Our Complete Guide to Athletics at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Week 1)

Our editors go through every running event in the first week in Paris, providing you with a cheat sheet on the favorites, the contenders, fun facts you should know while watching each race, and which events are must see (and which you can probably skip).

The events we cover on the pod:

Men's 10,000m final (3:26)

Mixed 4x400m final (11:59)

Women's 100m final (16:56)

Men's 100M final (24:00)

Women's 5,000m final (33:34)

Women's 800m final (41:33)

Men's 1,500m final (48:47)

Women's 3,000m steeplechase (56:53)

Women's 200m final (1:01:39)

Men's 400m final (1:08:12)

Men's 3,000m steeplechase (1:13:06)

Men's 200m final (1:19:05)

Women's 400m hurdles final (1:25:59)

Men's 110m hurdles final (1:31:03)


Hosts: Alex Cyr, Katelyn Tocci, Michael Doyle 

Watch a full video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/Nih6qNESz44

Follow our Paris Olympic Games coverage:

10 Sprinters to Watch in Paris:
https://marathonhandbook.com/2024-paris-olympics-sprinters/

10 Middle-Distance Stars You Won't Want to Miss:
https://marathonhandbook.com/10-mid-distance-stars-olympics/

How to Watch the Track Events at the Paris Olympics:
https://marathonhandbook.com/how-to-watch-athletics-at-the-2024-olympic-games/

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Transcript

Michael Doyle (00:03.5)
All right. I'm joined by our representative from team USA slash team Costa Rica, Katelyn Tocci and my teammate from team Canada wave the maple leaf Alex here. All right, guys, we've got a huge, huge podcast today. a lot to cover. Basically the plan here is here is this, we're going to create a cheat sheet.

Katelyn Tocci (00:07.889)
you

Michael Doyle (00:33.656)
for you the listener or watcher if you're watching on YouTube. And Spotify, we're doing Spotify video now too guys, do you know that?

Katelyn Tocci (00:40.475)
Yeah, did not know

Alex Cyr (00:41.871)
Did not. But, but full disclosure, I'm an Apple music guy, so I would not know

Michael Doyle (00:46.861)
There you go. So we're to do a big cheat sheet of the Olympics. We're going to cover every single pure running event on the track, over this, the course of this pod for the next week. So from Friday, when it start, when things start in earnest with the men's 10 ,000 meter final, all the way through to next Thursday, including all the events next Thursday. And then for next Thursday mornings pod that will drop on Thursday morning at five five Eastern time.

We'll cover the final events for those coming days. So we'll do mainly the two marathons we'll talk about, but we'll talk about the events that happen on Friday and Saturday as well. It's a pretty busy end of the Olympic session. It feels like a million years from now, especially considering the 14 events that we are going to go through today. So if you're a casual, if you're sort of

air dropping in on the Olympics and you're interested in the track events or they're playing in the background, consider this pod your way in on this so that you've got a little bit of knowledge and some context for some of these races. So we're going to go through this chronologically. We've got, as I said before, we've got 14 events. going to do start with the men's 10 ,000 meters, which kicks off the track session on Friday

3 20 I think in the afternoon Eastern time will stick with Eastern time as our time and we're going to do the following. We're going to talk about the daytime of the final. The world and Olympic records so you understand what the world records are and whether or not they're going to be broken or we think they're going to be broken. The current world champion, the 2021 Olympic champ, who the favorite is going into the Paris race.

who the contenders are, if there's any interesting head to head matchups from the past that we can talk about a little bit. big question is this event worth watching? Should you be putting this on your calendar in your phone? So you get an alert to tell you to live stream it or get in front of a TV. Will the world or Olympic records be broken? And of course we will provide our picks so you can look really smart when you're like, this

Michael Doyle (03:10.188)
this person's going to win and then they do and you're like, thank you, marathon handbook. that's right. That's right. Yeah. all right guys, so let's just jump right into it. We got 14 events. go with event. Number one, the men's 10 ,000 meters, which is on Friday at 3 20 PM Eastern time. So that's nine 20 PM in Paris. So it's a, it's, it's under the lights.

Katelyn Tocci (03:13.484)
if our pics are correct.

Michael Doyle (03:38.462)
in the Olympic stadium in Paris. It's always an extraordinary event. It's a straight final. They don't make the distance runners do a preliminary or a semi, is, I think, the only way to go. Yeah. Can you imagine? And okay. So we've got the world record holder, Joshua Chepdiguy of Uganda. He'll be running in this event. We'll be talking, I'm sure a little bit about him in a couple seconds

Katelyn Tocci (03:54.961)
haha

Alex Cyr (03:55.599)
Yeah, thank God.

Michael Doyle (04:08.588)
His world record is 26 11 flat. It's from 2020 from, the pandemic era. And he's also the current world champ, from Budapest last year and Solomon Borrega of Ethiopia is the reigning Olympic champion. And he is also going to be in this race as well. So first question, who's the favorite here guys? This is, this is.

We're starting with a tough one. This is probably, I think, one of the toughest ones to pick.

Katelyn Tocci (04:41.766)
Just because there's no one obvious. I think that this is, yeah, Alex, go for

Alex Cyr (04:48.952)
Well, no one obvious. mean, I feel like you would have asked me this two years ago and it would have been Chepta guys race to lose. But now you almost can't call him the favorite because he's going to be contending against Ethiopia's top three runners. And Ethiopia could have picked from a range of men. They have the six fastest times in the world this year. Like, think about that. OK, there I think their top two guys are probably Yomifke Jelcha and Hagos

They're very competitive with each other So I don't know if it's gonna be much of a like these two guys are working together to beat Chep to guy Scenario as much as like they're gonna take it out in the front and then try to kill each other in the last lap But either way, I think that's really hard for the Ugandan, right? So I who's who's supposed to win? No one has a 26 11 like Chep to guy does I don't think but also I'm not sure if Chep to guy has that himself So I'm not I'm not sure

Michael, you're bullish on Grant Fisher and I know this.

Michael Doyle (05:49.611)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we've watched them grow up. So Grant Fisher, American distance runner, 5 ,000, 10 ,000 meter guy, Bowerman track club guy trains with Mo Ahmed of Canada, who is also in this race. And he's just had a really good year. He's had a really good year. I mean, I'll just jump ahead here, but he's my dark horse pick. You know, if you're not going to pick from any of

Katelyn Tocci (05:53.707)
Hahaha.

Michael Doyle (06:17.737)
the pure contenders, if you're not going to go with, an Ethiopian, or a Ugandan, because Uganda sort of got this like powerhouse duo with, with, Chepta guy and Jacob, Kip Limo, who is, mean, you could pick him as the winner is the favorite. I have it down as a toss up. I have no idea who the favorite is here. If you were to go back just a few short years, it's a very different story. And now it just kind of feels

I mean, I jotted down six, contenders here, including Mohamed, Grant Fisher, Jacob, Jacob, Keplimo, Borega. mean, the Ethiopian guys are all contenders. It's just like, I don't know who's going to win. I just don't know. And I think that that is the reason why this is a definite must watch race, especially if you're a fan of the longer distance stuff. If you're listening to this podcast, obviously you're interested in long distance running.

This one will be very exciting. It's probably gonna be like a hot sweaty night in Paris under the lights and they're all gonna be Checking each other and it's gonna come down to probably the last 800 meters someone will start pushing in the penultimate lap and it will get very very exciting and I like you said Alex, I don't think Chep de Guy is a runaway favorite this time around even though he's got the hottest overall time that's four years ago,

Who knows? So what do you guys think? Do you think that this event's worth watching?

Katelyn Tocci (07:47.779)
Of it's gonna be a close one. But I'm going, can I make my prediction or not yet?

Michael Doyle (07:53.916)
Make your fire away, Katelyn.

Katelyn Tocci (07:55.473)
No, no, no, actually, no, I do have some predictions for our podcast today that I think I'm to go against what you guys are going to predict. I think, yeah, I think I have some, I'm going for some underdogs, but in this one I'm not. I'm going to go with the Rating Olympic champ because I just feel like, I don't know, I feel like that's the way to go. But that's just my, that's just, I don't know, it's going to be too close to tell. Yeah, tell them, Riega.

Alex Cyr (07:55.513)
She's supposed to drop a bomb on us? What is this?

Michael Doyle (08:07.41)
Michael Doyle (08:24.426)
He's really good. I mean, if you, if you watch enough like diamond league and, and, and he had nerd out on the track and you watch enough YouTube videos, you're just, he is a very compelling figure. He's a great championship racer. if you remember from 2021, like he, he, he really executed the 10 ,000 quite elegantly. what do you, what do you think? Who's your pick? Alex.

Alex Cyr (08:51.287)
I I struggle to go against Kijelce. Berega is an excellent tactician. Kijelce is a powerhouse. Now, this is going to be a bad comparison because this guy got busted for doping a few years ago and I fully recognize this, okay? Asbel Kiprop in the 1500 was known to be a terrible tactician. Every now and then would throw a race because he was

Katelyn Tocci (09:06.946)
Okay, all

Michael Doyle (09:07.593)
Okay.

Alex Cyr (09:19.979)
too far out the back, overestimated his abilities, even on the Jews, but he was a powerhouse. And when he was on, no one could catch him. Now, my comparison from Kijelča to Kiprop has nothing to do with doping. It's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is Kijelča is a powerhouse, and if he's on, no one can get him. I don't think... You could say that about Čeptigaj, because obviously he's run faster than everybody else, but we haven't seen that consistently over the last couple of years like we've seen it with Kijelča.

Katelyn Tocci (09:34.325)
You

Alex Cyr (09:50.441)
My bet is on him. As a Canadian, I would love to see Mohamed mix it up. I'm not sure if he has the gas and the extra gears. It's a very tough race, which brings me back to, yes, watch the thing. Your network might bring you to commercial a couple times, which I will be super annoyed about. But even if you're not like a diehard distance runner, please be there for the last five laps. It's going to be

Katelyn Tocci (10:14.871)
Awesome.

