Gabby Thomas dominates to win gold, Cole Hocker pulls Olympic shocker in men's 1,500

SAINT-DENIS, France - Before Gabby Thomas set foot on the Stade de France's purple track, surrounded by 80,000 or so screaming spectators, her coach gave her some last-minute advice.

"The only thing I needed to do was get the lead. Get the lead and then finish strong," Thomas said, recounting Tonja Buford-Bailey's counsel. "And I did that."

She sure did. Following precisely that easier-said-than-done plan, Thomas, a 27-year-old Harvard grad, sped to the victory in the women’s 200 meters at the 2024 Olympics on Tuesday night, finishing in 21.83 seconds to add a gold to the bronze she took home in the event from Tokyo three years ago.

"I don't think," Thomas said, "it could have gone any better."

She burst into the lead for good at the curve and was never challenged down the stretch, finishing well clear of 100-meter champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, who was 0.25 seconds off the pace in 22.08.

After Thomas crossed the line, she shouted and placed both of her hands on her head, looking every bit like someone enjoying what she called "the happiest moment of my life."

"I couldn't tell you where my competitors were in that race, because I blacked out," Thomas said.

That's one explanation. Another would be that there was no one really all that near her.

Brittany Brown of the U.S. got the bronze in 22.20, 0.02 seconds in front of Dina Asher-Smith of Britain, who was another hundredth of a second ahead of teammate Daryll Neita.

"I'm happy. There's nothing I can complain about," Alfred said. "I just know I went out there and gave my best."

Out of three sprints so far on the purple track at Stade de France, the Americans have picked up two golds: Thomas' triumph followed Noah Lyles' success in the men's 100 on Sunday night by a far slimmer margin: five thousands of a second.

"It really was so inspiring, hearing Noah go after what he wanted and take it," Thomas said. "I knew that if I were in any position in this race, I could still go after it and take it if I had to."

Ask a teammate what about Thomas is most impressive, and "poise" is a word that comes up.

"She’s very much an empowerment woman. She carries a lot of power. You can tell by how she carries herself," said McKenzie Long, a 24-year-old who finished seventh Tuesday. "She reminds me of me — but an older version."

After she earned her degree at Harvard in neurobiology and global health, Thomas enrolled at the University of Texas, where she got a Masters in public health for studying sleep patterns of different ethnic groups — while also making the wise choice to double down on her track training.

The decision was to set up a six-year schedule, with the long-term aim being this cool evening in the City of Light. Thomas didn't want the Paris Games to be her first Olympics, so she did what it took to get herself to Tokyo three years ago.

That happened — and her takeaways from that trip to Japan were third place in the 200, a silver medal in the 4x100 relay, plus, maybe most valuable of all, the experience.

"I feel like I’ve worked very hard, and everything has been a part of the plan. This has been a six-year plan, ever since moving to Texas," Thomas explained. "We've been working hard every day for this, so I earned it. But it’s still an unbelievable, indescribable feeling."

She came in as one of the favorites, especially after reigning world champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica dropped out because of an apparent injury.

And this one really wasn't even close, it turned out.

Even Alfred, who also went to Texas and won the first Olympic medal for her island country in the 100 three nights earlier, didn't stand a chance against Thomas on this night.

"You can't take a gold medal away. This is all I wanted," Thomas said. "If I didn't get this gold medal today, I don't know what I would have done."

And she isn't done. She'll have a chance for another medal as part of the 4x100 relay team, which could be in the final Saturday.

Hocker's late sprint stuns Kerr and Ingebrigtsen

American Cole Hocker pulled the upset of the Olympics on Tuesday night, beating his personal-best time by almost 3 seconds to outrace favorites Jakob Ingebrigsten and Josh Kerr for the title at 1,500 meters.

Hocker won the race in an Olympic record 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds, pulling from fifth to first over the final 300 meters to take down the two runners whose rivalry dominated the buildup to the much-anticipated race.

"This may be an upset to a lot of people, but if you've been following my season, you knew I was capable of it," Hocker said. "But still, things had to go my way today."

Hocker, a 23-year-old product of University of Oregon, was listed as much as a 30-1 long shot for this race. He beat Kerr by .14 seconds, while Ingebrigtsen, who set the pace through the first 1250 meters, ended up in fourth behind American Yared Nuguse.

All eyes for this one were trained on Ingebrigtsen, the defending champion out of Norway who came in with a point to prove, and Kerr, the Scotsman who beat him last year at world championships.

Ever since that win, Kerr and Ingebrigtsen poked at each other. Among the salvos that stuck was Kerr's assertion that Ingebrigtsen only won races with pacesetters, the likes of which are not allowed at major races like this.

Against that backdrop, Ingebrigtsen darted to the front quickly and ran there for the first 3 1/2 laps, while Kerr traded between second and third, getting ready for his typical windup and a potential slingshot past the Norwegian over the closing stretch, much the way he did last year.

"Of course, it’s a tactical error that I’m not able to reduce my pace the first 800," Ingebrigtsen said.

While he and Kerr were wearing each other out, Hocker, at 5-foot-9 1/2 and more than 3 1/2 inches shorter than the top two contenders, almost looked like he was trying to photo bomb them at the end of this race.

As they entered the homestretch, he snuck up on the inside once, only to have Ingebrigtsen block that move.

So, Hocker fell back and wound up for another try with about 50 meters left.

Both he and Kerr, who was racing on the outside, passed Ingebrigtsen, then Hocker beat the Scot to the finish line, first with a look of disbelief on his face, but then thumping his chest twice to celebrate a win hardly anyone saw coming — maybe except for him.

Showdown set between Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol

The next meeting in another of track's best rivalries — this one between Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol — will come in the Olympic final.

The two best at the 400-meter hurdles won their semifinals easily.

McLaughlin-Levrone, who clipped a hurdle in her opening round, went cleanly around the track this time and finished in 52.13. Bol did the lap in 52.57.

The two have only faced off twice. McLaughlin set world records at both races, with Bol finishing third at the last Olympics and second at the 2022 world championships.

"Iron sharpens iron," McLaughlin said. "It’s always fun racing the best and I know we’re going to push each other."

Kirani James runs best time in men’s 400 semifinals

Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic champion, had the best time in the men’s 400-meter semifinals, winning his heat in 43.78.

The runners with the two best times this year, America’s Quincy Hall and Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, won their semifinals and will be joined by American Michael Norman to set up one of the more wide-open finals.

Defending champion Steven Gardiner, struggling with injuries this year, pulled out before the first round.