How to Watch Olympic Running: Thursday, August 18

Ashton Eaton

Decathlon final event, 8:45 p.m.: Defending champion and world record holder Ashton Eaton will race 1500 meters, the last of 10 events over two days, in his bid to maintain the title of world’s greatest all-around athlete.

Men’s 200 meters final, 9:30 p.m.: The nonpareil Usain Bolt will go for his sixth consecutive individual Olympic gold. American Justin Gatlin, second in the 100 to Bolt, will try to figure out how to beat the greatest sprinter in history in a championship final.

Also: The men’s 400-meter hurdles final will be run at 11 a.m. American Kerron Clement will seek to do one better than the silver he won at the 2008 Games.

The women’s final in the event will be run at 9:15 p.m. American Dalilah Muhammad has the best time this year in the field, and looked best in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Semifinals in two of the deepest events, the men’s 1500 and women’s 800, will set the field for finals on Saturday. The 1500 includes the last two Olympic champions, Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria and Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, as well as American Matthew Centrowitz, who won the world indoor title in March. The 800 features the two fastest women in the world this year, Caster Semenya of South Africa and Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, plus Americans Kate Grace and Ajee Wilson.

The first round of the 4 x 100-meter relay will be run in the morning. The U.S. squads will hope not to add to a history of botched hand-offs.

[Source:- Runners World]

Saheli