Running News Daily

2024 Olympic Track & Field Schedule Is Out

On Monday, World Athletics announced the schedule for the 2024 Olympic Games, to be held in Paris on August 1-11, 2024 (only 570 days to go!). There were a few key changes from three years earlier in Tokyo.

First, all track & field finals will be held during the evening sessions (some finals had been held in the morning during the 2016 and 2020 Olympics). The marathons will remain in the morning, though the men’s marathon will no longer be held on the final day of the Games, as had been tradition. That honor for the first time will go to the women’s marathon, which will be held on August 11. Giving women the honor makes sense given that, per Reuters, the “marathon route was modelled on the path of the October 1789 Women’s March on Versailles – when thousands, mainly female market traders furious over the price of bread, marched to the lavish palace of King Louis XVI.” In 2024, the men’s marathon will come on the penultimate day, August 10.

The other major change is the introduction of a repechage round, which will replace time qualifiers in five events: the 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 400 hurdles. Under the new format, any athlete who does not advance automatically from the first round will compete in an extra race –the repechage round — to earn their spot in the semifinals. Qualification from semifinals to the final will remain the same.

While every evening session has at least one final, you may want to circle August 8, 2024, on your calendar right now. That night is set to feature the finals of the women’s 400 hurdles (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone), men’s 200 (Noah Lyles vs. Erriyon Knighton), and men’s 110 hurdles (Grant Holloway), plus the semis of the women’s 1500 meters.

A number of doubles — 100/200, 800/1500, 1500/5,000, 5,000/10,000 — are very feasible under the current schedule. But what about the 400/400 hurdles, 400/800, and 1500/5,000/10,000 — the doubles (and triple) that would appeal to superstars Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen? None of them are impossible.

Possible doubles/triples

Men’s 1500/5,000/10,000 (Jakob Ingebrigtsen)

We’ve got great news for Jakob Ingebrgitsen fans. You’ll likely see him running in two — maybe three — events at Paris.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Ingebrigtsen would have liked to have done the 1500/5000 double like he did at the 2019 and 2022 Worlds but he only ran the 1500 as the two events overlapped a ton. In Tokyo, the 1500 was held on August 3 (a.m.), August 5 (p.m.), and August 7 (p.m.) and the 5000 was held on August 3 (p.m.) and August 6 (p.m). In Paris, 1500/5000 double is eminently more doable as the 1500 finishes before the 5000 even starts.

And there is even more good news. Last year, Ingebrigtsen made headlines by saying he wanted to do what Sifan Hassan did in 2021 and triple at the 2023 Worlds and 2024 Olympics: 1500, 5,000, and 10,000. The triple is basically impossible at the 2023 Worlds. At the 2024 Olympics, it’s tough but doable: it would require two races on August 2 (1500 first round in the morning, 10,000 final 10 hours later), and it would require running the 1500 final at 9:00 p.m. on August 6 and the 5,000 first round 14 hours later on the morning of August 7.

In Tokyo, Hassan had to run two races on the same day (1500 prelims in morning, 5,000 final in evening) and also had to run finals on consecutive days (1500 followed by 10,000). In Paris, Ingebrigtsen would get four days between the 10,000 and 1500 finals and another four days between the 1500 and 5,000 finals.

August 2, 11:05 a.m.: 1500 first round

August 2, 9:20 p.m.: 10,000 final

August 4, 9:10 p.m.: 1500 semis

August 6, 9:00 p.m.: 1500 final

August 7, 11:00 a.m.: 5,000 first round

August 10, 8:00 p.m.: 5,000 final

Women’s 1500/5,000/10,000 (Sifan Hassan)

Given Sifan Hassan already did the 1500/5,000/10,000 triple in Tokyo about as well as anyone could (bronze-gold-gold) and given it took her close to a year to return to racing in 2022, it would be a surprise to see her attempt the triple again in Paris. But if someone else — perhaps World Indoor 1500/World Outdoor 5,000 champ Gudaf Tsegay — is so inclined, it’s possible to triple. The toughest part would be running the 1500 first round the morning after the 5,000 final and running the 10,000 and 1500 final on back-to-back nights (the latter was also the case for Hassan in 2021, though the order of the 10,000 and 1500 finals were flipped). But unlike in 2021, all the races are on different days.

August 2, 6:10 p.m.: 5,000 first round

August 5, 9:20 p.m.: 5,000 final

August 6, 10:05 a.m.: 1500 first round

August 8, 8:05 p.m.: 1500 semis

August 9, 8:55 p.m.: 10,000 final

August 10, 8:25 p.m.: 1500 final

Women’s 400/400 hurdles (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Femke Bol)

No woman has ever won the 400/400 hurdles double at the Olympics, but superstars Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol could attempt it in Paris. It would require racing six days in a row (seven including the 4×400 relay final) but never more than once in a day. That’s about as good as you can ask for.

