The China Mail - Olympics: Athletics, Day 9

Karsten Warholm pulverised the world record when he won the 400 metres hurdles title at the Tokyo Olympics, but whether he is in that sort of form is open to question. His perennial bridesmaid Rai Benjamin will pray he is not.

The United States track and field team is having a terrific Games and will be looking to sweep both 4x100m relays.

The never dull Sifan Hassan -- small of stature but big of heart and courage -- runs in the 10,000 metres less than 48 hours before the Dutch star tackles the marathon.

Men's 400 metres hurdles final

This should be a cracker of a final, the latest chapter involving one of the finest generations of hurdlers.

Leading the pack is the charismatic Norwegian Karsten Warholm, yet to be beaten in seven outdoor global finals and who has looked sparky in qualifying.

Benjamin may have lost his voice but he has looked great too in the opening salvoes, though in the past he has had no answer to Warholm once the final comes.

The 27-year-old American did beat Warholm in the Monaco Diamond League meet in July to pull to within one of his rival in head-to-head meetings 3-4. But most of Warholm's victories have come in the races that really matter.

Lurking in the shadows is Brazilian Alison dos Santos, who denied Benjamin world gold in 2022, and although he just scraped into the final in Paris he remains a threat.

Men's 4x100 metres relay final

Noah Lyles may well be missing after revealing he has Covid, but the USA still have enough sprint depth to win the title to erase the nightmare of the Tokyo Games when they failed to reach the final.

Reigning champions Italy should also be in contention for medals.

Women's 400 metres final

Marileidy Paulino can become the first woman athlete from the Dominican Republic to be crowned Olympic champion.

The 27-year-old was silver medallist in Tokyo -- the first woman athlete from her country to win an athletics Olympic medal -- and eased to the world title last year.

"The Marileidy who arrived in Tokyo was not well-known," Paulino told AFP.

"She hadn't raced much against the other athletes. Now many people know me. Winning a world title puts me firmly in the headlights of other athletes -- I am one of the favourites."

The likeliest challengers are European champion Natalia Kaczmarek, the Pole who took silver behind Paulino in the world championships, and Irish runner Rhasidat Adeleke.

The 21-year-old European silver medallist would be only the second Irish woman to win a medal in a track event after Sonia O'Sullivan won silver in the 5,000m in 2000.

Women's 4x100m relay

The United States led by 100m world champion Sha'Carri Richardson and newly crowned Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas start as favourites to reclaim their relay crown.

Three years ago, the Americans were forced to settle for silver after finishing second to a power-packed Jamaican quartet.

But Jamaica's squad has been decimated by injuries to Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, meaning the USA have a golden chance to take a first relay gold since 2016.

While Britain and Germany's quartets look threatening, it may turn out that the USA's biggest opponent is themselves. A shaky but just legal handover in Thursday's semi-finals revived memories of past relay blunders.

Women's 10,000m

Defending champion Sifan Hassan's dreams of an Olympic treble -- 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon -- were snuffed out on Monday when the Dutchwoman was dethroned by Kenya's Beatrice Chebet in the 5,000m.

The two women face each other again in the 10,000m where Chebet will be aiming to deprive Hassan of another of her titles.

On this season's evidence, Chebet will have every reason to believe she can complete a 5,000m-10,000m double in Paris.

The 24-year-old demolished the 10,000m world record in Eugene, Oregon in May and is brimming with confidence after Monday's win.

T.Luo--ThChM