Vinco – News – British Delight on Day One of the Athletics in Paris

Britain’s in-stadium athletics campaign got off to a fine start after Callum Wilkinson’s 16th place in the 20-kilometre race walk yesterday (2nd August). As the athletes headed into the Stade de France, GB started with a bang, with all three female 100-metre sprinters safely navigating the first round.

Daryl Neita stormed to victory in heat one with a season’s best of 10.92, while Imani-Lara Lansiquot finished third in heat four, running 11.10. Dina Asher-Smith took second in her heat, running 11.01, behind Poland’s Ewa Swoboda. Action on the straight continues tomorrow with the semi-final and final. The USA’s Sha’carri Richardson will grab attention, but Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou will go into the day as the fastest qualifier.

The mixed 4 x 400-metre relay heats began with American joy as the USA’s team of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Kaylyn Brown, and Bryce Deadmon broke the world record with a time of 3:07.41.

Britain took the win in heat two as Sam Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson, and Nicole Yeargin booked their place in the history books with a British record of 3:10.61.

The 800 metres saw British trio Keely Hodgkinson, Phoebe Gill, and Jemma Reekie all breeze through their heats to make the semi-final. Josh Kerr and Neil Gourley achieved similar success in the men’s 1500-metre heats, while George Mills will tackle the repechage tomorrow as he looks to get his campaign back on track.

The evening drew to a close with an entertaining men’s 10,000-metre final, where a pack of nine took the bell with Joshua Cheptegei at the helm. The world record holder, who had sat back in the pack for much of the race, held on in the final 200 metres to take the Olympic title, ahead of the fast-finishing Berihu Aregawi of Ethiopia and the USA’s Grant Fisher. Cheptegei’s 26:43.14 secured the Olympic record in a race where the first 13 men all finished inside the previous record mark.

Day Two promises to be a thriller, with the women’s triple jump at 19:20, the mixed 4 x 400-metre final at 19:55, and the women’s 100-metre final starting at 20:20 (all times in BST).