Michael Doyle (10:17.609)
Yeah, I hope there's like a, I hope there's like a world feed you can stream on your phone that doesn't cut away from the events that you can select the event and just watch that event locked. because you know, I think that although, although network producers assume that a 10 ,000 meters is like, you know, it's 20, however many minutes it's quote unquote boring to watch it all and nothing happens in the first, you

8k or whatever, but I think it's worth watching just to kind of just to ramp up that excitement and And a second screen it you can like, you know have your phone and you scroll in and checking out what people are saying as well at the same time we'll do like we're gonna do a live blog for a lot of these events, so we'll do a live blog certainly for this event and Provide a little bit of color commentary and context. I don't think the world record is gonna get broken even though there's some top dogs

peak of their powers. don't think the world record's gonna get broken. Any of you think the world know?

Katelyn Tocci (11:12.898)
Yeah. I think you're too far.

Alex Cyr (11:17.335)
Yeah, it's too strong. People have complained about Paris being hot, even though the race is at night. I don't know. It will take a massive effort to go 26 .11. That's an insane time. Do the math. It's like something around 235 per kilometer. Yeah, it's an insane. It used to be a Bikili record that got broken, so it's not just a

Katelyn Tocci (11:21.24)
Mm -hmm.

Michael Doyle (11:40.713)
I should say one thing you should note if you're watching this event is the Olympic record. Speaking of Piquet, the Olympic record is 2701 and 17 milliseconds by Kenneisa Piquet from way back in 2008. Maybe that might go down. All right, let's move to Saturday. So Saturday, 2 .55 PM Eastern time. First final event is the mixed four by 400 meter relays. Relatively new event.

that was first contested in the Olympics, just this last Olympics in, in 2021 in Tokyo. So it's got a, maybe a bit of a soft world record at three eight. So think about that. It's about a mile and it's three, three minutes and eight seconds. That's pretty impressive. U S is pretty dominant. This, they have the world record. they are also the current world champion. The interestingly enough, the world champ from 2021

Katelyn Tocci (12:25.635)
I'm

Michael Doyle (12:40.392)
Poland. And I don't know if you guys disagree with me, but I think the favorite going in is the United States. Yeah. And the contenders would be this kind of, this one is a real grab bag. The contenders I'd say are Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands. So it's kind of a toss up with, if you take into consideration the United States, maybe they have a bad

Katelyn Tocci (12:46.157)
Yep. I agree.

Michael Doyle (13:09.992)
You've got a bit of a, you've got a lot of intrigue in terms of different countries in there and not your traditional shorter distance countries either. So this event was only introduced into world competitions at the 2019 world championships in Doha. And as I said before, the U S is a dominant force in this one. You guys think this is worth watching.

Alex Cyr (13:36.703)
I think it would be cooler if teams could choose their own order. So it's like, if they go, you know, both men first and both women or woman, man, woman, man. I don't think that's how it works at this point, right? You have your dedicated gender slots inside of this race. I think it would add some strategy, but I'll watch it because I watch everything. But also, I think the fact that these teams and no shade to Ireland and the like, but the fact that these teams are the favorites.

Katelyn Tocci (13:48.403)
dedicated gender slots inside of this race. think it would add some strategy. But I'll watch it because I watch everything.

Katelyn Tocci (14:05.904)
that some countries have probably been strategic and have left their top runners male and female outside of this race in favor of other relays. And so not that it defeats the purpose of the Olympics, but I do think that most people see this as a second -rate Olympic event. there is such a thing, I'll watch. I think it'll be cool.

Alex Cyr (14:06.877)
suggests that some countries have probably been strategic and have left their top runners, male and female, outside of this race in favor of other relays. And so, not that it defeats the purpose of the Olympics, but I do think that most people see this as a second -rate Olympic event if there is such a thing. I'll watch. I think it'll be cool. I applaud, you know,

Katelyn Tocci (14:27.648)
community for trying out different things. It's always good, conversations.

Alex Cyr (14:28.403)
the athletics community for trying out different things. It's always the conversation is how can we keep the traditional, but also how can we introduce new things. That part is neat, but it doesn't hit like the women's four by four or the men's four by four to

Katelyn Tocci (14:44.139)
And when will we know exactly who's running?

Michael Doyle (14:49.363)
I think start lists are announced like the day before or the morning of local time in Paris. So we don't have a start list for any of these events right now. Certainly don't have the heats allocated. This one will be a heat semi -final final, if I'm not mistaken. So you're going to see a preamble of races in advance of it. We're only talking about when the finals are.

We're giving, we're, giving you just like the, the bottom line. Should you watch the final or not? do you, I have the U S as the, as, as the pick is the obvious pick. Are we all in agreement on this

Katelyn Tocci (15:30.475)
I'm in agreement. don't know about Alex. I know. at it.

Michael Doyle (15:33.792)
Is Alex gonna zag Poland?

Alex Cyr (15:34.58)
Katelyn, miss, my picks are not like your picks. No, yeah. I think I'm pretty bullish on Great Britain when it comes to speed endurance this year. They have an excellent squad of 800 meter women. I don't know if any of them will dip down and run this 400.

Michael Doyle (15:39.331)
the Republic of Ireland.

Michael Doyle (15:51.181)
Hmm.

Alex Cyr (15:58.58)
And then on the men's side, have Matthew Hudson Smith, who again, is he racing this one? I don't know, but he's a 43 .7 400 meter runner, he's top in the world. If he makes the team, if he chooses to run on this team, they'll be tough to beat. So I don't want to count on Great Britain. And they're obviously going to want to shake things up and win a couple of medals in France.

Michael Doyle (16:22.21)
And I think world record watch. Yeah. think that the, this, the world records up for grabs here, depending on which team a country like the United States puts together. Okay. The truth of the matter is with this event, that's like a little, like it's a, an aperitif and a moose bush, if you will, if we stay with the little, yes. Well, they are in Paris after all, and bae bae we,

Alex Cyr (16:42.441)
wow, he took French lessons for these Olympics.

Katelyn Tocci (16:43.414)
Yep. He wants to impress you too, Alex.

Alex Cyr (16:47.235)
Mm -hmm.

Michael Doyle (16:52.614)
This is that event is a preamble for one of the big showdowns of the Olympics. The women's 100 meter final, takes place on Saturday at 3 20 PM Eastern time. again, under the, under the floodlights in the Olympic stadium in Paris, the world record 10 49 by flow Joe back in 88 at the Olympics. We talked about that in the last podcast.

Katelyn Tocci (17:21.451)
I'm so excited for this one, right?

Michael Doyle (17:22.085)
the Olympic record is

The Olympic records 1061 by Elaine Thompson -Hurrah from the last Olympics in Tokyo. Notably, she's Jamaican, of course, and she did not, she had some injury issues. She did not qualify for these games. She will not be there to defend her Olympic title. The current world champ, Sha 'Carri Richardson of the United States who ran 1065 to win the championship last year.

And the 21, as I said before, the 21 Olympic champ was Thompson Harrah. Who's not competing guys. Who's the favorite.

Katelyn Tocci (18:02.623)
to Kerry Richardson,

Yeah, absolutely. don't feel as though she's going to break any world records. I just feel like she's still a little too far off. I don't know what you guys think about that. I just feel like it's a little too steep, the difference between the two. But I definitely feel like she's going to take it. If all goes well, I think she's going to

Michael Doyle (18:07.832)
Yeah, it's her race to lose.

Alex Cyr (18:30.513)
Yeah, I think we're still in the middle of this Sha 'Carri Richardson upwards trajectory, upwards arc. She's young. She gets better by the year. We mentioned this in a previous podcast, but she's hungry to gain Olympic glory after losing out on a position because she failed a drug test for cannabis three years ago, which was ridiculous. You know she's coming in and she wants it. I agree, Katelyn.

Katelyn Tocci (18:40.748)
podcast but she's hungry to gain Olympic

Alex Cyr (18:57.756)
beating a Flojo record is not to be taken lightly. Maybe this is a Shaqiri project for two, three, four years time if she keeps improving this way. This time it would be a huge bite. I mean, I could go and pick someone off the map. I could pick Shelley Anne Fraser Price for the win, but I think that would just be a losing bet. I'm really bullish on Shaqiri here.

Katelyn Tocci (19:03.412)
Mm

Michael Doyle (19:20.28)
We should mention the contenders. this is a stacked, the old stacked field. We'll use the cliche. I'm going to roll out the stacked cliche, but that's what this is. You got, you got Shakira Jackson from Jamaica, Shelley and Frazier price also Jamaican, you know, one of the goats and, can you have multiple goats? I guess you can. Mary Jose Talu Smith.

Katelyn Tocci (19:23.242)
Totally.

Yeah.

Michael Doyle (19:47.124)
of Cote d 'Ivoire, T .T. Terry, who's Jackson's teammate and pal from the U .S. I would anticipate all of them finding their way to the final because you're going to get heats, you're going to get semis, and you're going to get a final in very short order on Saturday for this. So head -to -head results worth noting. Yeah, there are a lot of them. There's a real history between Fraser Price

And Jackson, of course, as we saw, if you've watched the Netflix docuseries sprint, they go into that in some detail. There's like a little bit of a rivalry going on in Jamaica between these athletes. I don't know if they, probably respect each other, but do they, do they, do they lunch together in the off season? Probably not. Yeah. And so you got all kinds of opportunities to watch head to head races between these, this group of contenders over the last few years.

Katelyn Tocci (20:35.23)
Probably not. I doubt

Alex Cyr (20:36.847)
doubt

Michael Doyle (20:46.271)
And I agree with you, Alex. think that Richardson is ascending right now. She's got the hottest time, Olympic qualifying time going in. So she's the top ranked athlete as well. I think she's the clear favorite and I think she will win. Does anyone disagree?

Katelyn Tocci (21:01.99)
I also have silver, no, I have silver and bronze though too. Should I go there?

Michael Doyle (21:07.809)
Yeah, you give us your podium. I love

Katelyn Tocci (21:08.618)
The podium is yeah, no, I've got it. I've got I've got the podium for a bunch of them Richardson I think we're gonna see Shakira Jackson in second and I'm going with Julian Alfred for bronze

Michael Doyle (21:21.634)
yes. Speaking of dark horse picks, she's my dark horse pick, Julian Alfred. Yep. 10, 10 78 seasons best coming in. She's just, as we said in last week's pod, she's just in the Netflix docu series. She was like that other athlete that came in second right behind the person that they're focusing on. It's like, who's she? And I got, don't worry about her. Let's focus on the American. Yeah. So,

Katelyn Tocci (21:25.831)
she is.

