Women’s Olympic Track Preview

5 things I am excited for while watching women’s Olympic track and field in Paris

Jul 31, 2024

Storylines I am looking forward to on the women’s side.

The GOAT and the Other GOAT…Sydney vs. Femke (400m Hurdles)

I mentioned in the men’s 400m hurdles preview that Karston Warholm (the current world record holder in the event) is one of the best to ever do it. However, if he is one of the best in the event, then Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is one of the best athletes, period. She makes the 400m hurdles, the flat 400m, and any other event she runs look effortless. Then there’s her biggest competitor, the Dutchwoman Femke Bol, who similarly boasts athleticism from the 400m hurdles to the flat 400m and anchors both the women’s and mixed 4x400m relays (she has even been known to run 200m and 300m in short and long track).

This race has somewhat been seen as Sydney’s to lose, with Femke almost guaranteed silver with her own flawless race. However, Bol has recently posted stunning times and even recorded her first sub-51.00 (something only Levrone had done previously). Sydney reset her own world record at the US Olympic Trials and remains the favorite (and basically one of the faces of USA Track and Field). Bol, meanwhile, seems to always be one step behind her, is looking to make her history and upset the apple cart of what everyone thinks will happen.

Honestly, it feels like a two-horse race, but that does not mean the rest of the field is bereft of talent. It’s more a statement about how top-quality Sydney and Femke truly are in this era of the women’s 400m hurdles. The Americans have a good opportunity to secure another medal in the event with the likes of Anna Cockrell and Jasmine Jones. Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton, who won a World Championship bronze, is also looking to turn her medal into Olympic success. Third place could be the race to watch… well, once we see the top two finish.

3 Events, 38.6 Miles, ONE WOMAN…Sifan Hassan and Her Path To Greatness

Ok, I wanted to write mostly about events, but it’s hard to ignore the craziness of an athlete running a total of 38.6 miles (62.2 km) over one week of athletics competition at the Paris Olympics. At the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Sifan Hassan attempted three events (1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m) and became the first athlete to ever medal in all three at the same Olympics. However, for Hassan, that was not enough of a challenge.

Coming into Paris, Hassan was entered into an unprecedented FOUR events! She was looking to add the marathon to the triple she accomplished in 2021. She has decided to stick to the 5000m, 10,000m, and the marathon (opting to forgo the 1500m competition). This feat is still wild to think about. The schedule does favor athletes doing the 5000m and 10,000m double. However, to tack the marathon onto that seems so wild. She will have one rest day between running the 10,000m final and the marathon.

Aside from the sheer pain, my legs feel just thinking about the amount of hard mileage Hassan will do, this seems outrageous. However, Hassan is used to big goals. While she is always looking for medals, the sheer accomplishment of running the mileage associated with these events will be a big feat. Her usual sit-and-kick style gives her a good opportunity to conserve energy, though it can also be her achilles heel as it gets her caught in packs and susceptible to tripping or missing a crucial move.

Nonetheless, this will be a spectacle to watch, and I am interested not just in how many races she will run, but also how many medals she will take away. Hassan has speed in her legs, boasting national, area, and previous world records in many of these distances.

Can We See A World Record AND An American On The Podium (1500m)

I think this could be the event I am looking forward to the most on the track. Now, I am sure I have said that before, but seriously, the 1500m is one of the best shows of strength and speed there is, and especially this women’s field offers a lot (from top to bottom). There is time for tactics and time to just blow away the field. Which will we get in this women’s 1500m?

I am putting my money on both. With current world record holder Faith Kipyegon leading the charge and very few coming close to her record (3:49.04), she has over a second over the next best time this year. But this is Olympic racing. I would love to see Faith drop another world record, and with the likes of Gudaf Tsegay, Jessica Hull, and Laura Muir breathing down her neck, the right push could be there.

Beyond a potential world record (as if that isn’t enough), this red-blooded American is excited about the potential for an American athlete to bring home a medal. US athletes boast three of the top 10 times this year and come into the games primed for some great racing. With Nikki Hiltz and Emily Mackay taking silver and bronze at the short track 1500m in Glasgow earlier this year, and Elle Purrier-St. Pierre being the perennial 1500m powerhouse for the US, the US has a good chance of getting a medal in this event (it would be their second ever with Jenny Simpson winning bronze in 2016). Hiltz won the US trials, with Mackay and St. Pierre within a second of them at the finish. All of these athletes have great stories you can’t help but cheer for.

