fourth in his first-round heat in 10.05.
It was a stunning fall for Bromell, who had made a remarkable comeback to the top of the sport after tearing his achilles during the 4x100m relay at the 2016 Rio Games and being carried off the track in a wheelchair.
After two years out of the sport, Bromell worked his way back and established himself as the world&rsquo;s top 100m sprinter. He clocked a world-leading 9.77 in June, the seventh-fastest time in history, then sealed his spot in Tokyo by winning the 100m at the US Olympic Trials in 9.80.
But since then he has not been his dominant self. Bromell&rsquo;s 14-race winning streak was snapped when he finished fifth in Monaco in June in 10.01, his first race in Europe since 2016. He bounced back four days later with a victory in Gateshead, England, in 9.98 but still looked far from his best.
&ldquo;I want to say thank you to everyone who's been with me on this journey,&rdquo; Bromell said on Twitter on Sunday after failing to reach the Olympic final. &ldquo;Lord knows how much I wanted to be in that final. BUT I walk away with a smile because I know I showed many that after four years out, you can still fight and make dreams come true.&rdquo;
The day also marked the end of the Olympic career of Jamaica&rsquo;s 31-year-old Yohan Blake, the 2011 world 100m champion who won silver at the 2012 Olympics and is a two-time Olympic relay gold medallist. Blake finished sixth in his semi-final in 10.14.
&ldquo;Definitely my last Olympics,&rdquo; Blake said. &ldquo;You know track is not easy. I won't be ungrateful. I've gained a lot. I'm still the second fastest man in history, no one can take that away from me.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 100m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Lamont Marcell Jacobs 🇮🇹 ITA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">9.80 AR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Fred Kerley 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">9.84 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Andre De Grasse 🇨🇦 CAN</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">9.89 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/100-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The Italian former long jumper claimed the first men’s 100m gold medal of the post-Usain Bolt era.

Jacobs stuns with Olympic 100m win

The finest high jump duel in Olympic history ended in the most appropriate way imaginable: with Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the gold medal in Tokyo.
Barshim, the two-time defending world champion and Tamberi, the 2016 world indoor champion and reigning European champion indoors, sailed through the competition on Sunday (1) without a miss through to 2.37m, Barshim over six heights and Tamberi seven.
After each missed three times at 2.39m, they met briefly with an official, and decided there would be no need for a jump off. The medal and title of Olympic champion would be shared &ndash; just like the similar roads that brought two of the finest high jumpers of their generation to this historic moment at a one-of-a-kind Olympic Games at Tokyo&rsquo;s National Stadium. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106a48a242dbd90615124e6.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Five years ago, Tamberi, a 2.39m jumper, tore a ligament in his left ankle when attempting to top 2.41m at the Monaco Diamond League meeting just three weeks before the Rio Games where he would have started as one of the favourites.
In July of 2018, Barshim tore ankle ligaments while attempting to break the world record with a leap at 2.46 in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.
Barshim didn't jump for the next 11 months but worked his way back into contention to successfully defend his world title before a delighted home crowd in Doha. Tamberi too was sidelined from competition for 11 months, but with a more gradual return to the event's upper echelon.
Those career-threatening injuries seemed part a distant past when the pair took to the stage today, a distance made even farther when the global coronavirus pandemic postponed the Olympic Games, giving each a crucial extra year to find their previous form.
&ldquo;After my injuries I just wanted to come back, but now I have this gold, it's incredible. I dreamed of this so many times,&rdquo; said Tamberi, who was also one of the first to congratulate 100m champion Marcell Jacobs, whose shock victory capped one of the finest evenings in Italian athletics history. &ldquo;I was told in 2016 just before Rio there was a risk I wouldn't be able to compete any more. It's been a long journey.&rdquo;
"It is amazing, this is a dream I don't want to wake up from,&rdquo; said Barshim, who competed just four times this season with just a modest 2.30m season&rsquo;s best to his credit. "I have been through a lot. It's been five years that I have been waiting, with injuries and a lot of setbacks. But we are here today sharing this moment and all the sacrifices. It's really worth it now in this moment.&rdquo;
That showed as the pair embraced, just before a double celebration ensued, Barshim jumping into the arms of his coach, Tamberi dropping to the track on his knees next to the cast he wore after his 2016 ligament surgery. On it he wrote: &lsquo;My road to Tokyo&rsquo;. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106c00cb6128dcc8c8f3a96.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 For Tamberi, the end of that road began at 2.19m and for Barshim at 2.24m. Their successful clearances at 2.37 was an historic first; never had two jumpers topped that height at an Olympic Games.
But they weren't there alone. They just took the quickest route.
Six men were still jumping at 2.39m: Tamberi and Barshim; Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus who topped 2.37m after a miss at 2.35m; Sanghyeok Woo of Korea and Australian Brandon Starc who cleared 2.35m; and US champion JuVaughn Harrison, who scaled 2.33m and passed his way to the ultimate height.
Nedasekau, who produced the nearest miss at 2.39m, was forced to settle for bronze while Woo clinched a surprise fourth place finish after his inspired performance, beating Starc on countback. The 25-year-old Woo, who jumped to the world U18 title in 2013, improved his 2.30m PB twice on the night, first with a second attempt clearance at 2.33m and again after first attempt success at 2.35m.
Authorised neutral athlete Mikhail Akimenko was sixth on countback over Harrison, after both topped out at 2.33m. Harrison returns to action in the men's long jump final on Monday morning.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S HIGH JUMP MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Mutaz Barshim 🇶🇦 QAT</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">2.37m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 ITA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">2.37m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Maksim Nedasekau 🇧🇾 BLR</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">2.37m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/high-jump/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The finest high jump duel in Olympic history ended with Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi both getting gold.