Katelyn Tocci (21:37.329)
Right, right there.

Yep.

Alex Cyr (21:47.29)
Yeah. Well, she's one of those athletes to succumb to this decades -long Jamaica -U .S. rivalry, taking center stage and all of the stage, really. And if you have a sprinter coming from somewhere else, maybe they don't get the limelight. I have a dark horse. It would be crazy if she won, but I still want to throw some love her way because she's been around for a long time. She's a steady performer and she has yet to win an Olympic medal.

Katelyn Tocci (22:11.263)
No.

Alex Cyr (22:17.297)
Marie -Josée Talu from Cote d 'Ivoire has been a, I think, 12 -time African Championships medalist. She won world silver in London in the 100, world bronze in Doha in 2019 in the 100. She is as consistent as they come. She accomplished pretty much everything a sprinter wants out of their career except getting an Olympic medal. So I'm wishing it for

Katelyn Tocci (22:18.865)
Okay.

Alex Cyr (22:47.152)
I think she's at this point quite a bit more senior than most of the athletes in the field. She's very respected on the circuit. And so I'd love to see her as a dark horse, maybe climbing on the podium.

Michael Doyle (22:59.285)
So I don't think world records are going to get broken. can disagree. think it's, it's low. Now it's, and, an, the Olympic record though is within reach for these athletes, especially if they got a hot track and it's fast. If it's like a, if it's a hot, sweaty night in Paris on Saturday night. And if this track is indeed as fast as they claim it to be, there's like a new purple Mondo surface. That's apparently a little

Katelyn Tocci (23:00.475)
No.

No, no, no, it's too much.

Alex Cyr (23:04.27)
No, Flojo record.

Michael Doyle (23:29.068)
quicker than previous surfaces for the Olympics. Maybe we get an Olympic record, which would be cool. Is this event worth watching? I feel like this is the stupidest question I've asked anybody in a long time. Yeah, hell yeah. This is

Katelyn Tocci (23:45.673)
Put it on your calendar immediately. Immediately. Yeah. Alarms.

Michael Doyle (23:50.07)
This is in my phone. I'm getting like three notifications. Yeah. Do not miss this. Yeah, it's okay. So let's move on to Sunday, Sunday, August 4th.

Alex Cyr (24:02.645)
one event.

Michael Doyle (24:04.097)
just want just clear. Yeah. Clearing out the day for one final, which is the men's hundred meter final 350 p Eastern Time. So it's even a little later. 950 p Eastern Time in. I'm sorry. 950 p Paris time locally. The world record is held by one Usain Bolt from 2009. 9

Katelyn Tocci (24:04.356)
The event. Yep.

Michael Doyle (24:33.758)
Eight. That's fast.

Katelyn Tocci (24:35.298)
No, and another one that is not happening.

Alex Cyr (24:35.917)
Yeah, it's not going away. That's not going away.

Michael Doyle (24:40.257)
Olympic record 963 from Bolton 2012. Current world champ, Noah Lyles. He ran 983 last year in Budapest to surprise some by becoming a hundred meter champion, more of a pure 200 meter guy. I would say 20, 2021 Olympic champ. Marcel Jacobs of Italy. won it 980.

Katelyn Tocci (24:43.973)
I don't think so.

Michael Doyle (25:06.561)
Silver went to Fred Curly of the US 94 and bronze went to our boy Alex under the grass of Canada. Nine eight nine. So who's the favorite going

Alex Cyr (25:12.996)
Yes.

Michael Doyle (25:21.781)
This is a bit of a question mark.

Alex Cyr (25:23.535)
Timewise? You want to talk times? Let's talk times. You're going with the time. Katelyn, I'm waiting for your wild dark horses.

Katelyn Tocci (25:26.417)
Let's talk times because I'm going with the times.

Michael Doyle (25:27.083)
Let's talk times.

Katelyn Tocci (25:32.104)
I'm going, no, well, that's when I get to my bronze here, you're going to say, Katelyn, poor thing. No, but I, yeah, but okay. But I'm going with Jamaica. I'm going with Kishaney Thompson from Jamaica because he has the 9 .77 as a personal best. So I just, not going to put, I know Noah Lyles and there are so many big Noah Lyles supporters and I want him to do well, but I just don't think, I don't know. I just don't think, I think that Kishaney Thompson will be number one. What do you think? Is it big?

Michael Doyle (25:40.061)
Okay. Okay. All right. All

Alex Cyr (25:40.891)
good, good.

Alex Cyr (26:01.229)
Mmm, that's big. That's

Michael Doyle (26:03.105)
Okay. Right. we should say, we should say, Kishane Thompson, who, you know, maybe if you're a casual fan of track, you, maybe you watch the Netflix docu -series, you've got some familiarity with, you you know, who Noah Lyles is because he's done the rounds on, in the media in the last couple of years, but Kishane Thompson actually is the quote unquote fastest man this year, alive this year. The fastest man alive question is

Such a weird question because Usain Bolt is not dead. and, but, but he's, he's not running nine seven seven, although he would probably like to tell you that he could do it with like, it's like, me two weeks and I can do under nine eight. But so because Shane Thompson, young athlete from, from Jamaica ran the fastest, if I'm not mistaken, the fastest ever hundred to qualify for the Olympics fastest ever hundred on the national stadium

Alex Cyr (26:36.686)
but he's also not running 977.

Michael Doyle (27:01.724)
In Jamaica, set a, a, like a course or meet or track record with the nine seven seven, which is pretty crazy when you think of it, considering this is the house that Usain Bolt built, but he's perennially injured Thompson and he has a tough time being healthy all the way through the rounds, the heats and the semis in the finals for these types of championships. So that's the big question mark. And I noticed that Lyle sort of talks some smack about Thompson.

recently at a diamond league event when he was asked about Thompson, he was like, he was like, yeah, if you can stay healthy, he'll be a threat. We'll see.

Katelyn Tocci (27:31.696)
Surprising.

Katelyn Tocci (27:37.349)
And he's also lacking Olympic experience, right? So don't know if that's going to come into play or not as

Alex Cyr (27:45.262)
And I'm not quick to discard Noah Lyle. So in this documentary, Sprint, he plays down the 100 a little bit because he says, you know, the 200 is my wife, the 100 is my mistress, meaning it's the side piece. It's less important for him. But then he goes on about wanting that triple goal. And for the triple sprinting gold, newsflash, you need the 100.

Katelyn Tocci (27:59.494)
He does say that.

Michael Doyle (28:00.266)
this.

Alex Cyr (28:13.39)
He's all in on this. I think Thompson's going to need a 977 to beat Lyles. Lyles just won 981 in London a couple weeks ago. That's a personal best, lifetime best. He's getting better towards the Olympics. For sure, he's going to peak well. I think you do need a sub -980 to win this. So I wouldn't be so sure that Thompson's going to run away with it. I would actually pick Lyles.

Katelyn Tocci (28:37.826)
Okay. Okay. See, there we go. Michael.

Michael Doyle (28:43.167)
I deep down the rabbit hole watching Thompson like training videos and like TikTok videos of Thompson starts and he's like a great starter and a great finisher. He's like, he's basically a complete package. He's like just incredibly talented.

I'll just quickly go through the contenders here because we haven't done that yet. we got Thompson, I'd say is the favorite. Lyles, Sabine of South Africa is just sort of always in it. Seville of Jamaica, he's a 982 guy going in. Our boy Kenny Bednarek of the US cannot be discounted. Fred Curly of the US.

And Ferdinand Amanyala of Kenya as well is also someone who's garnered quite a bit of experience recently. those are your contenders. Lots of head head stuff between those contenders that I just listed. Not so much with Thompson, which is kind of worrying.

I this is tougher than I think the NBC commentators will let you believe when you're watching the lead up of this race. I would say, I think Noah Lyles wins.

think he wins. Because if he doesn't win, man, it just throws some cold water on a narrative for the Olympic Games, right? Because that's one of, I'd say one of the five or six key narratives of Paris is the Noah Lyles story, I would say, especially on the track. So I'm to go Lyles for the win.

Katelyn Tocci (30:24.707)
Yeah, it's true.

Michael Doyle (30:32.787)
My dark horse pick is Kenny or Ominyala of Kenya, who is kind of always there. And as we saw in Tokyo, when Marcel Jacobs upset the field, sometimes in these big events, you get a weird finish. someone, say Lyles gets a bad start and can't close a gap because he's not an amazing starter, but a great finisher because he's got speed endurance.

You know, the other Americans maybe don't, maybe one of the other top Americans doesn't make it to the, to the final. You could get somebody like Oman, Oman Yala sort of sneak in for the win. That would be

Alex Cyr (31:16.556)
Mm Yeah. That's my dark horse pick to it. If you haven't heard of Oman Yala, think of it this way. Oman Yala is a bigger name in the sprinting world now than Jacobs was in the sprinting world in 2021 before winning Olympic gold. So crazier things have happened.

Katelyn Tocci (31:31.788)
And that's who I want for bronze, Marcel Jacobs. I know, I know, I know I want another upset because I don't like, I don't like how everyone is just making excuses for him and telling him that he's doing such a terrible job. He's always injured. He's making excuses. I don't... Yes, I did. Yes, I did. But he just had a great raise. He just had a great raise. But... Okay.

Michael Doyle (31:38.268)
What?

Michael Doyle (31:50.056)
Did you watch Sprint? Did you watch Sprint? His Marcel Jacobs, his brain is broken. He's not gonna win. It's like,

Katelyn Tocci (32:00.471)
No, I don't think he's going to win. I just want to see him get in there. I don't think he's going to win either. You don't think he's going to make the finals. You don't think he's even going to make the finals. OK.

Michael Doyle (32:04.144)
No, sorry. I don't think he's going to make. I don't think he's making the. I don't think he's going to make the finals. No, no, no shit. Katelyn saying he's going to get bronze. I don't think I don't think he's going to

Alex Cyr (32:07.303)
If he won...

Alex Cyr (32:16.891)
If he won, imagine, imagine.

Michael Doyle (32:19.057)
back to back.

Katelyn Tocci (32:19.182)
Could you imagine? you? That would suck.

