Frerichs, Bednarek mine silver on three-medal evening

TOKYO -- Courtney Frerichs and Kenny Bednarek took silver and Noah Lyles added a bronze to bring Team USATF’s medal count to 16 after the sixth day of competition at National Stadium.
 
Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase final
With five laps to go all three U.S. finalists were in the front half of the pack. American record holder Courtney Frerichs (Beaverton, Oregon / USATF Oregon) went to the front approaching three laps remaining and Rio bronze medalist Emma Coburn (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado) held steady in fifth. Frerichs boldly pushed the pace from the front and extended her lead on the penultimate circuit as she tried to put a gap on the other medal contenders. Leading at the bell, Frerichs yielded some ground to Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai down the final backstretch and was in second coming up to the final barrier before sprinting to silver in a season best 9:04.79.
 
It was the highest finish ever by an American and only the second medal won by U.S. women since the event joined the official Games program in 2008.
 
After Coburn fell with less than two laps left she got back up but was passed by Val Constien (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado), who took 12th in 9:31.61. Coburn finished 14th before being disqualified.
 
Men’s 200m final
Reigning world champion Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia / USATF Potomac Valley) had a marginal lead after 100m, but Canada’s Andre De Grasse and Kenny Bednarek (Minneola, Florida / USATF Wisconsin) were coming up fast on his outside and the dash for gold came down to those two men. De Grasse, the silver medalist at Rio, eased slightly ahead over the final 10m and took gold in a national record 19.62, with Bednarek taking silver in a lifetime best 19.68 to move to No. 8 on the all-time U.S. performer list. 
 
Lyles held on well to grab the bronze in 19.74 to tie his season best with the fastest third-place finish ever, while high schooler Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida / USATF Florida) was fourth in 19.93. Knighton was the youngest men’s track finalist in the modern Olympic era as Team USATF matched its 2008 performance with two medals after two straight Games shutouts in the event.
 
Men’s 800m final
Rio bronze medalist Clayton Murphy (Pepper Pike, Ohio / USATF Lake Erie) was at the back of the pack as it went through 400m in a very slow 53.76 after jostling and pushing at the 200m mark. Murphy couldn’t respond over the final 200m, finishing ninth in 1:46.53.
 
Men’s Hammer final
Trials champion and American record holder Rudy Winkler (Ithaca, New York / USATF New York) hit 77.08m/252-11 on his first throw before a foul and a subpar 75.95m/249-2 in round three, but his initial effort was enough to earn him three more attempts. A foul on his fourth try was followed by a 75.34m/247-2 and then another foul, and Winkler placed seventh. Daniel Haugh (Marietta, Georgia / USATF Georgia) had one legal throw of 76.22m/250-1 and ended up 11th.
 
Women’s 1,500m semifinal
A very fast first semifinal left Elle Purrier St. Pierre (Brighton, Massachusetts / USATF New England) battling for sixth place when only the top five in each section and next two fastest would advance. Purrier St. Pierre was sixth at the bell and in good position to challenge for advancement, but Cory McGee (Boulder, Colorado / USATF New England) got tangled up just after the halfway mark and went down. Purrier St. Pierre managed to hold onto sixth in 4:01.00 to claim one of the time qualifier spots, while McGee gamely got back up and finished 11th in 4:10.39. Kenya’s reigning champion Faith Kipyegon ran the fastest semifinal time ever with a 3:56.80 as the first five were all under 4:00. McGee was advanced after a successful appeal.
 
The two will compete in the women’s 1,500m final on Friday, August 6 at 8:50 A.M. ET / 9:50 P.M. local time. 
 
Heather MacLean (Brighton, Massachusetts / USATF New England) was 12th in the second semi in 4:05.33 and did not advance.
 
Women’s 400m semifinal
All eight finalists ran faster than 50 seconds to advance, with seven of those finalists coming from the NACAC region, and both Team USATF moms will be on the track for that final during Friday’s evening session. In the final semi, the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, California / USATF Southern California), saw Stephenie Ann McGregor of Jamaica pass her on the inside at about 250m. The veteran who is in her fifth Games held her composure and ensured her lane in the final with a 49.89 season best to take second. It is the eighth year in the past 13 that Felix has broken 50 seconds and the fifth global championship final she has made in the 400m.
 
Trials champion Quanera Hayes (Hope Mills, North Carolina / USATF North Carolina) used a very hard first 200m to establish a lead in the first semi, coming up on the shoulder of Jamaica’s Candice McLeod to her outside. Four women were contending for two automatic berths coming off the turn, and Hayes ended up fourth in a very quick 49.81 to secure a time qualifier berth in the final as Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic continued her streak of national records with a 49.38 to win.
 
Both Felix and Quanera will run the final on Friday, August 6 at 8:35 A.M. / 9:35 P.M. local time.
 
Trailing by several meters behind defending champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo and a pair of Europeans with 100m to go, Wadeline Jonathas (West Columbia, South Carolina / USATF South Carolina) couldn’t make up the deficit on the final straight and clocked 50.51 for fourth and did not advance.
 
Women’s Heptathlon 1st day
The first day finished with all three U.S. entrants in the top 10 in the point standings, led by Annie Kunz (San Clemente, California / USATF Southern California) in fourth, just off the podium. Kunz had a good shot put of 15.15m/49-8.5 and clocked 24.12 in the 200m to tally 3,870 points, 51 out of bronze medal position and 98 away from gold.
 
Erica Bougard (Chula Vista, California / USATF New York) was sixth with 3,837 after a 24.08 200m, while Kendall Williams (Kennesaw, Georgia / USATF Georgia) had 3,776 in ninth on the heels of a 24.00 in the last event.
 
Women return to competition tonight at 8:40 P.M. ET / 9:40 A.M. Thursday in Tokyo with the heptathlon long jump.
 
Men’s Decathlon 1st day
Steven Bastien (Ann Arbor, Michigan / USATF Michigan) had strong performances in the high jump, with a 2.05m/6-8.75 clearance, and the 400m, where he clocked a season best 47.64, to finish the first day in fourth place on the point standings with 4,369. Garrett Scantling (Athens, Georgia / USATF Georgia) overcame a relatively middling high jump effort with a lifetime best 48.25 in the 400m to sit sixth with 4,338 points, just behind world record holder Kevin Mayer of France, and Zach Ziemek (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin / USATF Wisconsin) was seventh with 4,322 points. 
 
Day 2 of men’s decathlon continues Wednesday evening at 8 P.M. ET / Thursday morning in Tokyo with the 110m hurdles.
 
Full session results are available on the World Athletics website. The next session begins at 8:00 P.M. ET Wednesday with the Men’s Decathlon 110m Hurdles. Fans in the U.S. can watch here via NBC properties.  
 
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USATF Medal Count (16)
Gold (3)
Women’s Discus Throw - Valarie Allman
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin
 
Silver (9)
Women’s Shot Put – Raven Saunders
Men’s 100m – Fred Kerley
Women’s 100m Hurdles - Keni Harrison
Women’s Long Jump - Brittney Reese
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin
Men’s Pole Vault - Chris Nilsen
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Dalilah Muhammad
Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase - Courtney Frerichs
Men’s 200m - Kenny Bednarek
 
Bronze (4)
4x400m Mixed Relay – Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kaylin Whitney, Vernon Norwood
Women’s 800m - Raevyn Rogers
Women’s 200m - Gabby Thomas
Men’s 200m - Noah Lyles
 
World Records (1)
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin (51.46)
 
American Records (3)
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin (46.17)
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu (1:55.21)
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin (51.46)
 
 
USATF Statistician