Rio Athletics Day 5: What to watch for on the track tonight
Five days down; five to go. We've now reached the midway point of athletics at these Rio Olympics. The Tuesday evening session features several Canadians include medal contender Derek Drouin in the high jump.
The men’s high jump gets things underway at Olympic Stadium starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Canada’s Derek Drouin is one of 15 athletes competing for the medals and with a personal best jump of 2.40m, is a clear contender.
Also on the field will be women’s qualification in the javelin throw featuring Elizabeth Gleadle in group A and Christabel Nettey competes for Canada in group A of the women’s long jump qualification round. The action starts at 7:35 and 8:05 p.m. respectively.
The first event on the track (7:40 p.m.) is the semi-final of the men’s 100m hurdles with the final slated for later in the evening. There are three semi-final heats with the top two finishers plus the next two fastest qualifying for the final. The lone Canadian to feature is Johnathan Cabral in heat number two–scheduled for 7:48 p.m. The final will be the last event of the evening and is slated to start at 9:45 p.m.
Two other semi-final events taking place are the women’s and men’s 400m hurdles. Canada’s Noelle Montcalm (Heat 1; 8:10 p.m.) and Sage Watson (Heat 3; 8:24 p.m.) will both be looking to secure a spot in the final and will need to finish top two to do so (or else be one of two fastest time qualifiers).
Semi-final heats of the men’s 400m hurdles start a short time later at 8:35 p.m. No Canadians will compete.
The women’s 200m semi-finals will certainly impress with eight spots for tomorrow’s final on the line. Canada’s lone entrant is Crystal Emmanuel in heat 3 who will be in tough. She has the slowest personal best of all athletes in the heat. The event gets underway at 9:00 p.m. with Emmanuel’s heat scheduled for 9:10.
The first of two track finals is the women’s 1500m at 9:30 p.m. Twelve athletes–no Canadians–will be in contention in what is sure to be a very close and competitive race. Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba owns the world record (3:50.07) which is light years faster than anyone else in the field. However she has struggled to find her form this season and only finished a handful of races. Moreover, she must surely be distracted–at least somewhat–by the ongoing investigation of her coach, Jama Aden, who was arrested last month in Spain after drugs were allegedly discovered in his hotel room. If she falters, look for Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon to capitalize and seize the opportunity to take gold. Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, Laura Muir of Great Britain and Americans Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowburry–as well as two other Ethiopians–can also not be discounted. Expect this race to start relatively slow and wait for a blistering fast pace in the final 400m or so.
Women’s 1500m final STARTLIST
| ORDER / LANE | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | SB 2016 | PB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 648 | Dawit SEYAUM |  ETH |
3:58.10 | 3:58.10 |
| 2 | 1370 | Shannon ROWBURY |  USA |
4:04.46 | 3:56.29 |
| 3 | 1095 | Sofia ENNAOUI |  POL |
4:05.10 | 4:04.26 |
| 4 | 643 | Genzebe DIBABA | ETH |
3:59.83 | 3:50.07 |
| 5 | 1032 | Sifan HASSAN |  NED |
4:00.87 | 3:56.05 |
| 6 | 728 | Laura WEIGHTMAN |  GBR |
4:02.66 | 4:00.17 |
| 7 | 1222 | Meraf BAHTA |  SWE |
4:02.62 | 4:01.34 |
| 8 | 950 | Faith Chepngetich KIPYEGON |  KEN |
3:56.41 | 3:56.41 |
| 9 | 1372 | Jennifer SIMPSON | USA |
4:01.57 | 3:57.22 |
| 10 | 993 | Rababe ARAFI |  MAR |
4:03.95 | 4:02.71 |
| 11 | 647 | Besu SADO | ETH |
4:00.08 | 4:00.08 |
| 12 | 710 | Laura MUIR | GBR |
3:57.49 | 3:57.49 |
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