Olympics: USA and Jamaica try to hurdle past each other while Americans medal in the shot put
Tokyo, Japan - Gold medals were on the line Thursday at the Tokyo Olympic Games, both on the track and on the field in Olympic Stadium.
The men’s 110-meter hurdle final was the main event on Thursday as far as track and field was concerned. Track powerhouses Team USA and Jamaica were expected to put on a big show, and they didn’t disappoint.
American runner Grant Holloway (23), who came into the race as the world champion in the event, was the heavy favorite to win gold. But it was Jamaica that claimed victory at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Unfortunately for Holloway, in a surprising turn of events, a Jamaican once again took the gold this time around.
Hansle Parchment claimed the gold medal with a winning time of 13.04 seconds as he powered himself past Holloway, who was leading halfway through the race.
He took advantage of Holloway’s seemingly decline in pace through the last few hurdles and ended up crossing the line first.
Holloway held on to second place to finish at 13.09 seconds while Parchment’s teammate Ronald Levy rounded out the medal podium, just a hundredth of a second slower at 13.10 seconds for the bronze.
Parchment won his first career Olympic gold medal in this race, after finishing previously with a bronze medal in the same event back in the 2012 London Olympics.
History repeated itself for a record-breaking American shot-putter
Ryan Crouser was on a mission to defend the gold that he won in the men’s shot put in Rio at the 2016 Olympic Games.
With just his first throw, he broke his own Olympic record from his win in Rio with a new distance of 74 feet, 11 inches.
That didn’t last long, as his next throw was even further at 75 feet, 2 3/4 inches, putting him in the top spot where he couldn’t be caught.
Crouser broke that record again on his final throw for a second-straight gold medal as his American teammate, Joe Kovacs gave a great effort to finish with a distance of just over 74 feet, for the silver medal.
Tomas Walsh of New Zealand grabbed the bronze finishing slightly under 74 feet himself.
The final throw by Crouser at 76 feet, 5 1/2 inches, is the second-best in the history of Olympic shot-putting.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Xinhua