Barshim and Tamberi share high jump success in Tokyo

It started with an Olympic record and ended with a world record.
Yulimar Rojas made history in the women&rsquo;s triple jump final at the Tokyo Olympic Games, sailing out to a world record of 15.67m* to land Venezuela&rsquo;s first Olympic gold medal in athletics.
Rojas, jumping second in the starting order, bounded out to 15.41m with her opening leap to add two centimetres to the Olympic record set 13 years ago by Francoise Mbango Etone.
It was an all-round strong start to the competition from most of the finalists as Patricia Mamona set a Portuguese record of 14.91m and Cuba&rsquo;s Liadagmis Povea jumped 14.70m. Three more women &ndash; Spain&rsquo;s Ana Peleteiro, Israel&rsquo;s Hanna Minenko and USA&rsquo;s Keturah Orji &ndash; opened with jumps beyond 14.50m.
Rojas struggled to match her opening leap with her next two attempts, jumping 14.53m in round two and producing a foul &ndash; albeit a long one &ndash; in round three.
By the half-way point, Peleteiro had moved into third place with 14.77m and Minenko had gone into sixth with 14.60m. World silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts recorded fouls with her first two jumps and faced a potential early exit from the competition, but a third-round leap of 14.47m kept the Jamaican&rsquo;s medal hopes alive.
Having found her rhythm, Ricketts sailed out to 14.84m at the start of the fourth round to briefly move into third place. Mamona, meanwhile, became the newest member of the event&rsquo;s 15-metre club, leaping 15.01m for another Portuguese record and consolidating her second-place position.
Minutes later, Rojas closed out the round by landing beyond 15 metres again, leaping 15.25m (0.1m/s).
Having been bumped out of the medals in the previous round, Peleteiro responded with a Spanish record of 14.87m (0.5m/s) in round five to move back into third.
By the time Rojas lined up for her final effort, and having recorded another foul in round five, her victory was guaranteed. With the pressure off and nothing to lose, Rojas nailed her final effort and broke the sand at 15.67m, adding 17 centimetres to the previous world record that had been set at the 1995 World Championships by Ukraine&rsquo;s Inessa Kravets.
&ldquo;I am lost for words; I can&rsquo;t describe this feeling and this moment,&rdquo; said Rojas, whose phases on her record-breaking jump were 5.86m, 3.82m and 5.99m. &ldquo;Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record, and a world record ... Wow. It is a fantastic night.
&ldquo;I was looking for it (the world record), I knew we had that distance in my legs today,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I was failing a bit in the technical aspect, but the last jump was one to give everything, and it was like that.
&ldquo;I was focused on giving my best, enjoying myself, and it came out. It makes me happy. I have to enjoy it now, and live the experience.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Yulimar Rojas 🇻🇪 VEN</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">15.67m WR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Patricia Mamona 🇵🇹 POR</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">15.01m NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Ana Peleteiro 🇪🇸 ESP</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">14.87m NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/women/triple-jump/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
 *Subject to the usual ratification procedure

It started with an Olympic record and ended with a world record.

Rojas smashes world triple jump record with 15.67m in Tokyo

The women&rsquo;s 100m final saw the introduction of a projection mapping light show to set the stage for one of the highlights of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday night (31).
The technology made a successful debut in the Khalifa Stadium at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019, where a delegation from the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (TOGOG) and the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) first saw the spectacle in action and agreed to work on a similar light show for the Olympic Games.
However, the logistics of the Tokyo stadium and the programme of events mean that the light show is only viable for the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s 100m finals.
The show, used to create anticipation for the race and to introduce the eight finalists, is projected on to the 100m track using 12 projectors, the same ones that were in place for Tokyo 2020&rsquo;s spectacular Opening Ceremony. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61065bfa7b5c8437ecda4157.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" /> (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 It creates 3D images of the world, zooming in to the Tokyo skyline, and then the name of each athlete in the final is projected on the track when he or she is introduced.
World Athletics Event Presentation Manager Florian Weber said it took 20 hours of rehearsal to get the impressive introduction for the women&rsquo;s 100m just right.
"We&rsquo;ve created a Hollywood-style introduction for our athletes because they are the stars of our show and they deserve this kind of attention," he said.
"We&rsquo;re also in the business of entertaining the fans and this is one of the tools we can use to grab their attention.
"But we can only do it in a modern stadium like this one that has the technology we need, including the ability to turn the lights up and down in an instant." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61067768726a453c26c9088d.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" />
Weber said it was a logistically complicated process because the full stadium had to be plunged into darkness, including the huge electronic screens and back of house lights, in order to get the full effect.
Broadcasters have been provided with desk lamps to allow them to continue to see their commentary notes when the lights go out.
The athletes are briefed in the call room about the process beforehand and are taken out on to the track eight minutes before the start.
They are given four minutes to do a last warm up before they are marshalled behind their starting blocks.
The stadium lights are turned down three minutes and 30 seconds before the start and the light show begins. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61065bbb7b5c8437ecda4154.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" />
 "That&rsquo;s the same time that a usual track race introduction takes, so the athletes are not being held any longer than they would be normally," Weber said.
Weber explained that each stadium projector had to be recalibrated each day, taking a technician two to three hours, as changes in temperatures between day and night created expansion and contraction in the projector housings and they moved slightly each day.
"We&rsquo;re very thankful to the OBS and TOCOG, especially Sport Presentation Director Keisuke Goto, for supporting this innovation," he said.