Michael Doyle (32:22.557)
That would that would suck. It would, because it would be like the least legitimate dine dynastic career, you know, because you'd have to be like, well, he's like a dynastic sprinter because he won back to back Olympic gold medals and did shit all in between. You know, like that would be a very.

Alex Cyr (32:43.017)
Yeah, pops out of the Dolomites twice in his life and wins and goes back

Michael Doyle (32:48.669)
like our friend in the 1500 meters McClouffe.

Alex Cyr (32:52.405)
Taufik McClouffe, remember him? -hmm.

Michael Doyle (32:54.493)
Yeah, anyway, we'll leave it at that. World record will definitely not get broken. Maybe we'll see sub 970, which would be pretty spectacular, which kind of like edges, edges sprinting men sprinting closer to that fever pitch apex that it was at a decade ago, but still a million miles away. I'd love to see, I'd love to see a photo of

Katelyn Tocci (33:14.99)
So far away.

Michael Doyle (33:20.669)
Usain Bolt's crossing the line and where everyone else has been since that world record in a stagger. That'd be an interesting photograph, an interesting composite to look at. Okay, so let's move on to Monday. Monday, August 5th, first final, 310 p Eastern Time, the Women's 5000 Meters. So the Women's 5000 Meters is going to get a semi...

and then a final. don't make them run three times 5 ,000, but they do make them run twice. The world record right now is a cool 14 minutes and 21 milliseconds by Goudaf Sige of Ethiopia. She ran that last year. She's in the race. The Olympic record is 1426 by Vivian Chariot back in 2016.

Which is also a very respectable time, but you will note the 26 second difference and which is like a Almost half a lap a difference. It's like a hundred and ninety meter difference probably current world champ Faith Kipyagon, she ran 1453 in Budapest Followed by Sifan Hassan who got the silver in Budapest who is also running this

It was announced today. So we're recording this on Wednesday. It was announced today that Sifan Hassan, who is one of the great intrigues of this Olympic Games, who was assigned up for all four middle to distance events, 1500, 5000, 10 ,000 and the marathon. Guys, she's going to give her she's going to make it easy on herself this time. She's doing the 5000, 10 ,000 in the marathon. So she's dropping the 1500. To drop the 1500.

Katelyn Tocci (35:00.866)
She did drop the 1500. I had a hunch. Yeah, okay.

Alex Cyr (35:06.462)
But I heard you picked up archery.

Katelyn Tocci (35:06.85)
She's going to do four events no matter what. She's going to move over into something

Michael Doyle (35:08.219)
Yeah

Alex Cyr (35:12.936)
No matter what.

Michael Doyle (35:14.459)
They should do like a medieval biathlon where it's like you run, you run a 5 ,000 and you have to like shoot a bunch of arrows in

Alex Cyr (35:22.416)
There is something like that that exists. I'm going to butcher the details. It's the modern pentathlon where there's running, swimming, horse riding, shooting, and something else involved.

Michael Doyle (35:28.709)
Yeah, that's the one with the laser.

Katelyn Tocci (35:29.535)
Shooting.

Michael Doyle (35:34.809)
Yeah, you have to like get on the horse, feed it a carrot, ride to a pool, swim back and forth, then you pull a laser gun out of your holster and fire off a few rounds. It's a laser gun, is cool.

Alex Cyr (35:50.377)
If you want to become good at a really niche thing, look this

Michael Doyle (35:54.683)
Okay, bronze from the World Championships last year was Beatrice Chibet. 2021 Olympic champ, Sifana Sun. Helena Berry was second. She's running the marathon this time around. And bronze was Sige. So the favorite. This is a tough one. This is a tough favorite to pick. What do you guys have as the favorite?

Katelyn Tocci (36:17.1)
Mm -hmm.

Alex Cyr (36:23.411)
Katelyn.

Katelyn Tocci (36:23.443)
I had, I feel like it's the obvious choice. I had Seagate for the gold. I did have her up there, the world record. And yeah, what about you, Alex?

Alex Cyr (36:34.021)
It's tough to not go with Segue. What's happening with a lot of these distance events, and I know what my bias is. I look at time. Time says a lot to me because even though the race isn't run as quickly as at the Olympics, it's an incredible proof of fitness. And in the last few years, call it new training, call it the shoes, call it I don't know what, some people in the mid -distance and distance events have popped off incredible times that I struggle to overlook.

Katelyn Tocci (36:35.06)
Yeah.

Alex Cyr (37:01.96)
and that 14 flat by Segue is one of them. However, I'm not picking her. She's the best 5 ,000 meter runner in the field, but the 5 ,000 meters is rarely run like a 5 ,000 meters. It's more so run like a 1 ,500 meters.

Katelyn Tocci (37:05.654)
Okay.

Michael Doyle (37:18.523)
Yeah, good one, Alex. is, this is good. This is, this is good for the listener. It's like a little bit of insight here. You know, this, these championship 5 ,000 meters are very, are run very differently than if you watched a diamond league track meet, like a paced track race in the 5 ,000 where it's all about speed and sort of like nailing that like bleeding edge pace for 5 ,000 meters. This is going to be like slow and kind of

And then it's going to be a basically like an 800 in the last 800

Alex Cyr (37:51.912)
Yeah, because it's not about time. Those other races, it's about time because athletes want to qualify for this race. Now we're at this race, it's about the win. So I'm bullish on Faith Kipjagen, who's the best 1500 meter runner in this 5k field. She's set the world record. She has a 349, 1500, probably the best all out speed in the field. If she is still in the running with one, two, three laps to go, I struggle to bet against her. Of course,

Tsegay is strong and Hassan will be fresh for this one race. And so these are two great contenders. I can see it come down to the top three, but I'm not sure if any of them can out -sprint Kip Yeagin. So that's my pick.

Katelyn Tocci (38:25.983)
Right.

Katelyn Tocci (38:29.473)
see it come down to the top three, but I'm not

Okay, for the closer then because she's a great closer. You think that's why she'll take the gold. Okay, got it.

Alex Cyr (38:40.294)
I think so. And I think if Tsegay wants to shake her, she'll have to go out really, really quickly. And if Tsegay does that and goes out quickly, maybe it's a duel between her and Hassan, but I have a feeling that's not what's going to happen. It's going to be tactical.

Michael Doyle (38:54.65)
Yeah, I think the only way for Segue to win this would be to do what her country woman in Rio in the 10 ,000 meters, Elma Zenyana, if you remember that race. She went out so frigging hard and gapped the field immediately. I believe she ran a world record in that race, which is very rare for a distance track event in the Olympics.

And just challenged anyone to go on this like suicide pace that she went on and no one did. And she won by like a landslide. She lacked a bunch of the athletes in the final, which is crazy. I don't think that's going to happen in a 5 ,000 meter, it probably, I wonder if it's entering Segei's mind as she's contemplating her strategy for this race. we should also never not count out Beatrice Chabette of Kenya, who has sort of like been

Katelyn Tocci (39:29.108)
Wow, that is crazy.

Michael Doyle (39:50.647)
I hate this term, but like, again, let's roll out a track cliche or a sports cliche. She's been the bridesmaid in many of these, in many of these, championships and Olympics in the last few years. She's always in that one, two, three mix and a tough, gritty runner. So she should be a contender, contender you should consider maybe a dark horse pick for you. And, I mean, in terms of head to head results,

All these athletes that we just listed have raced each other a whole bunch of times in the last three or four years. So there's all sorts of examples of them, battling it out with varying results. I think I agree with you, Alex. think if you're going to win. And I think she's going to win for exactly the reason you just described. I think you just did us all a service by kind of like putting that, into context and another dark horse pick. should not entirely ruled out maybe for like

maybe for like a bronze, Elle St. Pierre of the United States. Yeah. She ran really well at the U S Olympic trials. really controlled that race looked like a, like she's a total pro and knows what she's doing in a championship, situation. So she's been running really well and she's somebody who, know, don't be surprised if she grabs a medal. That'd be

Katelyn Tocci (40:51.079)
Mm -hmm. Okay.

Alex Cyr (40:51.847)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Alex Cyr (41:11.175)
Yeah, and she's from that that ilk too, right? 1500 speed, good top end speed, a race that favors Kip Yeagin could also favor Saint

Michael Doyle (41:20.632)
I don't think the world record is going to get broken. but the Olympic record I think should, should go down if it's a quick race. Okay. So let's move on. We've got so many events left to go here. Women's 800 meter final. Just roll and rolls right into things right after this 5 ,000 meter final, we get the women's 800 meter final, which is another like super cool event. 3 45 PM Eastern time. world record is a one.

Katelyn Tocci (41:31.318)
haha

Michael Doyle (41:49.304)
15328 from back in 1983, widely believed to be substance aided.

Katelyn Tocci (41:59.544)
That was one of my questions I was gonna throw out there for you guys, which is for a whole other podcast Why are there so many records in the 80s that we just cannot break? but Yeah

Alex Cyr (42:00.667)
Mm -hmm.

Michael Doyle (42:09.593)
Why are all these Eastern European records from the 1980s that just seem impossible to touch, even though we have all of this science and technology to aid us in the last few years? Yeah. So the Olympic record is also a 153 from 1980 from a Soviet athlete. Question mark, question mark, exclamation mark. Current world champ, a thingmo.

Katelyn Tocci (42:34.699)
that's such a

Michael Doyle (42:37.784)
who did not qualify for this Olympic Games and would have been the clear favorite going in. It would have made this conversation we're about to have about this event a totally different conversation. She obviously, or not obviously, but she, as we've talked before, she tripped in the US trials. Final didn't make the Games. So she's out. Keely Hodgson.

Silver, Great Britain runner, thinks she's the favorite now. Raven Rogers grabbed bronze in 2021. She is not competing at these Olympic Games. I would say, does anybody disagree with me on the favorite here?

Katelyn Tocci (43:08.478)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Katelyn Tocci (43:24.059)
I do not, Alex.

Alex Cyr (43:27.749)
Hodgkinson? No, she's the favorite. She's the favorite. One, two, three, Grayne Burton possibility, but I Hodgkinson's the fittest out of all of them. I think if Mo was in the field, she might have been the one to challenge these old mythical 153 records. But don't count Hodgkinson out, I think, for those times. The 800 is a race. Yeah, I agree. I think the 800 is one of those races

people can really rip in a final because there's no real strategy in an 800. What you do is you go out just about as hard as you can and hold on till the end. And if it works out for you, it works out for you. It's the longest race in track and field devoid of strategy. And I'm open to an 800 meter runner proving me wrong. I've only run a few back in my day and obviously never at the Olympic level, but it was always just go. Balls to the wall for under two minutes. What happens happens.

Katelyn Tocci (44:23.175)
Hold on for dear life. Yeah.

Alex Cyr (44:27.331)
Yeah,

Michael Doyle (44:28.119)
Yeah, I've talked to a number of 800 meter Olympians, very high level Olympians, Melissa Bishop of Canada being one of them and, coaches as well. they have coached 800 meter specialists. and they all say the exact same thing. They're like, they're like, basically you run a really hard 400. It's going to be dependent on what others are doing in the race. If, if the field wants to slow it down. Great.

but it's usually a very fast opening four and then you just hold on for your life and throw everything you got at it and see what you got in the last when you hit that final bend with like, you know, a hundred and change meters to go and see what you got inside of you

Alex Cyr (45:13.464)
Well, because it's also the fastest event in which people are all in the same lane. So going somewhat slowly and tactically becomes a bit dangerous around the corner. So I think that also just motivates it to people just want to run near the front as much as they can. So it ends up being a fast race. So yeah, my win is Hodgkinson because she has the best flat out speed. And I think this really matters

Katelyn Tocci (45:28.945)
being a fast race. So, my win is Hodgkinson.

Michael Doyle (45:37.079)
We should also note the contenders, her fellow countrywoman, Jim Ariki and Georgia Bell are also contenders, as well as Mary Mora of Kenya, who is no joke. She's run 156. She's got, I think, the world lead going into this year, if I'm not mistaken. And I mean, there's been some head -to -head

results worth talking about, but mainly between the UK runners, and with, with Mo out of the picture, it's basically a, as you said, a UK showdown, which is really interesting. So this is this event worth watching.

I mean, yeah, I'd say so. just, think an 800 meter final men's or women's in the Olympics is exciting always. And the added intrigue of whether or not Great Britain can go one, two, three, which would be highly unusual and quite exciting. I imagine, especially for, especially for British, the British listeners out there. and who do you guys think will win?

Katelyn Tocci (46:47.505)
I'm going to stick with Hodgkinson.

Alex Cyr (46:49.301)
I have

Michael Doyle (46:51.84)
There you go. We'll go chalk here. I agree with you guys as well. Dark Horse Pick.

Alex Cyr (47:00.387)
Can Riki count as a dark horse?

Michael Doyle (47:03.638)
Kind of, I guess.

Alex Cyr (47:04.964)
It's a bit of a weak dark horse pick. just think she's been the one to hold the line against Hodgkinson in recent years. She's looked strong. She has the Olympic experience.

I think that's my yeah, I'm going Ricky with the Dark Horse. She's not meant to win and I think she'll win that that she could win. I think she could win. That's a Dark Horse

Michael Doyle (47:29.673)
Yeah, one I flagged that is a legit dark horse is the top American seated American going in, Nia Aikens, who really kind of, she didn't cap. I was going to say she capitalized on I think Moe's fall and that she, she ran a really smart race. mean, I'm sure she feels awful that, that Moe didn't make it, as a, teammate and a fellow American, but at the same time, she ran a really smart race.

Alex Cyr (47:38.413)
Mm.

Michael Doyle (47:59.285)
And I think she's got like, think like the sixth or seventh fastest time going in. She's somebody who has shown a little bit of a tactical intelligence with, with her racing this year. So she's somebody who would be like a legit dark horse to win a medal. and I don't think the world there's like not a chance in hell, the world record is going to get broken. Alex. don't think it's one 53

Like 156 or 155 will be lightning fast and two seconds back from that is a million miles away. I don't think.

Alex Cyr (48:30.337)
Mm -hmm. I'm saying they're going at least

Katelyn Tocci (48:32.668)
OK. All right. So getting closer.

Michael Doyle (48:34.473)
Wow. Yikes. Do you remember when like sub two was world class in this event? Yeah. All right. Let's move on to Tuesday, August 6th. Open your account in your calendars right now. OK, everyone. Yeah, OK.

Alex Cyr (48:42.241)
was good.

Katelyn Tocci (48:46.775)
this is a good one. Right now, stop what you're doing. Yeah, you have to watch this

Alex Cyr (48:54.679)
Take the day off work.

Michael Doyle (48:57.494)
Yeah. Afternoon off late lunch, 2 50 PM Eastern time men's 1500 meter final. I'm going to spoil whether or not this is worth watching. yeah. This is worth. This is like one of the marquee events, the Olympics. I think this is like it's must see TV. Absolutely hyped. And the reason for that we'll get into in a second. Let me just go through the checklist here. World record held by.

Katelyn Tocci (49:10.085)
Of course it's worth watching.

Michael Doyle (49:27.381)
Hakim El -Gurouj of Morocco from way back in 1998. 326 flat, easy number to remember. another easy number to remember is sub 328, I would say is an incredible performance at a world championship event. So you keep these numbers in mind. Sub 330 is solid. Olympic record, our boy Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, who

At the peak of his powers right now, and we're going to talk all about him in one second. He ran three 28 32 in Tokyo for the Olympic record and is the reigning gold medalist Olympic champ. The, current world champ from last year, a guy by the name of Josh Kerr, who represents great Britain. ran three 29 38 in order to secure the world championship.

And these guys absolutely fucking hate each other. It's amazing. And that's why this event is going to be just fire is Josh Kerr versus Jacob and Ingebrigtsen. It feels kind of like both of them have had their moment. They've raced each other this year, which is something you don't get to see very often. These sort of heavyweight style fights. They often.

Top flight athletes at the peak of their powers avoid each other. These guys are going at it They don't like each other. They talk a lot of shit about each other all the time. It kind of feels like this is

like the rematch or something like this is like again to keep that kind of boxing analogy this is like Holyfield Mike Tyson to or whatever from back in the day after one of them I don't know who's biting whose ear off here I kind of feel like Ingebrigtsen would be the ear biter but yeah yeah

Katelyn Tocci (51:21.694)
The biter. I literally feel like I'm watching pre -MMA. Like they're literally like trashing each other like an MMA meet. Like that's why it's going to be exciting.

Alex Cyr (51:24.533)
Yeah, yeah.

Michael Doyle (51:35.366)
Yeah. man. That's what they should do at these press conferences. Just have them like, like I do a weigh in and they're like nose to nose and they got their people around them, but they're all like 120 pounds soaking wet and five foot nine or whatever. Yeah. so a couple of contenders here, let's go through it. The contenders are I'd say the favorite. Okay. So the favorite, I think the favorite thing to Britain, do you guys disagree?

Katelyn Tocci (51:42.402)
Yeah. Yep.

Alex Cyr (52:04.277)
I don't disagree. I think there are two favorites. Give it to Ingebrigtsen slightly, even though Kerr has a winning record against him this year. Olympic record holder, Olympic champ, sure.

Michael Doyle (52:16.404)
So contenders would be Kerr, Alex's boy, Yared Nugus of the United States, Tim Chariot of Kenya is no joke, Brian Komen of Kenya also no joke. This is going to be a fantastic race. think any of those contenders are going to be in it at the Bell Lap. And there's all kinds of head -to -head past races

We just listed off that you can watch on YouTube to get yourself hyped up for this. I highly recommend you do that, including all sorts of clips of these guys talking shit about each other. Who's going to win?

Katelyn Tocci (52:51.002)
Alex, Alex, what? Okay, Alex, do you think that your guy, that your boy can beat them both? And then what would happen? What would the...

Alex Cyr (53:03.359)
When did did when did new goose become my boy? I mean, I like the guy, but what is why is he my boy? I don't know. You know what? I don't think new goose beats either of those guys. I think it's going to be no. It's the two of them at the end. They're chariots not touching. Chariots not touching them. Coleman's not touching them. It's going to be the two going down. I think even if only these two guys race, it would be super exciting.

Michael Doyle (53:15.498)
come

Alex Cyr (53:31.841)
because at this point they have such different narratives. got Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen is Mike Tyson, by the way. He's the reigning champ, does everything right, the golden boy. Josh Kerr hasn't run a 1 ,500 meters outdoors this year. He's done a mile, but not a 15. Earlier this year, he dabbled in half

Michael Doyle (53:56.998)
Hey, he's just working on it. He's just working on his endurance, man. He's, he's spreading his wings. Come

Katelyn Tocci (53:58.796)
Let him train.

Alex Cyr (54:05.013)
Was Mike Tyson playing floor hockey before his fights? These are two different sports.

Michael Doyle (54:09.394)
I'd love to see Mike Tyson play floor hockey.

Alex Cyr (54:12.981)
I want to hear him say slap shot. I actually, have a dark horse. Can I share my dark horse?

Katelyn Tocci (54:18.592)
Yes, I must know.

Michael Doyle (54:21.381)
yeah.

Alex Cyr (54:22.441)
Okay, because I still give the win to Ingebrigtsen and I think it's going to be between the two. My Dark Horse is new.

Alex Cyr (54:32.011)
People are pumping Cole Hawker online, the other American runner, not New Goose but Hawker. I'm not sure why, but rumors come from somewhere. I'm sure that there was something, maybe some conversations at the track that twisted into more rumors around the track, more message board

Michael Doyle (54:35.302)
yeah.

Alex Cyr (54:57.222)
And I'm sure that the source of it is maybe that Cole Hawker is really fit right now and he's gearing up for a big Olympics. That stuff happens all the time. You have your top American all year, then you get to the actual show and it's someone else who does better. Hawker is a gamer. He's only a few years removed from his university career in Oregon. He's got an amazing finish, great kick. I don't think he's on the level of the other two. But if there's little space to squeeze between Ingebrigtsen and

and they give a little bit of that inside rail, Hawker's the one to take

Katelyn Tocci (55:29.045)
Okay.

Michael Doyle (55:31.046)
And also wears a sweet onesie when he races.

Katelyn Tocci (55:36.406)
Where's a onesie? All right. Fashion statement.

Alex Cyr (55:36.596)
Looks like a wrestler. Like a featherweight.

