Paris Olympics: My Top 5 Moments
Well I am pretty worn out after watching track and field for almost 2 weeks straight. I watched as much as possible live and everything else on replay except a few qualification rounds. Here are my personal top moments (from athletics) as a fan/spectator, in no particular order.
1. Men’s 10,000m with Canada’s Mom Ahmed in 4th.
This entire race was bonkers. So much action, position changes, and moves made. The energy in the stadium seemed electric. I was glued to the screen and so excited to see Mom getting after it right near the front in the last couple laps. This was Moh’s 4th Olympics and I know him personally since we were teammates at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. Ultimately he placed 4th and while the podium is the pinnacle, there is something so significant about being a legitimate factor in this race. Right there, amongst the very best, mixing it up.
Here’s one of his quotes from after the race:
“This was the hardest 10,000m race ever because of the depth. So many 26:30 dudes. And I was one of those dudes…”
Watch the replay here. **replay links I’ve included are from NBC’s coverage of the games. I highly recommend watching the CBC replays if you are in Canada. They are blocked outside Canada.
2. Mixed 4x400m relay with Femke Bol anchoring the Netherlands to gold.
This one I didn’t see live, but my husband was like you gotta watch this replay right now.
As soon as the race started I asked: is Femke in this? My husband: Yes.
And I knew she’d be on the anchor, and I knew she was going to crush it, and it was still better than I could have imagined. The look on her face, coming around the first turn in 4th place, was absolutely stone cold. I knew, she knew, the whole world knew she was going to run this down for the win. I ADORE FEMKE.
3. Mens’ Steeplechase with USA’s Kenneth Rooks winning Silver.
Generally I don’t root for the Americans, mainly because I’m Canadian, and root for Canada. But also, the USA is so dominant in athletics that I generally cheer for any smaller less dominant country. That being said! This race by Rooks was absolutely incredible. Who saw this coming? NOT ME.
Rooks was ranked 2nd-to-last here and went to the front with 300m to go. He gapped the field! None of the other competitors even knew who he was! This race was honestly a bit boring until he made a move. Everyone else seemed content to just wait around and “see what happens.” I was especially impressed because most athletes in his position (ranked 2nd-to-last) would not even consider going to the front like he did. It wouldn’t even register as an option. He ran a massive PB and ended up with the silver. DANG.
Arop photo finish in the 800m
4. Men’s 800m with Canada’s Marco Arop winning silver.
Ok so this race was crazy fast. Arop was the World Champion from last year, so obviously we Canadians have so much hope and hype for him at these Olympics. But SO MANY GUYS ran faster than him earlier in the season. Arop was definitely not dominant leading into these games. But! He has shown the ability to run with many different race tactics and was totally clutch in this race. He ran a massive lifetime best (over 1.5sec in the 800m is gross) and was only 0.01sec away from winning the whole race. Wow wow wow.
5. Men’s 4x100m with Canada winning gold, anchored my Andre DeGrasse.
I watched this with my husband (who is an American). Our focus was obviously locked on two different teams. The Canadians looked good right from the start out in lane 8 and absolutely crushed it. DeGrasse didn’t do anything special in the individual events this year but it was awesome to see him looking like his best self and anchor Canada to the W. I screamed at the TV for this one.
My thoughts on the women’s 1500m
Ok so this was my event at the Olympics, and in both 2012 and 2016 I made it to the semi-final.
I can’t really reconcile what this event is today with what it was back in 2012 and 2016. The times the athletes are running now are so much faster now than 8-12 years ago. I can’t wrap my head around it.
So ya, this race was nuts. Incredibly fast. So so so hot from the first lap. Muir (my favourite athlete in the field) went out way in the back. I was kinda bummed she seemed out of it immediately. But actually, she was smart and moved up so strong in the last lap for 5th. I loved her approach and she passed so many who went out way too hard, but it was just obviously a tiny bit too conservative because she certainly wanted to be in the top 3, and I believe could have been with a slightly more aggressive first half of the race.
I was happy to see Kipyegon win, just a bit surprised with Bell in third, and neutral on Hull for silver. I would have loved to see Hiltz up a bit higher but they had to run 3:56 in the semis which is insanity and kind of hard to bounce back from I imagine. It seems clear that Tsgay and St. Pierre both went out too hard and suffered the consequences of a poor race plan.
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