The women’s 100m final saw the introduction of a projection mapping light show to set the stage for one of the highlights of the Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday night (31).

Projection mapping light show makes Olympic debut in Tokyo

After bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012, Gong Lijiao finally added a gold medal to her Olympic collection.
The 32-year-old Chinese athlete won the women&rsquo;s shot put at the Tokyo Games on Sunday (1) with the best throws of her life &ndash; including a massive final effort of 20.58m &ndash; in a captivating final on a sweltering morning session on day three of athletics competition.
USA&rsquo;s Raven Saunders, sporting dyed purple and green hair and wearing a Hulk mask, earned silver with a throw of 19.79m and New Zealand&rsquo;s two-time champion Valerie Adams claimed bronze with 19.62m to become the first woman to win four Olympic medals in a single field event.
With trackside temperatures reaching 40C, the shot putters put on a show to remember.
Gong took command quickly with a 19.95m effort in the first round and never looked back. After throwing 19.98m in the third round and 19.80m in the fourth, Gong unleashed a personal best throw of 20.53 in the fifth round &ndash; 10 centimetres better than her previous best from 2016. Already assured of the gold, she then improved on that by five more centimetres on her final throw.
&ldquo;I was pretty nervous for the first three throws, but after the last few throws I just relaxed, and I got my two best scores,&rdquo; Gong said. &ldquo;I really wanted to break the 20m mark, and today I got that twice for my personal best. I think all of my efforts were worth it.&rdquo;
The three medallists&rsquo; emotional celebrations were as entertaining as the competition.
An Olympic champion at last, and the first Chinese woman to win an Olympic shot put gold, Gong cried and wrapped herself in a Chinese flag. Saunders twerked, mugged for the TV cameras and posed with an American flag around her shoulders. Adams held up a picture of her two young children &ndash; three-year-old daughter Kimoana and two-year-old son Kepaleli &ndash; and kissed the photo.
After finishing fourth at the 2016 Rio Games, Gong won consecutive world titles in 2017 and 2019. But she was still missing that elusive Olympic title. On this day, she asserted herself as the successor to Adams as the world&rsquo;s best shot putter.
&ldquo;This gold medal is not only for myself; it&rsquo;s for all of my country, for the people who supported me,&rdquo; Gong said. &ldquo;It's my great pleasure to win this gold medal.&rdquo;
It was also a triumph for Adams, back on the podium again at age 36, 13 years after winning her first medal in Beijing. When she was assured of the bronze, she shrieked in delight, threw up her arms and waved to the New Zealand delegation in the stands.
Adams was already the first shot putter in history to reach five Olympic finals. A gold medal in Tokyo would have made her the first woman to win a single individual athletics event three times. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61061e5d746a7308a55df5ef.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 "The feeling of winning a bronze medal was just as good as when I won the gold medal,&rdquo; Adams said. "It just goes to show the strength of a woman. You can be a mom and come back and be a mother as well.&rdquo;
Saunders, meanwhile, said she hoped she could serve as an inspiration to others by the way she overcame injuries and mental health issues to reach the Olympic podium.
&ldquo;To be able to go out here and really inspire so many people of the LGBTQ community, so many people who've been dealing with mental health issues, so many people within the African American community, and so many people who are black, all around the world, I really just hope that I can continue to inspire and motivate,&rdquo; she said.
In other morning session events, Michael Cherry of the United led all qualifiers in the men&rsquo;s 400m with a time of 44.82, followed by Isaac Makwala of Botswana (44.86) and Anthony Jose Zambrano of Colombia (44.87).
US champion Michael Norman, considered by many as the gold medal favourite, finished second in his heat in 45.35 and had only the 14th best time of all qualifiers. 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada advanced in 45.09, while reigning champion and world record-holder Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa went through in 45.25.
In a surprise, world-leader Randolph Ross failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Having clocked 43.85 in June, the US sprinter ran only 45.67 on Sunday and finished fourth in his heat.
Bahrain&rsquo;s Winfred Yavi ran the fastest ever Olympic qualifying heat in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, clocking 9:10.80. Uganda&rsquo;s Peruth Chemutai and US champion Emma Coburn finished second and third in 9:12.72 and 9:16.91, respectively, to advance automatically. Genevieve Lalonde broke the Canadian record with 9:22.64 in fourth. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6106215b746a7308a55df5fb.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Also qualifying from the three heats were 2017 world silver medallist Courtney Frerichs of the United States (9:19.34), Kenya's world record-holder and world champion Beatrice Chepkoech (9:19.82) and 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya (9:23.17).
In women&rsquo;s hammer qualifying, two-time defending Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland wasted no time in advancing to the semi-finals. The world record-holder threw 76.99m on her first effort, nearly three-and-a-half metres better than the 73.50m automatic qualifying standard.
Also progressing were China&rsquo;s Zheng Wang (74.29), Brooke Anderson of the United States (74.00m), France's European silver medallist Alexandra Tavernier (73.51m) and Canada&rsquo;s Camryn Rogers (73.97m).
World champion DeAnna Price, who threw a world-leading 80.31m at the US Trials in June, qualified with only the ninth best throw of the morning (72.55m) and later explained that she picked up a foot injury shortly after the US Trials. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61062090746a7308a55df5f8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Women&rsquo;s long jump qualifying went according to form as two-time world bronze medallist Ivana Spanovic of Serbia, competing in her third Olympics, led the way with a leap of 7.00m.
World champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany had the second-best jump of 6.98m. 2012 Olympic champion Brittney Reese jumped 6.86m and US teammate Tara Davis also advanced with 6.85m. World leader Ese Brume of Nigeria, bronze medallist at the 2019 World Championships, qualified with 6.76m.
There was also some major news away from the competition, with Dutch distance running star Sifan Hassan confirming she would be attempting an unprecedented 1500m/5000m/10,000m triple.
&ldquo;For me it is crucial to follow my heart," Hassan said in a statement released by her management company. &ldquo;Doing that is far more important than gold medals. That keeps me motivated and it keeps me enjoying this beautiful sport.&rdquo;
Hassan, who completed a 1500m/10,000m double at the 2019 World Championships, breezed through the 5000m semi-final on Friday. She will return to the track on Monday for the opening round of the 1500m. The semifinals in that event are on Wednesday and the final on Friday. The 5000m final is also on Monday while the 10,000m takes place next Saturday.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics

After bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012, Gong Lijiao finally added a gold medal to her Olympic collection.

Gong takes gold on busy morning in Tokyo

Gong Lijiao arrived in Tokyo in the shape of her life, and it showed with a dominant performance to claim her first Olympic shot put title on Sunday (1) morning.
The 32-year-old two-time world champion held command from an opening round throw of 19.95m, and improving nearly round by round. Her third throw landed at 19.98m, a set up for a fifth-round 20.53m bomb that added 10 centimetres to her previous personal best set in 2016. With the victory secured, she threw farther still, improving to 20.58m with the final throw of the competition.
&ldquo;I'm really excited to win this gold medal. I also got my personal best so all my work has really paid off," Gong said, speaking through a translator. "This is my 21st year of competing in the shot put. And it's really a special moment."
Taking Olympic gold was almost a natural progression for Gong, who took Olympic silver and bronze in 2012 and 2008 and back-to-back world titles in 2017 and 2019 after silver in 2015 and bronze two years before that.
Despite the Chinese star&rsquo;s dominance this morning, the competition behind her was thoroughly entertaining given the story lines: two-time Olympic champion Valerie Adams competing in her fifth Olympic Games and USA&rsquo;s Raven Saunders, the fifth-place finisher in Rio, who returned to top form after battling and overcoming a slew of personal problems that arose since the last Olympic Games.
Saunders signalled her podium intent with a 19.65m opener to take firm control of second place, while Adams got the rust out with a modest 18.62m effort. She then improved to 19.49m in the second to move into bronze position, pushing Portugal's Auriol Dongmo, who opened with a 19.29m throw, into fourth.
Competing in brutally hot conditions &ndash; the trackside temperature monitor read 37C when the competition began and later peaked at 40C &ndash; the throwers forged on.
While Gong extended her lead with a 19.98m effort in round three, Adams continued to apply the pressure, improving to 19.62m, just three centimetres behind Saunders. In the next round, Dongmo applied pressure of her own on Adams, reaching 19.57m, just five centimetres behind the New Zealander.
Saunders &ndash; who had a foul in round two that landed beyond 20 metres &ndash; improved to 19.79m in the fifth round to solidify her silver position, then fouled in the sixth, again with a throw that landed beyond 20 metres. Adams meanwhile fouled in the fifth and in the final round, with the bronze secure, deflated a bit, reaching just 18.76m. But it didn't matter. Adams flung her arms into the air after becoming the first woman to win four Olympic medals in a single field event.
"Everything I've been through in these past five years has been crazy, crazy,&rdquo; said Saunders, whose international career began with a silver medal at the 2014 World U20 Championships. &ldquo;I remember sometimes sitting in my car, crying. It has been a mental journey.
"I gave it everything I had,&rdquo; she continued. "I was zoned in. I came in here with one goal in mind &ndash; to get a medal. I needed to make sure I got a medal because it doesn't represent just me, it represents everybody that's struggling out there in the world, not just America but in the world."
"These Games have been a very tough one for a lot of athletes,&rdquo; said Adams. &ldquo;Since the last Games I've had these two humans come out of me. But we're now here today and the feeling of winning a bronze medal was just as good as when I won the gold medal. It just goes to show the strength of a woman. You can be a mom and come back and be a mother as well.
"I'm very grateful to all my team because with my body being a little older and fighting against these youngsters I have to work hard to come through training,&rdquo; she added, holding up a photo of her children. &ldquo;They're in my training diary and I have another picture on the wall in the (Olympic) Village. They go everywhere with me on my journey. They are my family."
Further back, Gong's teammate Song Jiayuan reached 19.14m to finish fifth with Adams's teammate, Maddison-Lee Wesche, sixth with an 18.98m lifetime best.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S SHOT PUT MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Gong Lijiao 🇨🇳 CHN</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">20.58m PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Raven Saunders 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">19.79m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Valerie Adams 🇳🇿 NZL</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">19.62m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/women/shot-put/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Gong Lijiao dominated the shot put to claim her first Olympic title 