Jamaica vs. The United States…Or Will Someone Else Steal The Show (Sprints-100m, 200m, 4x100m Relay)

You may not be familiar with one of the greatest rivalries in sports, but ask any American or Jamaican who their rivals are, and both would answer the other. Especially since the Tokyo Games in 2021, it has been back and forth with each country trading medals in the sprinting events. With names like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Tia Clayton leading the Jamaican side and Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson, and Twanisha Terry on the American side, we are set up for another lightning-fast 100m race. There are other top-end athletes in this field, like Marie-Jose Ta Lou, Julien Alfred, and Dina Asher-Smith, who will hope to upset this American/Jamaican back-and-forth. With a Jamaican podium sweep in Tokyo (2020/2021 Olympics) and Eugene (2022 World Champs), and Sha’Carri Richardson spoiling a podium sweep in Budapest (2023 World Champs) by taking gold, I doubt either country will sweep the podium. However, the battle for the gold will surely lead to a fast time, possibly an Olympic record (since the world record is almost untouchable).

The 200m, on the other hand, is less about locking out the whole podium and more about who will finish on top. Jamaican standout, Shericka Jackson has opted out of the 100m/200m double and instead will focus on the 200m. This leads me to believe her 200m fitness is at its peak and a world record could be in consideration (the current record is 21.34 set in 1988 by Florence Griffith-Joyner). However, keeping the rivalry going, Gabby Thomas will toe the line as America’s hopeful to stand atop the podium and herself is peaking at the right time. However, it is noted that Thomas and the American field has a bit more depth than the Jamaicans do behind Jackson. With Jamaica lacking their usual top sprinters in this event, the Americans have a chance to show off their 200m speed. Thomas will be backed up by Mackenzie Long and Brittany Brown (who both boast personal and season best under 22 seconds), with a possibility of locking out the podium. However, Jackson’s top form will make this difficult. The fight could be for gold and, Thomas has shown adept speed coming off the curve combined with top-end speed on the straight. She would really love to add the ever-elusive gold to her resume.

The final big sprinting event (well, in this rivalry at least) will happen on the penultimate track and field night. The 4x100m relay will bring the best sprinters from both of these countries, plus many others, onto the track to see who can cobble together the best 400m using four athletes. With the relay pool, the US has available for this race alone, it’s hard to see how they will lose. However, nothing is guaranteed, and especially if Jamaica is playing on the back foot after losing the other two major sprints, they could present a real threat to the US’s hopes to take gold from the reigning Olympic Champs.

Again, these three races alone will provide enough fireworks, but there is always more.

The Star Missing, but The Contenders Don’t Care (800m)

Normally, much of the talk leading up to the Olympics is about whether the defending champion can retain their gold medal. However, this will be a different event as the defending champion, Athing Mu, suffered a fall in the US Olympic Trials and will not be in Paris. Before last year, Mu had been a force to be reckoned with in the 800m, and given her strength in this event, the question is: what will the race look like without her?

Well, move over Athing Mu, because the field that might have been competing with her is ready to make this a race to remember nonetheless. British runner Keely Hodgkinson and Kenyan standout Mary Moraa come in as the heavy favorites, with both runners outkicking Mu in last year’s World Championships in Budapest. Then you have the crowd of women who are chasing them.

The 800m is possibly one of the hardest races on the track. The one time I ran it in high school, my coach told me, “Just run as hard as you can from the start, and don’t slow down until you get to the finish.” However, I expect this to be a bit of a tactical build as we see the women jockey for position coming off the turn and into the cut-in. Position is everything in this race, and if Americans like Nia Akins, Allie Wilson, and Michaela Rose are in the right place, they could get themselves in medal contention and keep the US in the conversation as a great women's 800m country.

The Other Previews

Initially, I planned to keep it as one article, but I have too many thoughts to fit into just one (who is surprised?). So, I will cover this in a few different articles. I have linked the other articles here: