Athletics at the Paris Olympics: Day 4 highlights

US track star Noah Lyles will go for glory in the men’s 100m at the Stade de France on Sunday.

AFP Sport looks at five stand-outs on the fourth day of competition in the athletics programme.

Men’s 100m – Final

Noah Lyles admitted to underestimating the “power of an Olympics” as he was left scrambling to eventually finish second in his heat on Saturday.

The American won treble sprint gold at the Budapest world championships last year and is desperate to transfer that to the Olympic stage.

“To be honest, I should have expected that knowing that this is the Olympics, but this is my first time in an Olympic 100m, so I didn’t, but that’s on me, I’m not going to let that happen,” he said.

Lyles said the 200m bronze he won at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago still “burned a hole in my chest”.

His bid for three — and potentially four — golds starts with some tough competition in the blue riband event.

There are semi-finals to negotiate before the final, the result of which will define Lyles’ week of competition in Paris.

Women’s high jump – Final

Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh carries the weight of a nation’s hopes on her shoulders — with all due respect to her teammate and fellow finalist Iryna Gerashchenko.

Mahuchikh admits there is more pressure on her, though, she says it is due to being the world record holder and not the expectations of her compatriots in beleaguered Ukraine.

The 22-year-old world champion seemed relaxed after qualifying and spoke about how important it will be to give Ukrainians some cheer.

She may be the hot favourite but Australians Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson — arch-rivals from school days — will be in the mix.

Olyslagers looks the most dangerous of the two as the silver medallist from Tokyo three years ago won world indoor gold earlier this year.

The 27-year-old showed she was in form by taking second behind Mahuchikh in Paris in July but her best of 2.01 metres paled in comparison to the new world record set that day of 2.10m.

Women’s 400m hurdles

One of the most hotly anticipated events of the Olympic athletics gets under way with 2021 gold medallist and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opening the defence of her 400m hurdles crown.

The 24-year-old American arrives in Paris in blistering form after smashing her own world record at the US trials in June, clocking 50.65sec.

As well as her Olympic title, McLaughlin-Levrone will be seeking to keep a five-year unbeaten streak going. Her last defeat in the 400m hurdles came in the final of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she was pipped by compatriot Dalilah Muhammad.

McLaughlin-Levrone though will be wary of the threat posed by reigning world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands.

Bol has also been in the form of her life ahead of the Olympics, clocking a personal best of 50.95sec last month.

Women’s 200 metres

All eyes are on Jamaica’s reigning world champion Shericka Jackson as she chases her first individual Olympic gold medal.

Jackson produced a scintillating run to claim World Championship gold in Budapest last summer, clocking 21.41sec — the second fastest time in history after the late Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34sec.

But the 30-year-old’s fitness remains shrouded in uncertainty after she pulled up towards the end of a race in Hungary three weeks ago.

Jackson has withdrawn from the 100m in Paris to concentrate on her preferred event.

The Jamaican’s biggest challenge is expected to come from Gabby Thomas of the United States, who warmed up for the Olympics with a stirring fightback to win the 200m at the recent London Diamond League meeting.

Like Jackson, Thomas is chasing her first individual gold medal after securing a bronze medal in the 200m in Tokyo.

Men’s 110m hurdles

American Grant Holloway begins his quest for the medal lacking from his extensive collection: Olympic gold.

The 26-year-old is a three-time world champion and the second-fastest man in history at the event with a personal best of 12.81sec.

But he was surprisingly beaten into silver at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games by Jamaican Hansle Parchment.

His fluid style is a joy to behold and Holloway, coming off a victory in the US trials in 12.86sec, the fourth fastest time in history, looks unbeatable.