Dominant Gong wins shot put crown

An oval 400m track rarely produces as many twists and turns as unfolded on the second night of athletics competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, highlighted by a second consecutive 100m crown for Elaine Thompson-Herah, a Swedish tag team in the men&rsquo;s discus and Poland&rsquo;s historic victory as the mixed 4x400m made its Olympic debut.
The build-up to the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/elaine-thompson-herah-olympic-record-100m-tokyo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women&rsquo;s 100m final</a> had an epic Shakespearean quality about it as the 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thompson-Herah and the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce prepared to duel for the title.
Between them, the two Jamaicans have dominated the women&rsquo;s sprints for more than a decade. Thompson-Herah held the upper hand in 2016 but Fraser-Pryce appeared to have taken the ascendancy in the run into Tokyo when she set a personal best time of 10.63, the fastest in the world for 33 years in Kingston in June.
But Thompson-Herah was not deterred. She bounced back to defeat Fraser-Pryce a month later in Szekesfehervar in 10.71 to show that she would be a force at the Games.
Fraser-Pryce looked the more impressive during the early rounds in Tokyo, but when it came to the final Thompson-Herah unleashed the best race of her life.
For a moment mid-race the two Jamaicans were locked together but then Thompson-Herah began to ease away from her rival, establishing a metre lead with 10 metres to run, at which point she raised her arm and pointed to the clock.
That too was worth watching. She stopped it in 10.61, equalling the second-fastest 100m time in history. Only the late Florence Griffith Joyner&rsquo;s 33-year-old world record of 10.49 is faster.
&ldquo;I am really excited to come back and retain my title. My chest hurts, I am so happy,&rdquo; Thompson-Herah said.
&ldquo;I could have gone faster if I wasn&rsquo;t pointing and celebrating early. But that shows there is more in store so hopefully one day I can unleash that time.&rdquo;
Fraser-Pryce claimed the silver medal in 10.74, while Shericka Jackson completed the Jamaican trifecta, finishing third in 10.76. 
<h2>Swedish discus domination</h2>
If sprinting is Jamaica&rsquo;s athletic domain, the Swedes have annexed <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/news/tokyo-olympic-games-men-discus-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men&rsquo;s discus throwing</a>.
In the 1000th Olympic athletics final of the modern era, world champion Daniel Stahl proved again that he is one in a million.
He took control of the event with a second-round throw of 68.90m and never relinquished it.
His training partner and rival Simon Pettersson took longer to warm up but found his range on his fifth throw to clinch the silver medal with 67.39m, cueing wild celebrations in the Swedish camp. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055286a77afcf45a2f9b1c.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 The sight of two huge men in canary yellow running amok on the infield with Abba playing Dancing Queen in the background will live long in the memory.
Austria&rsquo;s Lukas Weisshaidinger held on to claim the bronze medal (67.07m) by just five centimetres from Australia&rsquo;s Matt Denny. 
<h2>A dramatic debut</h2>
Stahl&rsquo;s victory was the most predictable thing about tonight&rsquo;s finals session, as the mixed 4x400m took unpredictability to a new level.
The event was filled with tension even before the final, as disqualifications, appeals and counter-appeals shaped the final field. The USA and Dominican Republic teams were out, then back in. The German team was in, then out, then back in and eventually nine teams were accepted into the final.
The Polish team of Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszynski remained focused on the prize, becoming the first Olympic champions in this event, and ran with absolute commitment to claim the gold medal in a European record of 3:09.87. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61054de5d75378a4a3162e8c.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="662" />
 In a David-and-Goliath match-up, the Dominicans held off the Americans by just 0.01 to clinch the silver medal.
The surprises started earlier, when world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith failed to qualify for the 100m final, clocking 11.05 for third in her semifinal after battling a hamstring injury. She immediately announced that she would not contest the 200m.
They continued as the men&rsquo;s 100m favourite Trayvon Bromell only just made it out of the heats after finishing fourth (10.05) in his heat with an uncharacteristically sluggish performance.
&ldquo;Honestly, I have no words for it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It don't look like I actually pushed myself and that is going to be the thing my coach is mad about.&rdquo;
He lived to fight again tomorrow as the fastest non-automatic qualifier but question marks over his form have thrown the event wide open.
Canadian Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse was the most impressive of the contenders, winning his heat in 9.91, but many of the best speedsters chose not to reveal their cards in the first round.
Italian Marcell Jacobs set a national record of 9.94 to win his heat, and Fred Kerley (9.97) and Enoch Adegoke (9.98) were the other men to break the 10-second barrier in heavy, still conditions on the track.
Other heat winners included Australia&rsquo;s Rohan Browning (10.01), USA&rsquo;s Ronnie Baker (10.03) and South Africa&rsquo;s Akani Simbine (10.08).
Three leading contenders were also left in the dust in the women&rsquo;s 800m semi-finals. World champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, Cuba&rsquo;s Rose Mary Almanza and USA&rsquo;s Ajee Wilson were all eliminated.
The emerging teenager Athing Mu belied her years to set the pace, clocking 1:58.07 to cruise into the final. The youth push continued as fellow 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson won her semifinal (1:59.12), but 30-year-old Jamaican Natoya Goule bucked the trend as the other semifinal winner (1:59.57).
Others who could push for medals in Tuesday&rsquo;s final include a second Briton Jemma Reekie (1: 59.77), Ethiopian Habitam Alemu (1:58.40) and world silver medallist Raevyn Rogers (1:59.28).
The field events were not immune to the drama, as world long jump champion Tajay Gayle injured his left knee on the run up to his first jump in the qualifying round. He was assisted from the pit by medical staff, examined and the knee was heavily strapped but he insisted on returning to the track to take his next two jumps in the hope of qualifying for Monday&rsquo;s final.
His third jump of 8.14m was nothing short of miraculous given his situation, and fell just one centimetre short of the automatic qualifying standard of 8.15m. But it was enough for him to progress to the final in fourth place.
By contrast, Juan Miguel Echevarria sailed into the final with an opening leap of 8.50m. The Cuban was head and shoulders above his nearest competitors, Greece&rsquo;s Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.22m) and Japan&rsquo;s Yuki Hashioka (8.17m).
US champion JuVaughn Harrison, who is contesting both the long and high jump in Tokyo, also progressed safely (8.13m).
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

