Paris 2024, week #3: a blast from the past
Welcome to Paris! The 2024 Olympic Games officially began on July 26th. 329 sets of medals will be handed out in just 19 days packed with non-stop action. Following it all will be a handful, which is why we will hand-pick and preview the key events of each week.
Squeezing it all into a weekend and just two full weeks sounds unthinkable? Admittedly, it has been quite intense. At times, it felt like one would need at least four screens to follow it all, making it difficult to get the full experience. Should the Olympics last longer? In a world where everything needs to happen rapidly, there are certainly pros and cons.
But we are now deep in the business end of Paris 2024. Regarding the medal events, we are just halfway there (164/329); there is quite a bit to look forward to. Enough of the group stage matches and preliminary rounds, bring out the good stuff!
A blast from the past
“This man is probably the greatest distance runner we will ever see.”
Paris, 2003. Where were you 21 years ago to witness Kenenisa Bekele’s grandiose arrival at the athletics scene? The Ethiopian long-distance runner first triumphed in the 10,000 m race, defeating the mighty Haile Gebrselassie before settling for bronze in the 5000 m. But the 2003 World Championships in Paris were also the first time Bekele met Eliud Kipchoge on track.
The Kenyan was just 18 at the time but surprised everyone by first keeping up with more prominent runners and then making a final push to beat Hicham El Guerrouj by just 0.04 seconds to win gold in the 5000 m event. While El Guerrouj – still today the world record holder in 1500 m – called it a day after an Olympic double in Athens 2004, Bekele and Kipchoge represented a new generation.
Over the next few years, Bekele set a new benchmark and became an icon. His world records stood for 16 (5k) and 15 (10k) years while he won every major competition in the latter between 2003 and 2009. But after another 5k and 10k double in Berlin 2009 after which the IAAF announcer praised Bekele as quoted above, injuries derailed his career. A fourth-place finish in London 2012 was as good as it got after Berlin.
Kipchoge meanwhile never won on track again after that run in Paris – third in Athens 2004, second in Osaka 2007 and Beijing 2008… You get the picture. After failing to reach the London games in 2012, he concentrated on marathon running, a decision he did not have to regret: Kipchoge won the Olympic title in both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, held the world record from 2018 to 2023, and became the first man to run a marathon under two hours (albeit not ratified as a WR due to a number of factors).
At 39, Kipchoge returns to Paris, the place of his first big triumph 21 years ago, looking to become the first man to win three Olympic marathon gold medals. He will meet a familiar face there. A 42-year-old Kenenisa Bekele. 12 years after his last Olympic appearance, he is back.
Bekele was supposed to be the first man to run the marathon in under two hours, hand-picked by Nike to do it, but he could not manage. He was supposed to run against Kipchoge at the Tokyo Olympics, but a stress fracture meant he pulled out. The last time the two met was six years ago at the London Marathon. It was probably not supposed to happen again. And yet…
With Kipchoge sub-par (by his own standards) at the Tokyo Marathon this year, finishing 10th with a time of 2:06:50, and Bekele running a 2:04:15 in London, who knows where they stand. Maybe the two old men have one more great race in them. They have defied the odds before.
The men’s marathon is scheduled for August 10th, starting at 11:00.
Into the unknown
“Thank God I have never had a bronze medal at home.”
Oscar Pino Hinds is a 30-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler. Ranked number three in the world, he is also the proud owner of four medals from the World Wrestling Championships, including a bronze from Belgrad less than a year ago. He is yet to make his Olympic debut though. It will not happen in Paris either.
Every country can name just one athlete for each weight class, and unfortunately for Pino, he is Cuban who competes in the men’s 130 kg event. The same event his compatriot Mijain Lopez has dominated for almost 20 years. And Lopez wanted more. After all, he really does not have any bronze medals.
After winning in Tokyo – his fourth straight Olympic gold – Lopez took a two-year sabbatical before deciding to continue. He planned to return for the Pan American Games in 2023 but withdrew. He has not competed since Tokyo, but the 41-year-old will still be considered the favourite. History will be on the line: no athlete has ever won a single event in five straight Olympics.
Men’s Greco-Roman 130 kg wrestling is scheduled for August 5th and 6th.
Team Latvia has seen Tina Graudina – Anastasija Samoilova reach the Round of 16 after winning two of their three group stage games. They will now meet a German pair on August 5th. Furthermore, the men’s 3×3 basketball team won the group with a perfect 7-0 score and qualified for the semi-finals, held on August 5th.
Team Estonia will hope Greco-Roman wrestler Heiki Nabi can set up a repeat of the 2012 London final, where he lost to Mijain Lopez.
Modern pentathlon, sport climbing, taekwondo, and weightlifting will also commence.
Let the games continue!