Michael Doyle (55:38.002)
He Yeah, he wears like the one piece racing suit. He doesn't wear like half tights or shorts and a singlet. He wears like the Team USA candy striper onesie. It's awesome. Or he did at least the last. He can do a swim in the sand and then hop out and run a hard 15. My dark horse pick

Katelyn Tocci (55:50.924)
Like a triathlon suit without the pads. Yeah.

Hahaha

Michael Doyle (56:03.108)
Is your boy in a goose. That's my, that's my pick. that my pick is that like he sneaks in between like these, that something happens in this race and like Ingebrigtsen and, and Kerr actually like try to kill each other in the first three laps and the goose just kind of hangs on and then they burn each other out and he sneaks in there in the final on the rail there. But I think what's going to happen is I think you're right. think Alex, I think Ingebrigtsen and Kerr are going to come down the line.

Katelyn Tocci (56:03.52)
Yeah, I'm with you too.

Michael Doyle (56:30.898)
We're all going to be on our feet. I'm to be watching this on my phone, screaming at my phone the entire time. And it's going to be one of the marquee events, the Olympics must see TV. got to watch it. Put it, put it in your calendar for the love of God. Okay. Let's move on to a women's 3000 meter steeple chase, which takes place right afterwards at 3 10 PM.

Katelyn Tocci (56:35.362)
You

Katelyn Tocci (56:46.401)
Immediately.

Michael Doyle (57:00.178)
Okay, steeple. This is the first steeple event of the Olympics. Steeple is always super fun. There's always an element of uncertainty because you're throwing in weird barriers. People got to jump over and giant puddles of water on the track. So there's always a little bit of chaos. World record 844 .32 from back in 2018 by Beatrice Cepkowicz of Kenya.

Our current world champ is Winnie Yavi of Bahrain. She ran 8 .54 in Budapest in 2023 to become the world champ. Reigning Olympic champ, Paruth Chemutai of Uganda. She ran that 9 .01. So this race is a real, like the times in this race can vary wildly. Because it's a championship style race, it's, the time doesn't really matter as much.

And who is the favorite here? What do you guys have as the favorite? Alex, you got a favorite?

Alex Cyr (58:04.031)
I'm so confused. I think this race will define or will crown the Queen of Steeple because I think right now there's no Queen of Steeple. I want to know what's up with Cepkowicz. On paper, she's the Queen of Steeple, right? She's running 844. I remember when she ran it, everyone's jaws dropped to the ground because that time was seen as otherworldly back then and still now. But it's been six years.

Katelyn Tocci (58:28.802)
Mm

Alex Cyr (58:32.031)
She hasn't broken 856 since then. And I wonder what's up. I wonder if this was just a one -off performance, the call me maybe Carly Rae Jepsen of Jeff Koech that we never hear from her again, or if she comes back and finds that form again. If she doesn't, the is open, right? I think Yavi is hot right now. She's got a world title. think Chemutai has Olympic glory, but none of them I think have

around long and consistently enough to be crowned queen of steeple. I don't know who wins this. And I think whoever does gets into the next Olympic cycle as the one, whether that's Cepkoetj getting back to her fitness or imagine Czemuć getting two straight Olympic titles. That's very hard to do. I'd almost like to see Czemuć do it because she did it last time. I think maybe the field was not as strong as it could have been. She does it twice, proves it's no fluke.

Also, I'm a big stan, a big fan of the Uganda Championship Movement, where it's like between Kaplimo, Chepdiguy, and also now Chemutai. They're establishing themselves as one of the leading distance running countries, and giving Ethiopia and Kenya something to fight for. So I'm kind of a fan of that. I want to see Chemutai do

Michael Doyle (59:50.032)
There you go. can, if you're a casual, a casual watcher of the Olympic track events, you can slide that into conversation with somebody at the bar where you're like, you know, Uganda is really kind of pieced together an interesting distance running team in the last couple of years. you know, they've got this top steeple runner and a couple of really good five and 10 ,000 meter runners as well. yeah, I think, I think Chemitai is probably

The favorite going in, she's got the fastest time this year, fastest qualification time for the Olympics, 8 .55. And, it's sort of really coming on. As you mentioned, Alex, like, chip coach on paper should be an absolute killer, but she's just not really put it together recently. So, although I, I foolishly my notes, I'm just looking here. like, picked chip coach to win. So that's who I picked to win. I do. do you guys think?

Katelyn Tocci (01:00:43.541)
I also did, but I guess I'm wondering about teammate Jacqueline Cipkowicz. Does she stack up? She has an 857.

Michael Doyle (01:00:55.105)
Again, this is sort of like, it's a wide open field this time around. We should say Kenya historically more so on the men's than the women's but Kenya historically has dominated steeplechase. So you're always going to, to, have the potential Kenyan winner there. Why don't we take a quick break and then we'll come right back and we'll get into talking

Katelyn Tocci (01:00:57.269)
Mm -hmm.

Michael Doyle (01:01:22.895)
talking about one of the other marquee events, the other games, which is the women's 200 meter final.

Michael Doyle (00:06.011)
All right, and we're back and let's jump into another hot one. Caitlin, I know you're psyched about this, this event. This is Tuesday afternoon, Eastern time 340. So that's 940 local time in Paris. One of the other marquee events of this track meet at the Olympics, the women's 200 meter final. So there's going to be, it's going to be heats, semi -finals, and then the final is the one we're talking about here.

And we're assuming that all the contenders are going to make it. Let's just do a little bit of housekeeping first, the world and Olympic record. this world record was set back in 88 flow Joe ran 21 34 and that record still stands one of the longest standing records at the Olympics. Current world champ Shakira Jackson of Jamaica. She ran 21 41 last year.

That's very close to that world record. Gabby Thomas, Gabby Thomas was second place last year in the world championships. Gabby Thomas, the United States and Sha 'Carri Richardson, who did not qualify for this event was the bronze medalist in Budapest last year. The reigning Olympic champion again, Elaine Thompson, hurrah of Jamaica. She didn't make the games. She's got some injury issues. She's not here.

defend her crown. So who's the favorite? Who do we got?

Alex Cyr (02:01.064)
I think I'm opposing you. I'm going with... Is it okay? I'm going with Jackson. I'm going with Jackson. I think she's teased us over the last few years, showing us here and there what she can do, but has yet to put her best race together. And I... Okay. I think if Jackson wins, she also gives this record a massive scare. You know, we're talking about in the 100

The Flojo records are untouchable. There's Flojo, there's Bolt, there's a few of these records that you think will never be touched. hey, 0 .07 seconds, seven hundredths of a second is very little, even in a 200 meters. And so I think she's in the ballpark. And I don't think... Yeah, there's a chance. There's a chance. Everything has to fall into place. But I think the race is worth watching if nothing else for that.

Michael Doyle (02:59.354)
So I should say that the other contenders in this event, we mentioned Jackson in detail a second ago there. She's the favorite, I would say. Gabby Thomas is sort of the co -favorite, co -headliner of this event and a very well -known American sprinter who seems to be ascending right now. And then we mentioned earlier, Julian Alford. She is also, I'd say, a contender in this event.

Mackenzie Long of the United States and Dina Asher Smith of Great Britain. think those are your finalists right there. Maybe a couple of other obviously sprinkled in, but those are the names that you need to pay attention to that should be in this final, all of them. It'd be a bit of a shock if they didn't all make it. And I agree with Alex.

I think this is Sharika Jackson. think she smokes this. think she dialed in for it. And I also agree with you. I think that this, this is a vulnerable world record. Jackson last year at world championships, as we got to watch in the Netflix docu -series sprint, well, she was very close to that world record and seemed super disappointed that she didn't get it.

I think this will be on her mind and I think this is her event. This is her strongest event between the 100 and the 200. I think she gets it. think Gabby Thomas has to settle for silver. Who's your dark horse picks? Pick.

Michael Doyle (04:38.466)
about

Alex Cyr (04:48.84)
She could medal. I think the bronze medal slot is wide open. I think that's what it is. I would struggle to see either Thomas or Jackson falter. I would bet a lot of money on those two being top two. And to a lesser extent, would give third to Julian Alfred, but I think that spot's more vulnerable. so someone who wants to jump on the podium for the first time, this is a good race for it. Third is open. So maybe.

Maybe your girl Brown is on

Michael Doyle (05:20.768)
I got, well, no, no, come on, Alex. We, Caitlin's she's already put the pre -order in for the I'm with Gabby t -shirts. So that's her

Alex Cyr (05:34.122)
It's the Boston connection, is

Michael Doyle (05:39.448)
You think you're better than me?

Alex Cyr (05:42.347)
To where?

Michael Doyle (05:44.376)
you should be. If you're like a born and raised Bostonian, if you're especially if you're from like, know, like a blue collar Boston family background, like, don't you kind of hate the Harvard kids, though? They're all kind of like these out of towners, silver spoon.

Michael Doyle (06:08.896)
I love when she says Boston, she starts to slip back into it. all right. So I think, I think Mackenzie long might be my dark horse pick. ran really well at trials to get to the, get on this team and like pretty impressive performer. might sneak onto the podium. Who knows? And so, yeah, I think world record is challenged. Maybe it doesn't get broken, but it'll be close. And this is like, this is one of the must watch races of the Olympics. I'd say,

Yeah. All right. Let's move to Wednesday. So next Wednesday, August 7th, first final, the day 3 20 PM Eastern time men's 400 meter final world record is starting to get a little long in the tooth back in 2016. I remember like it was yesterday. we've been knee Kirk of South Africa ran a phenomenal time him. was quite an athlete and, still, I think at the end of his still competing by the end of his career right now.

current world champ is Antonio Wilson, or Watson rather of Jamaica and, Matthew Hudson Smith of great Britain was a silver medalist last year. And Quincy Hall of the United States was in bronze at Budapest reigning Olympic champ. Steven Gardner of Bahamas ran 4385 back in that silent stadium in Tokyo in 2021.

okay. So who's the favorite? This is a little bit of a toss up maybe, but I know Alex, you've got, you've, you're a little bit more hawkish on, on Matthew Hudson Smith,

Alex Cyr (07:51.082)
Yeah, well, I think it's one of those things of just peaking at the right time. So Hudson Smith, Great Britain, just put down his best ever 400 meters earlier this season, 43 .76, I believe. And not many people have run that quickly. And so that puts him in the realm of the defending Olympic champ who's run just about that fast, so Steven Gardner. So I expect the final to be a Brit competing against, God, a Bohemian.