An oval 400m track rarely produces as many twists and turns as unfolded on the second night of athletics competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Triumph for Thompson-Herah on night of thrills and spills in Tokyo

Poland&rsquo;s first gold medal of the Tokyo Games came with a special bonus: a place in the Olympic history books.
Kajetan Duszynski raced to the front down the final straight and powered across the line to give his country the first gold medal in the inaugural Olympic mixed 4x400 relay on Saturday (31).
The Polish quartet of Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Duszynski clocked a European &ndash; and now Olympic &ndash; record of 3:09.87 to claim the title ahead of the Dominican Republic and the United States.
It was also Poland&rsquo;s second Olympic gold in an athletics relay, coming 56 years after the Poles won the women&rsquo;s 4x400m relay at the 1964 Games, which also happened to be held in Tokyo.
&ldquo;We all believed we could manage to win the medal,&rdquo; Zalewski said. &ldquo;We were not sure if it was going to be gold or something else, but we knew that we could win something. We all left our hearts on the track.&rdquo;
Duszynski, who ran the final leg in 44.38, held his arms outsretched wide as he crossed the line, then pulled his singlet over his head in celebration before being mobbed by his teammates.
"In the last 150 metres I felt I had a lot of strength still,&rdquo; Dusynski said. &ldquo;I'm that type of endurance athlete. It is my strength to run the first 200 metres slowly and then to attack towards the finish line. So I knew that I could make it.&nbsp;It's my strategy and it worked for me."
The Dominican Republic quartet of Lidio Andres Feliz, Marileidy Paulino, Anabel Medina Ventura and Alexander Oganda claimed the silver, with&nbsp;Paulino clocking a 48.7 split for her second leg. The bronze went to the US team of Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kaylin Whitney and Vernon Norwood.
Oganda outleaned Norwood at the line to clinch the silver in 3:10.21, just 0.1 ahead of the US.
&ldquo;It is so exciting to come here and run the first mixed relay at the Olympic Games, and to come out with a medal feels great,&rdquo; Ellis said. &ldquo;It feels like a win for us." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6105798f3e67b3992a458314.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 The race capped an eventful 24 hours for the US and Dominican teams. They had been disqualified after the qualifying rounds on Friday but were reinstated on appeal in time for the final.
The USA replaced their lineup from the heats, which was made up of Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson, Bryce Deadmon and Elija Godwin. The members of Saturday&rsquo;s team said the controversy over the disqualification and reinstatement should not take away from their bronze-medal performance.
&ldquo;It was events outside our control and we as a team stand behind our teammates and the United States, who we are proud to represent and bring home a medal for us,&rdquo; Whitney said.
The mixed relay made its Olympic debut two years after being contested at the World Athletics Championships for the first time in Doha.
While teams can choose any order they want for the relay, all teams in Tokyo opted for the conventional order of man-woman-woman-man.
The Dominicans built up a large lead on the third lap until 21-year-old Dutch 400m and 400m hurdles star Femke Bol reeled them in going into the anchor leg.
Duszynski timed his kick perfectly, surging to the front after the final turn and pulling away down the home stretch. Norwood moved into second place and seemed poised to secure the silver for the US but was edged out by Oganda on the lean.
The US team did not include Allyson Felix, who had helped the USA win the mixed relay in Doha and was eligible to run the event in Tokyo.
It means that Felix, competing in her fifth Olympics at the age of 35, will have to wait a bit longer to bid for her 10th career medal. That would make her the most decorated woman in Olympic athletics history and equal Carl Lewis for the most medals by a US track and field athlete.
Felix, who holds six gold and three bronze medals, will run in the 400m and possibly the women's 4x400m relay.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MIXED 4x400m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Poland 🇵🇱 POL</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">3:09.87 OR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 DOM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">3:10.21 NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">United States 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">3:10.22 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/mixed/4x400-metres-relay/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Poland’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Games came with a special bonus: a place in the Olympic history books.