August 4, 12:35 p.m.: 400 hurdles first round

August 5, 11:55 a.m.: 400 first round

August 6, 7:45 p.m.: 400 hurdles semis

August 7, 8:45 p.m.: 400 semis

August 8, 9:05 p.m.: 400 hurdles final

August 9, 8:00 p.m.: 400 final

August 10, 9:20 p.m.: 4×400 relay final

Women’s 400/800 (Athing Mu)

Athing Mu won the women’s 800 at the 2020 Olympics and 2022 Worlds and is the NCAA record holder in the 400 meters at 49.57. After winning gold in Tokyo, she said one of her next goals is to double up in the 400/800. The double is possible in Paris but not perfect as it would require her to race three sessions in a row — the night of August 4 in the 800 semis, the morning of August 5 in the 400 first round, and the night of August 5 in the 800 final. The good news is Mu has will have some time to recover as there is a rest day between the 800 final and 400 semis and another rest day between the 400 semis and 400 final.

In a perfect world the 800 semis and 400 first round would both be shifted forward by a day but that’s not going to happen because it would require running the repechage and semifinal round of the 800 on the same day.

August 2, 7:45 p.m.: 800 first round

August 4, 8:35 p.m.: 800 semis

August 5, 11:55 a.m.: 400 first round

August 5, 9:50 p.m.: 800 final

August 7, 8:45 p.m.: 400 semis

August 9, 8:00 p.m.: 400 final

August 10, 9:20 p.m.: 4×400 relay final

Women’s 200/400 (Shaunae Miller-Uibo)

Two-time Olympic 400 champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas attempted the 200/400 double in Tokyo and made the finals of each event. But she wound up going through the motions of the 200 final, finishing last in 24.00 (after running the first round of the 400 that morning), before running a personal best of 48.36 to win the 400 three days later. The 200/400 double is once again possible in 2024, but Miller-Uibo’s weaker event, the 200, would once again come first. It would also require running twice in one day, though neither of the races would be finals (400 first round on the morning of August 5, followed by the 200 semis that evening).

August 4, 10:55 a.m.: 200 first round

August 5, 11:55 a.m.: 400 first round

August 5, 8:55 p.m.: 200 semis

August 6, 9:50 p.m.: 200 final

August 7, 8:45 p.m.: 400 semis

August 9, 8:00 p.m.: 400 final

Men’s 200/400

In Tokyo, it was possible to attempt the men’s 200/400 double as all of the races were on different days (save for the 200 first round and semis — a necessary same-day double for all athletes). In Tokyo, it’s virtually impossible as the 200 semis will be held just 73 minutes before the 400 final on the night of August 7.

August 4, 7:05 p.m.: 400 first round

August 5, 8:05 p.m.: 200 first round

August 6, 8:30 p.m.: 400 semis

August 7, 8:07 p.m.: 200 semis

August 7, 9:20 p.m.: 400 final

August 8, 9:25 p.m.: 200 final

How will the repechage round work?

In almost every case, the repechage round will take place the day after the first round of each event. The only exception is the men’s 110 hurdles, where the first round is on August 4 and the repechage on August 6. And in almost every case, the repechage athletes won’t have to race twice in the same day. The only exception is the women’s 200, where the first round will be held on the morning of August 4, the repechage on the afternoon of August 5, and the semis on the evening of August 5.

Should any repechage athlete in the 800 advance to the final, they will have raced on four consecutive days. For any 1500 athlete to advance to the final, they will have had to have raced three straight days followed by a one-day break before the final. The repechage round is mostly a chance for lesser athletes to get a longer Olympic experience instead of running one race and going home, but it’s not impossible to suggest that a repechage athlete could be a factor in the final. At the 2020 Olympics, Great Britain’s Josh Kerr needed a time qualifier to advance from the first round of the men’s 1500 and wound up earning the bronze medal. Such a feat will be harder in 2024 since an athlete such as Kerr would now have to run an extra race.

Here’s how the schedule works for the men’s and women’s 800 and 1500:

Men’s 800

Prelims: August 7, 11:45 a.m.

Repechage: August 8, 12:00 p.m.

Semis: August 9, 11:30 a.m.

Final: August 10, 7:30 p.m.

Women’s 800

Prelims: August 2, 7:45 p.m.

Repechage: August 3, 11:10 a.m.

Semis: August 4, 8:35 p.m.

Final: August 5, 9:50 p.m.

Women’s 1500

Prelims: August 6, 10:05 a.m.

Repechage: August 7, 12:35 p.m.

Semis: August 8, 8:05 p.m.

Final: August 10, 8:25 p.m.

Men’s 1500

Prelims: August 2, 11:05 a.m.

Repechage: August 3, 8:25 p.m.

Semis: August 4, 9:10 p.m.

Final: August 6, 9:00 p.m.

(01/10/2023) Views: 893 ⚡AMP
by Letsrun