Michael Doyle (08:19.658)
Bohemian?

Alex Cyr (08:20.426)
someone from the Bahamas, Bahamian.

Michael Doyle (08:22.87)
A bohemian, yes.

Alex Cyr (08:24.497)
A Brit and a Bahamian battling for gold chased by three Americans.

Alex Cyr (08:33.77)
Quincy Hall, Michael Norman, Vernon Norwood. That's the big three. Three American men who have hovered around the 44 flat barrier for years. It's a very tight, a very deep American team. The 16 -year -old Quincy Wilson, the phenom, who's run low 44 seconds, was left off this 400 -meter team, which is pretty phenomenal in terms of depth. But I think the Americans, as deep as they

won't really catch some eyeballs at the very front of the race because I think it's going to be Great Britain and Bahamas.

Michael Doyle (09:09.418)
I'd say the contenders here are, I've got a list here of Quincy Hall, Michael Norman, Vernon Norwood, as you mentioned, the three Americans and the now veteran, Karani James, who used to be kind of a, he used to be a, the young buck, the sort of up and comer. And now he's this old chiseled veteran who's actually pulled out some good performances in recent years. So he's definitely still a contender. He represents Grenada and.

Havard Ingvilsson of Norway is an up and comer as well to keep an eye out on. So yeah, my pick would be, I have it as a toss up between Gardner and Hudson Smith. You know, you can't discount that world championship or Olympic pedigree of being able to perform in that sort of most pressure filled moment and to be able to get through.

Heats semis and finals and then deliver in the final and know how to kind of like dole out that effort So I think it's a toss -up. Who do you got Caitlin?

Michael Doyle (10:19.582)
No, no, do

Alex Cyr (10:35.241)
I'd love to see him up there. to me, think a success for Karani James at this point in his career, now that he's battled some injuries over the years, would be to make the final. If Karani James makes the final, I think he makes a case for being one of the 400 -meter runners with the best longevity inside of a career. Medalist, finalist, many years in a

I'd love to see him in the final. I'd love to see him sneak out a medal, but I wouldn't bet on it. I think it's unlikely.

Michael Doyle (11:12.435)
World record. think it's, it's pretty safe. yeah.

Alex Cyr (11:16.455)
yeah, no one's touching Vannekerk. That 4303. I remember watching that performance. He was a man possessed, running.

Michael Doyle (11:26.357)
Yeah, that was, that was a really wild, cause that was at the Olympics that he threw that down, right? Yeah. Okay. Moving on 3 .40 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, the men's 3000 meter steeplechase world record. La, la, la, la, mecha, la Mecha. Gourmet apologies. Mr. Gourmet for pronouncing. Gourmet, Gourmet, Gourmet. Gourmet.

Alex Cyr (11:31.332)
in

Alex Cyr (11:53.061)
I it's Gerber. Let's hope he doesn't

Michael Doyle (11:56.949)
And if he does amazing, we'll have you on the show. he set the world record last year, seven 52 11 to Scorcher for three. So Scorcher considering you gotta like jump over a bunch of stuff and into a bunch of water. And, have, have either of you run ever, ever run a steeplechase race?

Michael Doyle (12:24.636)
I have run steeple once, yep, one time.

Michael Doyle (12:33.237)
I have no idea. Yeah, yeah. You know, I was second at the Canadian championships one. No. What's so messed up about the steeple is just how with every obstacle, every barrier you've got to clear just totally throws off your rhythm. It feels like a 5 ,000 meter.

but it's got the intensity of like a 15. It's really hard to get your rhythm going. And every time you come down from one of those barriers, you're just like, it just jars you. And that's why when you're watching this event, like, man, it's exciting when you're watching it at a championship because there's so many gear changes and so many things happen. And there's so many variables and so much potential for danger.

You got someone who falls or really poorly manages going over a barrier. It completely changes the nature of the race. Okay. So, Kermap, he's in this race. He's sort of at the peak of his powers, but the current world champ is Soufian El -Bakali of Morocco, who I would say going into this is probably the favorite because he is also the 2021 Olympic

But Gurma has been in the mix, has been the second place finisher in both of those world championship style events as well. I should mention to you guys, we said before that Kenya has been dominant. This is a cool fact. This is a neat little tidbit that our listeners can share and make themselves look really smart and dialed in. Kenya won every men's steeplechase Olympic final from 1968.

until 2021.

Michael Doyle (14:29.33)
Yeah, they were dominant at this event until Mr. L. Bekali came along in Tokyo. So I would say the contenders are Germa, L. Bekali, Koech of Kenya, and Kibiwot of Ethiopia. Those are the names to look for if you're watching this one. And I think the head -to -head results that are worth noting, of course,

the Al -Bakali and Gurma throwdowns in the past. Who do you guys think will win?

Alex Cyr (15:10.374)
I'm El Bacali guy. He's a standard, classic tall, lanky steepler who sails over the barriers like nothing. It looks like he's made to steeple and he's proven that he could win. I don't know why and maybe this is just my perception of things, but it seems like the steeple ever since I started watching track and field, which is probably somewhere around 2008, the Beijing Olympics.

Michael Doyle (15:12.294)
I love

Alex Cyr (15:40.144)
People run fast in practice. And by practice, I mean these exhibition meets and these diamond league meets. feel like practice by time you get to the Olympic games. Any Olympic games, you have a few athletes who've run incredibly quickly and then are nowhere to be seen. There's something to be said, I think, about being a gamer, especially in the steeple. Maybe it's because you have to deal with all these variables. Year after year, you have an athlete who comes in and he's

four, five, six seconds more faster than the field and they don't deliver. And if maybe Albuquerque doesn't have the fastest time in the field, like, GERMA 752 is disgusting. But I still think that when push comes to shove, Albuquerque knows how to win. He's gonna

Michael Doyle (16:23.325)
I'm going Germa. I feel like it's his time. You know, there's only so many times that you can come in silver and also be that fast. cause it's, it's not like he's just, a pure low stakes performer and has the world record. And we see that from time to time and track, right? Where someone is able to deliver when everything is very controlled and set up for them. But when the pressure is on and there's no pacing, there's no.

The race isn't catered towards you trying to go after some world record that you're able to deliver. But Germa's a guy who's got a couple of world championship style silver medals in his back pocket. And he's still quite young. So I'm going Germa. What about you, Kaylyn? You're pro Germa. Pro Germa. I'm with Germa. Dark Horse Pick, maybe Kibbewad I'd say. One of the other Kenyan guys looming around.

runs a perfect race, sneaks in there. World record, I don't think it's going to even be close to being touched. yeah, okay, let's move on to Thursday. Next Thursday, August 8th, 2 .30 PM. Where will you be to watch?

Alex Cyr (17:42.296)
Mm -hmm.

Michael Doyle (17:42.962)
The men's 200 meter finals, one of the signature events of this track and field meet at the Olympics in Paris. World record. Mr. Usain Bolt. 1919, one of the famous world records in track set back 15 years ago in 2009. Believe at the Berlin world championships. I'm not mistaken.

Olympic record also bolts 1930 back in 2008 Beijing I don't think they're getting touched current world champ. Okay, okay. Hold it. Hold it. Just let's get through this

Okay, so the current world champ is Noah Lyles of the United States. This is his big event. Worth noting that American teammate, Arian Knighton, young, super talented, 200 meter specialist, came in second place in world championships last year. 2021 Olympic champ, our boy Alex.

Andre Degrasse, sort of surprised in 2021, even though I'd say that he is a more of a 200 meter runner than he is 100 meter runner. And the favorite going into this race, I think it's pretty clearly Noah Lyles. 1947 Olympic qualifying time. So we do the math on that. That's 17 milliseconds off of

Olympic record and about a million miles off of his world record in my opinion. with the contenders being Tobogo, Bednarak, Knighton, as we mentioned before, Zarnel Hughes of the United Kingdom and the old man in the race under DeGrasse who seems fairly healthy. And this would be the event that he would be keying in on, I would imagine. What do you guys think? Who's the favorite going?

Michael Doyle (20:03.151)
Going into this one, who's going to win?

Michael Doyle (20:15.982)
That's right. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Michael Doyle (20:26.832)
It's kind of like it's win win for him with this event. If he, if he flames out in the a hundred or, you know, doesn't win the a hundred, that's firepower for this 200 for him to deliver on. Right. If he wins the a hundred meter final that, and he's got a gold medal going into this confidence will be like through the roof for him and he thrives on confidence. Right. So yeah. What do you got, Alex? You got, you got Liles. We going for the sweep here.

Alex Cyr (20:56.996)
got Lyles to the extent that I think that usually the 200 is the second show, right? It's the 100. And then, the 200 is also cool. This time around, I think on the men's side, at least the 200 is going to be more interesting than the 100 -meter final. And I think it's because a record might go down. I'm holding this. Noel Lyles' best time is 1931. The Olympic record is 1930. When Lyles ran 1931, he had yet

to run 100 meters as quickly as he has this year. I think he has the best top speed of his life right now, and all he has to do is beat his 200 personal best by 0 .01. This is a big bet to make. You won't always beat your time, especially if you're at that level like Lyle's is, but the record's within reach, and you can't say that about the 100. I think it's just as likely.

that a bold record goes down in the men's 200 as it is that a Flojo record goes down in the women's 200. And I think Laos is the one to do

Michael Doyle (22:02.607)
That's a hot take. I love it. I love when your takes are hot. That's got the burning embers to warm that take up. You've had that on the fire for a long time and I like it. And you might be

Alex Cyr (22:16.802)
I also stand to win $10 as we talked about in a previous podcast. I bet Donovan Bailey, the former world record holder in the 100 and Canadian, still Canadian 100 meter co -record holder, that Lyles would one day beat Boltz record. Bailey laughed. He said, if anyone does it, it's Lecille Tabogo of Botswana. He's also going to be there. But anyway, I want my 10 bucks.

Michael Doyle (22:20.68)
that's That's right.

Alex Cyr (22:46.281)
Lows is my guy. I do think Tobogo is a good pick to stir the pot, but I don't think he's touching Lows. Sure. Yeah. He's my Dark Wars.

