Alec McNab: Wisdom of holding Olympics during pandemic vindicated

The performance of Olympic 400m hurdle winner Karsten Warholm, of Norway, may go down as one of the greatest in track and field history. Photo / AP

Comment:

As the Olympic track and field commentators have said on many occasions, the Tokyo Olympics "have continued to deliver".

Many questioned the wisdom of holding the Tokyo Olympics amid the pandemic and without spectators. They have gone ahead and once again, millions around the world have been captivated and spirits have been lifted, none more so than the Fijians celebrating their rugby sevens gold.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first 10 days and have rejoiced in the fact there have been 12 channels to watch. I have discovered new sports such as archery, and have followed New Zealand's success in sevens, on the water, and elsewhere.

The second week of course has brought the start of the track and field programme, resulting in more hours in front of the television and less surfing from me through the other channels. As indicated in my opening paragraph, the sport has delivered, adding to the excitement of the second week. Only in Mexico in 1968 was track and field in the first week. That experiment has not repeated for good reason.

Two other comments from the athletics commentators struck a chord with me, and that was that track and field is truly a global and the "most accessible" of all sports. The athletes from poorer nations without facilities and major funding are able to make their mark on the world stage.

There are teams from 195 countries and the refugee team being the 196th in Tokyo. Prior to this Games, 99 countries have won a medal in track and field. Daniel Stahl (Sweden) took the 1000th title last Saturday.

I started this column on Tuesday afternoon on my laptop in front of the television and had mapped out some highlights on the track to feature, but all that changed after the dramatic men's 400m hurdle final.

I was going to highlight Sifan Hassan's effort to secure a historical 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m treble. She won the 5000m (the first leg of that treble) after falling in the 1500m heat earlier in the day 300m from home, and then chased the field down to qualify and win her heat. By the time this goes to press she will have run the 1500m semifinal and looking towards a 1500m final on Friday and the 10,000m the following day.

I had made a note to mention the outstanding Jamaican trifecta in one of the greatest women's 100m finals in Olympic history. The winner Elaine Thompson–Herah securing the double with her win in the 200m on Tuesday evening.

These have all been surpassed by the 400m hurdle final, which will go down as one of the greatest races in track and field history. Karsten Warholm (Norway) who earlier in the season broke the world record on his home soil in Oslo recording 46.70, smashed his own record, winning in 45.98 seconds (respectable over a flat 400m without the inconvenience of 10 hurdles!).

It was no easy win with Rai Benjamin (USA) finishing under the old record, posting 46.17, and Alison dos Santos (Brazil) in 46.72. The all-time top three athletes together in the one race produced the world record and two area records. They were followed by four other athletes setting personal bests and three national records.

Warholm was not the only athlete to set a world record. Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela), who has threatened the world triple jump record for so long, also delivered when it mattered, recording a 15.67m jump. She was followed by Patricia Mamona (Portugal) and Ana Peleterio (Spain) both setting national records. Amand Duplantis (Sweden), having gone clear in the pole vault to 6.02m to take gold, came within a whisker of clearing 6.19m for the world record.

There have been some incredibly close and dramatic field events. Only 3cm separated the three medal winners with silver and bronze going to a countback. The men's gold medal was won by Greek athlete Miltiadis Tentoglu with his last jump. He then had to rely on his second-best effort in a countback.

The high jump was dramatically shared by Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) and Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy). The two friends both returning from serious injury (a lesson on perseverance for young athletes including the three I featured three weeks ago) opted to share the gold, both clearing season bests of 2.37m.

I will look at the New Zealand performances next week, having late last night confirmed that the men's shot final will have two New Zealanders as in the women's, where Dame Valerie Adams took bronze and Maddison Lee-Wesche an excellent sixth at her Olympic debut.