Thoughts on the First Morning of Athletics

This is Stuart Weir’s first piece on the track and field portion of the Olympics in Paris, and he is loving that track and field has started!

Thoughts on the first morning

Forget the other sports! The Paris Olympics really got underway today! The Stade de France (Capacity of 80,000) was close to complete. While the 100 meters in the decathlon is hardly the most exciting event in the program, the atmosphere was fantastic the moment the action started.

Dina Asher-Smith probably spoke for many when she said: “Tokyo was just strange for many reasons, and I think Paris with a full crowd is really special. There were so many British fans in the crowd. It made my heart warm, adding to this amazing energy and atmosphere that the athletes could feel. We feed off this kind of energy. You’ve been in stadiums when it’s electric, and that’s ultimately what you want as a competitor, and it did feel perfect this morning and feeling the cheers and excitement!”

When the morning programme includes the first round of the men’s 1500, which will lead into one of the most watchable finals this week, a preliminary round, and a first round of the women’s 100, a men’s hammer throw, and women’s high jump qualification, and three rounds of the decathlon, you are onto a winner.

We all know that the women’s 100 meters will be between the new generation of Sha’Carri Richardson and Julian Alfred. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, who was fastest in 10.87, or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, in her fifth Olympics, who was second quickest. The semi-finals and finals are on Sunday evening.

The new structure of the 1500 needs a bit of getting your head around. 18 athletes have qualified for the semi-finals but have yet to be eliminated. All those who did not finish in the top six in one of the prelims go into the repechage from which they will have a second opportunity to make the semi-finals, albeit while running on a day when the direct qualifiers are resting. World Champion Josh Kerr controlled and won his race, putting down a marker. His biggest rival, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, also qualified comfortably, finishing third in his race.