Canadian women advance to the 4x400m final

In the first heat of the women’s 4x400m relay, the squads from Poland, Cuba and Belgium qualified automatically for the final. In the faster second heat, Canada’s Alycia Brown ran the first leg, and Sage Watson, who also ran the 400m hurdles here in Tokyo, took the baton from her. Madeline Price ran a fast third leg, and Kyra Constantine, who also got as far as the semis in the 400m, ended up in a photo finish for third place (behind six-time gold medallists Team USA in first and Jamaica in second) with Team GB and Femke Bol of the Netherlands. Great Britain took third place for the auto-qual, and Canada and the Netherlands ended up with the two non-automatic qualifying spots, with the Netherlands running a national record of 3:24.01. 

The final goes Friday evening in Tokyo (Friday morning in Canada).

Centrowitz won’t advance to 1,500m final

The first heat of the men’s 1,500m semi-final was honest, with Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot dictating the pace for the first kilometre and ultimately finishing third behind Jake Wightman and U.S. Trials winner Cole Hocker.  Australia’s Ollie Hoare and Ignacio Fontes of Spain took fourth and fifth, with the top five from each heat advancing automatically to the final. Marcel Lewandowski of Poland, who was reinstated into the semi-final after falling in the heats, had to pull off the track with an injury, as did Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti.

#Olympics record in the semis! ?

??Abel Kipsang storms to 3:31.65 to lead the #Tokyo2020 men's 1500m qualifiers to the final. pic.twitter.com/Clmj6zn0B2

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 5, 2021

The second heat was even faster, with Kenya’s Abel Kipsang setting a new Olympic record in 3:31.65, followed across the line by the young Norwegian phenom Jakob Ingebritgsen, Team GB’s Josh Kerr, Adel Mechaal of Spain and Stewart McSweyn of Australia, who led for most of the heat. The two non-automatic qualifiers both came from this second heat: Jake Heyward of Great Britain and Charles Grethen of Luxembourg. Most surprisingly, the defending gold medallist, Matt Centrowitz, never moved out of the mid-pack, and though he ran a season’s best 3:33.69, will not advance to the final. The veteran from New Zealand, Nick Willis, who medalled in both Beijing and Rio, ran a season’s best 3:35.41 for ninth place in the first heat. 

In other events, Canada’s Damian Warner leads in the decathlon after six events.

For full results, click here.