Michael Doyle (22:53.999)
So here's your dark horse for this.

Michael Doyle (22:59.486)
Kenny.

feel like Kenny's got to win something at these Olympic games. But no.

Alex Cyr (23:07.681)
Eh. No comment, no comment.

Michael Doyle (23:11.152)
Now, I think my pick, my pick is, is Arian Knighton is the dark horse winner. Like I wouldn't be surprised if he won this. He is a phenomenal 200 meter runner who's got, who's like the complete package in the 200. Right. So wouldn't be surprised. He's got some international experience now. He was like the. He was the, the, the fascinating tantalizing teenage talent just a few short years ago, but he's run.

Alex Cyr (23:16.715)
Mm.

Michael Doyle (23:39.683)
couple of world championships and now, and now in Olympics. think, I think he's an interesting pick for Dark Horse. If you're looking to like, this is the first Olympics where you can really legitimately gamble on Olympic events in a big way. And most of the United States and in Canada and in parts of Europe as well, where they get, where they were gambling is legal. And I'm noticing some of the sports books, some of the apps are now carrying, they're now carrying odds for some of these track events.

And this one certainly will get odds. I bet you Knighton's probably got a pretty good betting. Like I bet you that's, that's a pretty good bet. right now. Cause Lyle's will have all the money and all the, like all the action will be on Lyle's and rightfully so he's the favorite. Okay. Last event we're going to talk about. wait a minute. No, not last event. Second to last event, the penultimate event that we're going to talk about in this week's pod for the next seven days of events in Paris.

This is a big one. Women's 400 meter hurdles, 325 PM Eastern time on Thursday afternoon next week. World record holder, Sydney McLaughlin, Laveron. Am I getting that right, Caitlin?

Michael Doyle (24:59.567)
Is it it Lovroni or is it Lovron? I don't know. Sidney McLaughlin set the world record earlier this summer. 50 .65. She is on a tear right now. Although reigning world champion is Femke Ball, who is also racing. She is from the Netherlands. She is a legit contender in this one, I would say. And

McLaughlin did not race in last year's world championships. So we did not get a head to head between the two of them in that situation. But McLaughlin does hold a nice gold medal from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. So she's got that. She knows how to win on the big stage. I think it's safe to say that McLaughlin's the favorite,

Michael Doyle (26:12.214)
I'd say the, sorry, go on, Alex.

Alex Cyr (26:13.5)
Yeah. No, I'm with Caitlin. think when one athlete comes and destroys everybody in one event, it's one thing, like the bolt effect. But when there are two that advance an event, I think it creates just so much momentum for the next generation of athletes. And the best thing that can happen, I think, for the 400 hurdles and track and field in

is for those two to go wire to wire and both break the record. I'm actually not even cheering for one of them, to be honest. I just want them to go as fast as they can. I don't have a favorite. Maybe I should pick one.

Alex Cyr (26:55.294)
Mm -hmm. Ever. Ever. Yeah.

Michael Doyle (26:55.797)
I believe so,

Michael Doyle (27:00.214)
Other contenders would be Rochelle Clayton of Jamaica and probably Anna Cockerill of the United States. As mentioned before, we've not really got to see McLaughlin and Bull race too many times in the past, but we did get a face off in Tokyo, but that's like that's three years ago. I feel like a lot has changed in that time and both have ascended quite rapidly in that time as well.

I think we got to watch out for the world record because this is a distance, the faster, shorter stuff. This is a distance that you can get a world record in an Olympic final, especially with two athletes at the peak of their powers pushing each other like this. mean, I think this is a no brainer. This is a must watch event. I think if it were just McLaughlin, it were just the McLaughlin show. Like cool, whatever. Yeah.

need to watch somebody dominate, but the fact that you've got bowl in there too makes it a really dynamic race.

Michael Doyle (28:16.257)
Dark Horse pick, is there a Dark Horse? I wrote down Clayton as a question mark maybe. if just somehow Bull and McLaughlin both have the old bad day at the office, to use another cliche. I think maybe Clayton can sneak in there, but I highly doubt that both of

Alex Cyr (28:38.759)
Yeah, there's a race for gold and then a race for bronze.

Michael Doyle (28:41.932)
Yeah. Okay. Last event we're to talk about, before we shut it down for this week, men's one 10 hurdle final, three 45 caps off a pretty decent day next Thursday on the Olympic sked. It's kind of nice that like, cause Alex and I are both Eastern time, your Costa Rica time, Caitlin.

Yeah, but not these ones. These ones are great because they're midday for us. we can kind I mean, this is our job. We can watch this stuff guilt free. But I mean, if you're listening along and you can open a tab while you're working and have that going or just have it on your phone, lots of great stuff to watch all afternoon. OK, so men's 110 hurdles.

We'll get into why it's 110 and why the women's hurdles is a hundred meters, whatever. seems so weird and stupid, but, men's 110 meter hurdles, world record by American areas merits from way back in 2012. remember this rate. I remember this, performance 1280. It's pretty, pretty quick Olympic record 2004 is 1219 current world champ.

Grant Holloway, the US of A 1296 in Budapest for the win with Hansel Parchment of Jamaica and Daniel Roberts also the United States and second and third. Reigning Olympic champ is Mr. Parchment of Jamaica who ran 1304 in Tokyo to take the gold medal with Holloway coming in silver back in the day.

I'd say the favorite is pretty clearly Grant

Michael Doyle (30:37.58)
Yeah. And 1286, a world lead to qualify for the Olympics. He's just on fire. I think he's, I think he's going to take this. What do you guys think?

Alex Cyr (30:52.121)
I have Holloway for the win. This is a great display of the old America versus Jamaica rivalry. I could see it go states, states, Jamaica, Jamaica in who knows what order. I'm excited for that. think Holloway, what he has on the others, I mean, we're talking about hundreds of seconds, but what he has is that championship experience that I think is difficult to replicate. But I think at this point, Parchment,

Freddie Crittenden, Rashid Broadbell, these up and comers and these runners up, let's call them, are so close that this pressure might lead to a really fast time. If wind permitting, we could see maybe that 1280 go down. I don't want to call that the record will go down because I can't do that for every sprinting event that doesn't involve

bolt record, this sounds ridiculous, but I think we're gonna see a fast race and I'll leave it at

Michael Doyle (31:53.194)
I mean, to, to note here, like how Holloway has the second fastest all the time, all time. He's, he was a millisecond or 10th of a second, guess off, no, a hundredth of a second off of the world record time, but that was back in 2021. Right. So he's not reproduced that recently, but he's very, very quick. He's actually very quick as a sprinter, like just on, on the flat and the flat events as they call

He's pretty quick too. And he's also got the 60 meter world record hurdle world record. So he was quick indoors as well. Interesting guy. I was reading about him earlier this morning in prep for this. He was offered, to go play football for university of Georgia, which is like basically effectively playing for an NFL team. Cause they're like the best, you know, Georgia, Alabama, and a couple, and, and, and Michigan and a couple others are

the dominant NCAA football schools. And usually you at least get a look with the NFL. If you play for Georgia, certainly if you start for them, he opted not to play for Georgia instead went and ran track at the university of Florida where his dad coaches. So this guy is like all in on a sport that doesn't pay that much money compared to football. Right? So he's a, a true believer in track and field. Gotta love it. Yeah.

Alex Cyr (33:17.506)
makes you root for him.

Michael Doyle (33:19.753)
Yeah, I'm in for it. I think the sell for this event is you come to watch the event before it with McLaughlin versus Bull in the 400 meter women's hurdle final, and then you stay and hang around and watch this event. Yeah. All right, guys. So we did it. The cheat sheet for the first seven days of the Olympic track events in the books.

next Thursday. So we're staying with a Thursday schedule. We're going to come back at you next Thursday morning, five ish in the morning. The podcast will drop next week. And next week, we're going to cover the remaining events, but we're mostly going to focus on our namesake, the marathon. We're mostly going to focus on the men's and the women's marathon. Women's marathon this time around closes the Olympics, which is super cool. As we

We were kind of, we were chatting before we hit record on this pod about how back in the day, the Olympics used to like literally the Olympic marathon would finish in the Olympic stadium. And then they would just like roll right into the closing ceremonies right away with like the marathoners streaming across the finish line. Don't know if they were, they do it that way anymore, but, the marathon is obviously the, I'd say like besides the a hundred meter finals, like third, the marquee events of the, of the Olympics.

So we'll go deep on both of the marathons next week. We'll spend most of our time focusing on those and we'll touch upon some other events that are coming up at the end of the Olympic program as well. Hopefully we've been helpful. We got our picks in there. I think what are you guys most excited, what are you most excited about over the next week? What's the one that sticks out in your mind that you're like, I have to watch this

Alex Cyr (35:15.868)
For me, it's the men's 1500.

Alex Cyr (35:22.652)
Too good, yeah, too good, too good to miss.

Michael Doyle (35:27.305)
Yeah, I like I'm interested in the. It's a tough one. I kind of I'm not as excited about the men's 100 meter final as I am the women's 100 meter final. actually want to watch the women's 100 meter final more than the men's 100 meter final, but there's real intrigue with the men's 100 meter final, whether or not Noah Lyles can start off with a big win. And I think that's a monumental task for a guy like that to pull off. So I'm excited to see both those events.

1500 is going to be just absolutely nuts. And, and the 200 meter women's 200 meter. It's going to be really intriguing as well. Okay. So if you don't already make sure to subscribe to our newsletter goes out Monday to Friday, five days a week, five five Eastern time in your inbox. And you're going to get stuff like what we sent out today for with accompanying this podcast is basically like an entire everything you need to know edition.

of the newsletter about the Paris Olympics, including a link to this pod. So make sure you subscribe to that and we'll be doing some like quick updates and that sort of thing. And I also think we're going to do a couple of, emergency pods, in the next week. We'll jump on. They'll be shorter, probably like a little quick 20 minute chat about like, you know, holy shit, this world record just got broken. Or can you believe

Josh Kurt physically football tackled Ingebrigtsen in the in the final straight or something like that. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe and rate and write a review for this podcast. It goes a long way in helping us to reach more runners like yourself. OK, teammates.

Good luck to the United States. Good luck to Costa Rica. And we're also cheering for Team Canada. We'll talk to you in a week.