Poland makes history with Olympic mixed 4x400m win

In one of the greatest sprint races of all-time, Elaine Thompson-Herah stunned with an Olympic record of 10.61 (-0.6m/s) to retain her 100m title at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Saturday (31).
Leading an all-Jamaican podium, the 2016 Olympic 100m and 200m winner blazed away from her rivals to claim the crown ahead of multiple global gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rio Olympic 400m medallist Shericka Jackson, as the top three all dipped under 10.80.
The equal second-fastest time in women&rsquo;s 100m history, Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s mark improves by 0.01 an Olympic record which had been set by world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner in Seoul in 1988. The fast-starting Fraser-Pryce ran 10.74 for her seventh Olympic medal, while Jackson clocked a 10.76 PB for a second Olympic bronze and Ivory Coast&rsquo;s multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou finished fourth in 10.91.
European indoor 60m champion Ajla Del Ponte&rsquo;s breakthrough year continued with a fifth-place finish, as she ran 10.97 which came after her Swiss record of 10.91 in the heats. Her teammate Mujinga Kambundji, the world 200m bronze medallist, ran 10.99 in sixth, while the USA&rsquo;s Teahna Daniels was seventh (11.02) and Britain&rsquo;s Daryll Neita eighth (11.12).
It was an incredible return to global stage success for Thompson-Herah, who has had a series of injury struggles since winning her sprint double in Rio five years ago.
Throwing her left arm out in celebration as she crossed the finish line, the 29-year-old then let out a series of screams and sank to the track in delight as the magnitude of her achievement hit her. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055e4b176cbc337abe9550.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" /> (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 &ldquo;I couldn't find the words,&rdquo; she said later. &ldquo;I screamed so loud because I was so happy.
&ldquo;I've been injured so much. I'm grateful I could get back out on the track this year to retain the title. I've been keeping faith all this time. It is amazing."
Performances achieved in the build-up to the Games had put the women&rsquo;s 100m well and truly in the spotlight, with eight women having dipped under 10.90 in the months leading up to Tokyo. The final more than lived up to its top billing.
As the clock approached 9.50pm local time at Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium, the lights dimmed before the track was illuminated in turn with the name of each athlete in the final. Then it was time for the athletes themselves to light up the track.
Fraser-Pryce, making a bid to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic athletics event three times, got a strong start but she and Thompson-Herah were neck and neck by half way. From there, Thompson-Herah seemed to find another gear and she powered away to become the fourth woman to successfully defend the Olympic 100m title.
For Fraser-Pryce, it is another medal to add to an incredible collection which also features her two 100m golds from 2008 and 2012, plus 200m and 4x100m silvers and 100m bronze collected during the past two Games. During that time she has also become a nine-time world champion and a mother to son Zyon, and the 34-year-old had led the season top list going into Tokyo with her 10.63 &ndash; which now sees her sit third on the world all-time list &ndash; from Kingston in June.
"The aim of an athlete lining up, of course, is always to win but that didn&rsquo;t happen tonight," she said. "But I am still very grateful to make the final and to be able to stand at the podium at my fourth Olympic Games.
"Putting it in perspective, I am really grateful for the opportunity that I had tonight.
&ldquo;I am really excited that female sprinting is going to another level, and that is truly remarkable. It speaks for the depth that we have in terms of females.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61070cda4234d9290eeaf5c5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" />
 Before these Games, only five sub-10.80 times had ever been run at the Olympics. But in the semifinals alone, four were recorded as Fraser-Pryce eased over the line in 10.73, Thompson-Herah clocked 10.76, Ta Lou ran 10.79 after equalling the African record with 10.78 in her heat and Jackson also clocked 10.79.
Neita had made the final by a thousandth of a second, running 11.00 (.992) to pip Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Michelle-Lee Ahye&rsquo;s 11.00 (.993). But Neita&rsquo;s British teammate Dina Asher-Smith, the world 200m champion who also claimed 100m silver in Doha two years ago, was left in tears after injury caused an early end to her Olympics campaign. After finishing third in her semifinal in 11.05, the national record-holder with 10.83 explained how she had torn her hamstring at the British Championships and she later announced her withdrawal from the 200m in Tokyo.
Now Thompson-Herah will attempt to complete a second successive Olympic double, with Fraser-Pryce, Jackson, Ta Lou and Kambundji among the athletes all set to join her in a return to the track for the 200m heats on Monday (2).
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 100m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Elaine Thompson-Herah 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">10.61 OR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">10.74</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Shericka Jackson 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">10.76 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/women/100-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

