Sifan Hassan completed an astonishing double by winning her third medal of the Tokyo Olympics with gold in the 10,000 meters, while Neeraj Chopra won India's first track and field gold ever with a victory in the javelin.
Hassan burst past world-record holder Letesenbet Gidey on the final turn and won in 29 minutes, 55.32 seconds.
Her victory in the 10,000 was her sixth race in eight days in Tokyo. The Ethiopian-born runner, who now competes for the Netherlands, also won gold in the 5,000 and bronze in the 1,500.
Kalkidan Gezahegne of Bahrain took silver in 29:56.18, and Gidey, having led for most of the race, faded for the bronze as she had no answer to Hassan's finish. Four runners didn't finish the race on another humid night at the Olympic Stadium.
Prior to Chopra's javelin win, India's only previous medals in Olympic track and field were two silvers won by Norman Pritchard in the 200 meters and the 200-meter hurdles at the 1900 Paris Games.
Chopra set a new benchmark in Tokyo, with his throw of 87.58 meters holding off two athletes from the Czech Republic to finish atop the podium. Chopra pointed his index finger in the air to show who finished first and draped India's flag over his shoulders to start the celebration.
"It feels unbelievable," he said. "This is our first Olympic medal for a very long time, and in athletics it is the first time we have gold, so it's a proud moment for me and my country."
Jakub Vadlejch took silver with a best mark of 86.67 meters, and former world champion Vitezslav Vesely won bronze with 85.44. Former world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany was favored to win but placed ninth after the first three attempts and was out of contention early.
A junior officer in the Indian army with the Rajputana Rifles, Chopra made his first mark on international athletics with a world junior title in 2016. Two years later, he became the first Indian athlete to win the javelin at the Asian Games and at the Commonwealth Games.
It didn't take long before the rewards started flowing in and Chopra was on the phone with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"So proud moment for India and for me because they're supporting me a lot," Chopra said. "Today they're all in front of the TV and they're supporting me, so thank you, India."
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway surged ahead as he rounded the final curve and set an Olympic record to win the 1,500 meters.
Ingebrigtsen ran behind world champion Timothy Cheruiyot for most of the race before kicking late to win the gold medal in 3:28.32, beating the record of 3:31.65 set by Abel Kipsang of Kenya two days earlier in the heats.
Cheruiyot, who missed initial selection for the Olympics and was a late addition because another runner was cut from Kenya's team, took silver in 3:29.01.
Josh Kerr of Britain won bronze. Kipsang placed fourth.
Mariya Lasitskene's victory in the high jump gave the Russian team its first gold of the meet. The Russians were allowed to send only 10 track and field athletes to Tokyo as part of a penalty for widespread doping.
Lasitskene, a three-time women's high jump world champion, had a winning height of 2.04 meters.
Silver medalist Nicola McDermott of Australia was leading until she missed her first attempt at 2.02. She cleared it on her next attempt for a national record but missed all three attempts at 2.04. Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine finished with bronze after clearing 2 meters.
American Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, made it over at 1.96 but could go no further and finished sixth.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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August 07, 2021 at 08:00PM
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