Grant Holloway upset in the men’s 110m hurdles in Tokyo

The overwhelming gold-medal favourite in the men’s 110m hurdles, U.S. hurdler and world champion Grant Holloway, was upset by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment in the final in Tokyo on Thursday. Holloway, who’s won every race he’s entered this year with ease, was passed in the last few metres by Parchment, who will go home with the gold medal in a season’s best 13:04.

HUGE upset in the 110-meter hurdles as Jamaican Hansel Parchment outleans world #1 Grant Holloway, 13.04 to 13.09. Holloway, a true class act on and off the track, was gracious in defeat and immediately congratulated the new Olympic champion. pic.twitter.com/aTFtOW3n6h

— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) August 5, 2021

RELATED: Andre De Grasse takes 200m gold in 19.62, another Canadian record

Holloway got out of the blocks quickly and did not waste any time creating a sizeable gap between himself and the rest of the field. At the 70-metre mark, it appeared that he would be the clear winner, but Parchment came charging out of lane seven to overtake him in the final few metres. Holloway walked away with the silver medal in 13.09, followed by Parchment’s teammate, Ronald Levy, who took the bronze in 13.10.

Men’s 4 x 100m relay

The quartet from Jamaica won the first heat of the sprint relay in 37.82, followed by U.K. and Japan to  automatically qualify through to the final. The upset of the first heat took place in lane seven, where the team from South Africa fumbled their first exchange. The baton stopped there, ending the team’s Olympic aspirations.

"Siri, show me a team that has qualified for the Olympic 4×100-metre relay."

Siri: pic.twitter.com/E3ml54fg7j

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 5, 2021

Team Canada, consisting of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse, started out strong, but by the time the baton reached De Grasse for the final exchange, they had lost a lot of ground. De Grasse, fresh off his gold medal performance in the 200m, came storming back to cross the line in second place 37.92. They were only 0.002 seconds behind the squad from China, who won the heat. Italy came third in a new national record of 37.95. The surprise of the night was team U.S.A., who finished sixth and will not continue to the final, which will take place on Friday evening in Tokyo (9:50 a.m. ET in Canada).

Women’s 4 x 100m relay

Team Great Britain had the fastest qualifying time of the morning, winning the first heat in a new national record time of 41.55 seconds. The U.S. quartet crossed the line behind them with a season’s best 41.90, and team Jamaica, without two of their fastest runners, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price, placed third in 42.15 to automatically qualify for the final.

Second Olympic final for Mujinga Kambundji! #SUI

Kambundji equals her Swiss record of 22.26 to reach the 200m final.#athletics #tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/lT2klLkgMe

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 2, 2021

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The squad from Germany led the way in the second heat in a season’s best 42.00, followed by Switzerland, who set a national record in 42.05. This is the second national record during this Olympics for Swiss sprinter Mujinga Kambundji, who ran another Swiss record in the 200m earlier this week in 22.26 seconds. The team from China was third in 42.82 to qualify automatically to the final, which will take place on Friday evening in Tokyo (9:30 a.m. ET in Canada).