In one of the greatest sprint races of all-time, Elaine Thompson-Herah stunned with an Olympic record of 10.61 (-0.6m/s) to retain her 100m title at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Saturday (31).

Thompson-Herah runs Olympic record to retain 100m title in Tokyo

Daniel Stahl continued his dominance of the men&rsquo;s discus with a convincing victory at Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium on Saturday (31) to capture the first field event title at the Tokyo 2020 Games in what was also the 1000th athletics final in Olympic history.
The 28-year-old Swede took command with a second-round launch of 68.90m, the fourth farthest throw in Olympic history.
Lukas Weisshaidinger of Austria gave him a scare early on with a 67.07m throw in the third round but his biggest challenge ultimately came from compatriot and training partner Simon Pettersson who unleashed a 67.39m effort in the fifth round to secure an unlikely gold and silver finish for Sweden &ndash; and their first two Olympic medals ever in the event.
&ldquo;There was a lot of hard work and fun on the way,&rdquo; said Stahl, who has led the world in the event each year since 2016. &ldquo;I am extremely proud.&rdquo;
Stahl didn&rsquo;t reach the final in Rio five years ago, but improved his consistency markedly each year since, taking world silver in 2017 and European silver in 2018 before taking the world title in 2019. Stahl lost just twice in 19 competitions in 2020 and just once in 13 competitions this year.
&ldquo;My training partner Simon has been working hard,&rdquo; Stahl said. &ldquo;I am also very proud of our coach (Vesteinn Hafsteinsson) for believing in us, and having faith." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61055286a77afcf45a2f9b1c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Matt Denny of Australia opened with a 65.76m throw to lead after the opening round, but was overtaken by Weisshaidinger who opened the second round with a 66.65m effort. But it wasn&rsquo;t long before Stahl wrestled the lead away with his winning toss just a few minutes later, turning the competition into a battle for minor medals.
Weisshaidinger remained consistent, improving to 67.07m in the third round and throwing nearly as far &ndash; 66.86m &ndash; in the fourth.
Further back, pre-Games medal favourite Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia struggled early, fouling on his first attempt, reaching just 62.95m with his second and foot fouling his third after a mediocre throw, but stayed alive after sitting in eighth position after the first three rounds.
He was a calm figure when he returned to the circle to throw first in round four, before unleashing a 66.05m effort to move into fourth. He continued to improve, throwing 66.62m to overtake Pettersson for the bronze medal position by just four centimetres.
But the 22-year-old&rsquo;s podium ambitions were short-lived.
Pettersson bounced back brilliantly, unleashing a 67.39m throw to move into second, giving Sweden a firm hold on positions one and two.
Behind him and Weisshaidinger, Denny kept up the pressure, improving his lifetime best in the final round to 67.02m to finish fourth, just five centimetres back. Ceh, throwing next, couldn&rsquo;t respond, reaching 66.37m to take fifth in his first Olympic Games.
That secured the bronze for Weisshaidinger, the first-ever Olympic medal in athletics from an Austrian man.
After Stahl and Pettersson concluded a 50-metre backstraight victory dash, Weissheidinger, wrapped in his national flag, knelt next to the throwing circle to kiss the ring.
Further back, 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius finished sixth with 64.11m. Mauricio Ortega, the first Olympic finalist in the event from Colombia, was seventh with 64.08m.
Germany&rsquo;s Daniel Jasinski, the 2016 bronze medallist, was 10th with 62.44m.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S DISCUS MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Daniel Stahl 🇸🇪 SWE</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">68.90m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Simon Pettersson 🇸🇪 SWE</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">67.39m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Lukas Weisshaidinger 🇦🇹 AUT</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">67.07m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/discus-throw/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Daniel Stahl continued his dominance of the men’s discus 

Five (okay, six) things to follow on day five in Tokyo

Barshim and Tamberi, an incredible story of friendship and shared gold

Last-gasp win for Tentoglou, historic gold for Camacho-Quinn

Tentoglou grabs long jump gold with last-round leap

Camacho-Quinn gains redemption with 100m hurdles gold in Tokyo