U.S. sprinters give nice showcase of what Paris could be like
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American male sprinters used to dominate the 100-and-200-meter dashes at the Summer Olympics, but nobody from the U.S. has won an Olympic gold medal in those events since 2004 (Usain Bolt’s dominance had a lot to do with it).
But last week’s USA Indoor Track and Field Championships looked to be a prelude to the return of American control in the sprint races for the Paris games.
Noah Lyles, the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200 meters, finished in first by just one hundredth of a second ahead of Christian Coleman in a terrific race between two of the world’s fastest men.
Lyles had a time of 6.43 seconds compared to 6.44 seconds for Coleman, who won the 100-meter dash at the 2019 World Championships and is the world-record holder in the 60 meters.
In addition, Grant Holloway might be in good form to snap a small gold medal drought for the U.S. in the 110-meter hurdles.
Holloway, the silver medalist in Tokyo and three-time World Champion, bested his own world record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.27.
Of course, all three haven’t officially qualified for the Paris games. They will need to do so with good performances at the U.S. trials in June.
Manny Pacquiao’s bid to compete in Paris denied by IOC
Legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao retired in 2021 from professional boxing, but he wanted to get back in the ring one more time as an Olympian representing the Philippines.
The 45-year-old Pacquiao sent a petition to the International Olympic Committee, which has an age limit of 40 for Olympic boxers. The IOC denied Pacquiao’s request.
U.S. surfing Olympians to be finalized next week
The final Olympic qualifying event for surfers, the World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico, began on Thursday and will run through March 2.
The U.S. women’s team has already secured three spots, but it’ll just be a matter of determining which three individuals end up qualifying from the event to compete in Paris.
From a worldwide perspective, 15-year-old Sky Brown of Great Britain will attempt to become the first athlete to qualify for skateboarding and surfing at the same Olympics.
At the moment, the U.S. men’s team has two spots for Paris secured, but can get a third with a first or second-place team finish.
Griffin Colapinto and John John Florence have two of the spots locked up, and a first or second-place team result will mean 24-year-old phenom Barron Mamiya would get the third spot and join them in Paris.