The 2024 Paris Olympics featured the best athletes globally, competing in 32 different sports that allowed thousands of athletes to show off their athletic talents, and the United States shined bright on the track.
Throughout the events, the American track and field team collected 34 of the 126 medals won by the country. The track athletes also collected 14 golds to go towards the country total of 40. Overall, the U.S.A. gathered the most medals out of any other country.
FloTrack reported that the United States walked away with the most medals they have won on the track since the 1984 games. There were some star standouts including the world record race in the 400-meter hurdles by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. She finished the race in a time of 50.37 seconds, breaking her own world record and defending her Olympic title.
The men’s 1500-meter race had a large, anxious crowd to watch the defending champion Jakob Ingerbrigtsen and second-place Josh Kerr battle it out. What no one saw coming was American Cole Hocker who squeezed past Ingerbrigtsen on the inside and pushed past the two favorites to walk away with a gold medal in a time of 3:27.65. The other U.S. runner in the event, Yared Nuguse, had a kick of a lifetime to push the defending champion off the podium, receiving third place and Kerr snagging second.
Gabby Thomas walked away from the Paris Olympics with not one, not two, but three gold medals around her neck. In her individual event, the 200-meter dash, she won with a time of 21.83 seconds, beating second place by almost half a second. She also had a leg in the 4 by 100-meter relay and the 4 by 400-meter relay. Both events were the top finishers in the world.
“I was so inspired watching my teammates do what they do,” Thomas said. “I know what it takes. I know how hard it is to win a medal in track and field. I was absolutely inspired and very motivated to do it with these girls.”
In the field events, Tara Davis was able to have a redemption jump after the last Olympics where she placed 5th. In Paris, she got to stand at the top of the podium. Davis had a jump of 7.1 meters, or more than 23 feet, in the long jump. After her gold medal jump, she went running to the stands where her husband, Hunter Woodhall, an American Paralympian, was waiting to catch her.
The United States soared this Olympics on the track and in the hearts of all watching back home, just where the next Olympics will be held, Los Angeles. The 2028 games will be held on home turf where the whole crowd will be cheering for our favorite athletes.
