Track and field at Paris Olympics 2024 live (2024)

Julien Alfred of St Lucia beat Sha’Carri Richardson to gold in the women's 100m final, the headline on day eight of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

A national record time of 10.72 saw her cruise to the gold with American pair Richardson (10.87) and Mellisa Jefferson (10.92) taking silver and bronze.

Jamaica's two-time winner of that event, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was due to attempt to become the first Olympian to win five medals in a row in the same athletics event but she pulled out minutes before her semifinal.

Men’s shot put final

• 🥇 Ryan Crouser (United States)
• 🥈 Joe Kovacs (United States)
• 🥉 Rajindra Campbell (Jamaica)

Women’s triple jump final

• 🥇 Thea LaFond (Dominica)
• 🥈 Shanieka Ricketts (Jamaica)
• 🥉 Jasmine Moore (United States)

4x400m mixed relay final

• 🥇 Netherlands
• 🥈 United States
• 🥉 Britain

Women’s 100m final

• 🥇 Julien Alfred (St Lucia)
• 🥈 Sha’Carri Richardson (United States)
• 🥉 Melissa Jefferson (United States)

Men’s decathlon

• 🥇 Markus Rooth (Norway)
• 🥈 Leo Neugebauer (Germany)
• 🥉 Lindon Victor (Grenada)

And the final race of the night — the decathlon 1500m — is over so we have a new decathlon gold medalist.

That man is Norway's Markus Rooth, who finished with a huge total of 8796 points!

Germany's Leo Neugebauer takes silver (8748) and Lindon Victor of Grenada gets bronze (8711).

Dominica just won their first-ever Olympic medal with Thea Lafond taking gold in the triple jump behind a national record leap.

A great night for Caribbean nations not called Jamaica.

It's going without saying that Alfred has created a moment of history there, but it is quite simply a seismic moment for the small Caribbean island of St Lucia.

With a population of under 200,000, she has just won her nation their first ever Olympic medal.

At the age of 23, I'd be very surprised if that is their first and last.

These three athletes will be the ones going up to the podium in a few days' time to collect the women's 100m medals.

What a feeling that must be!

Basically a repeat of the semifinal, just faster. Julien Alfred runs a 10.72 St Lucian national record. That puts her in the top 10 all-time.

She won by 0.15 seconds, the biggest winning margin in a women’s 100m Olympic final since Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce in Beijing in 2008.

Typically for athletes with a 60m strength, they struggle to hold their form and speed at the top-end. That doesn’t happen for Alfred. She’s been consistently good this entire year and ran through the tape.

Jamaica's dominance of this Olympic event — having won the last four women's 100m finals — is over.

A national record for our gold medal winner at the perfect time as she cruised to 100m gold — here are all the finishing times:

• Julien Alfred (St Lucia): 10.72
• Sha'Carri Richardson (USA): 10.87
• Mellisa Jefferson (USA): 10.92
• Daryll Neita (Britain): 10.96
• Twanisha Terry (USA): 10.97
• Mujinga Kambundji (Switzerland): 10.99
• Tia Clayton (Jamaica): 11.04
• Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (Cote d’Ivoire): 13.79

St. Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred will be a name to remember forever.

She just stunned Sha'Carri Richardson and the rest of the world with an upset and a time of 10.72 behind an unreal start and an uncatchable finish.

There are two medals for the USA as Richardson takes silver (10.87) and Jefferson (10.92) gets bronze.

Femke Bol doing Femke Bol things.

She’s a hurdler but an absolute demon on the flats. Chased down from fourth place to beat the USA on the home straight and take gold. Bol ran a 47.93 leg, and Klaver ran incredibly on leg two.

A big anchor from Amber Anning to get the bronze for Britain, a nation that historically doesn’t take many medals in relays — just one gold and two bronzes at the previous five games. Anning is a serious contender in the 400 flat.

A sublime run from Femke Bol on the fourth leg for the Netherlands snatched the gold medal out of the hands of the four American athletes — here are the finishing times from that pulsating final:

• Netherlands: 3:07.43
• USA: 3:07.74
• Britain: 3:08.01
• Belgium: 3:09.36
• France: 3:10.84
• Jamaica: 3:11.67
• Italy: 3:11.84
• Poland: 3:12.39

What Femke Bol just did in the mixed relays could be a game changer. The mixed relays have been a B-squad event since its inception. The stars don't run. Not only does it risk them for other events, but it robs teammates of a chance to medal.

But Netherlands threw their superstar on the anchor leg — even though she's still got to deal with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400-meter hurdles. Will we see the stars jumping into the mixed relays? Is this about to become a main event? Because if Bol can run, the question becomes why couldn't McLaughlin-Levrone? What happens if the U.S., Jamaica and others put their best 400 runners in this event?

Femke might've started something. At least, we can only hope she did.

Femke Bol on the anchor leg of a 4x400m might be the most electrifying minute in sports.

Far less than a minute actually, as the 400-meter star clocked a 47.93 to catch the entire field and then some, boosting the Netherlands to the gold medal.

USA were 0.31 seconds behind in second while Britain came third to win bronze.

SAINT-DENIS, France — The distance between Ryan Crouser and second place was about 0.75 meters. The distance between Ryan Crouser and anybody else who could possibly mentioned as the greatest shot-putter ever?

Let’s just say it’s measured in medals instead of meters.

No one has ever thrown a shot put farther, indoors or outdoors. He holds both world records. Now, no one has won three consecutive Olympic gold medals. He completed the trifecta Saturday, his throw of 22.90 meters securing his spot as the G.O.A.T. of shot put.

For more on Crouser's historic day, click here.

Okay, Joe Kovacs! On his last throw of the men’s shot put final, Kovacs threw himself into silver medal position, with a throw of 22.15, That pushed Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell to third, and American Payton Otterdahl to fourth. Otterdahl’s last throw was oh, so close, at 22.03, but he finishes just off the medal stand.

And Ryan Crouser does it again. He becomes the first Olympian to win three straight shot put gold medals, with a winning throw of 22.90!

Jasmine Moore's gold medal hopes now hinge on her going back to her college days. Her personal best came in the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a Florida Gator, she jumped 15.12 meters to win the national championship. She hasn't cleared 15 meters since.

But with an epic jump in the rain from Thea Lafond, Moore's going to have to pull a big one out on one of her four remaining jumps.

One wonders when meet officials might shut things down for a bit until this rain passes. Nigeria’s Chukwuebka Connell Enekwechi just slipped on his fifth attempt in the shot put and fell pretty hard as the shot fell out of his hand and bounced just a few feet in front of him.

Looks like everyone else passed in round five after that, leaving defending champion Ryan Crouser ahead entering the sixth and final round.