Track and field battles to watch out for at the Paris Olympics

PARIS – Since the Stade de France opened in 1998, it has welcomed top athletes from around the world and witnessed countless iconic moments.

The next 11 days inside the 80,000-seater stadium will be no different as the track and field competition at the Paris Olympics promises to be an electrifying one, as rivalries are reignited and boundaries are broken.

Records in the French capital began to tumble even before the Games. In early July, reigning high jump world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh rewrote a 37-year-old world record with a 2.10m leap at the Diamond League meeting, 1cm more than Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova managed in 1987.

But the 22-year-old Ukrainian is not just chasing personal glory. She fled her home town Dnipro in early 2022, after the Russian invasion of her country began.

“We all are fighting for our people, for our soldiers,” she said after retaining her European title in June. “We want to show every person in the world that we will continue fighting, that war in Ukraine it’s not finished, unfortunately. We should fight in every field to show that Ukraine is strongest.”

Then there is pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who embodies every sense of his nickname “Mondo”, or world in Italian. The Tokyo Games gold medallist is a two-time world champion, a world-record holder and in a world of his own.

Since breaking Sergey Bubka’s 26-year-old outdoor world mark with a 6.15m effort in 2020, the Swedish-American, 24, has continued to raise the bar, rewriting the record several times.

To put things into perspective, only 19 other vaulters have ever cleared the 6m mark. Duplantis has been dominant this season, with his best effort of 6.24m coming at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in April. The next highest leap in 2024 was by the Philippines’ Ernest Obiena (5.97m).

Speaking to the Red Bull website, he said: “No one was there to watch (in Tokyo), so it didn’t feel complete. This time it’s going to be huge, so I have a lot of fire and motivation going into this one.”

The Stade de France will also witness some fierce battles. In the men’s 1,500m, defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain’s Josh Kerr have been exchanging jibes since Tokyo bronze medallist Kerr beat the Norwegian to the world title in 2023. Ingebrigtsen has even said he could beat the Scot “blindfolded”.

In their most recent meeting, Kerr bested Ingebrigtsen in the Bowerman Mile at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic in May, clocking a British record of 3min 45.34sec over the latter’s 3:45.60.

But Ingebrigtsen showed in the Monaco Diamond League in July that he is ready to defend his Olympic crown, submitting a world-leading 3:26.73 and their rivalry could reach its peak in the coming days.

High jumpers Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi, meanwhile, have a friendlier rivalry. The pair made headlines for sharing the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 and resume their competition in Paris while in the men’s javelin, India’s history-maker Neeraj Chopra will be aiming to retain his title.

Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan is another pushing the limits. Three years ago in Japan, she won the 5,000m and 10,000m and claimed a bronze in the 1,500m. She will compete in all three and has added the marathon to her schedule.

In the men’s event, two-time defending champion Eliud Kipchoge is aiming for an unprecedented three-peat, though his preparations have been fraught with challenges. The Kenyan, 39, has not been in his best form, finishing 10th in the Tokyo Marathon in March.

He has also faced online abuse as netizens speculated that he was involved in the death of compatriot Kelvin Kiptum in February. Kiptum, the marathon world record holder and gold medal favourite for Paris, was killed in a traffic accident at age 24.

But Kipchoge remains undeterred. He told the LOAF Podcast: “I will try my best to push myself to win it three times and tell the next generation that longevity is the key and you can make a goal, pursue it and make it happen.”