TOKYO, Aug 04 (Agencies): Andre de Grasse upstaged Noah Lyles to claim the first men's 200m gold of the post-Usain Bolt era on Wednesday, as Sydney McLaughlin obliterated her own world record to claim a thrilling victory in the women's 400m hurdles.
The stage for the 200m final at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium had been set up by McLaughlin's epic duel with American teammate Dalilah Muhammad.
McLaughlin, 21, surged past Muhammad just metres from the line in a baking hot morning session to win in 51.46sec, slicing a whopping 0.44sec off her previous mark of 51.90sec set at the US trials in June.
"It's just iron sharpening iron," McLaughlin said. "You need somebody who's going to push you to your best and that's what we do so well.
"Every time we step on the track it's always something fast."
De Grasse had set the fastest qualifying time for the 200m, an event recently dominated by Jamaican sprint legend Bolt, who had won golds in Beijing, London and Rio between 2008-16.
And the 26-year-old Canadian finally came good on the promise he has shown on the track, having won 200m silver and 100m bronze in Rio before laying out his store in Tokyo with a second bronze in Sunday's blue riband track event.
De Grasse was fast out of his blocks and drove through to the line, clocking a national record of 19.62 seconds for gold.
"I have been waiting for this moment, been training hard for this moment," he said.
"I went back after the 100m and I felt disappointed. I said to myself 'I just got to go and get it (gold)'."
American Lyles, long touted as Bolt's most likely successor, had to be happy with bronze in 19.74sec as teammate Kenny Bednarek claimed silver in a personal best of 19.68sec.
The third US runner in the field, 17-year-old Erriyon Knighton, came in fourth (19.93).
Meanwhile, Skateboarding phenom Kokona Hiraki just became the youngest Olympic medalist in 85 years.
Hiraki claimed the silver medal in the women's park competition, with Sakura Yosozumi, 19, winning the gold to provide a one-two finish for Japan at their own games in Tokyo.
Hiraki, seven years younger than Yosozumi, ran smoothly throughout Wednesday's final and beat British competitor Sky Brown, 13, into the bronze medal position.
Hiraki set a new domestic record as the youngest Japanese medalist of all time, smashing her fellow skateboarder Momiji Nishiya's previous record. Nishiya won gold aged 13 in the street event just a week ago.
The 12-year-old also becomes the youngest medalist since 1936 when Inge Sorenson of Denmark won a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke event at the Berlin Games.
"I don't really care about age," Hiraki told reporters, according to Time.
Japan has dominated the skateboarding competition in its introduction to the Olympics. Yosozumi's success meant it collected its third gold medal in the sport.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
