Canadians Bishop, Brannen to run for medals in Rio
Both advance to 1st Olympic track finals
By Nick Murray, CBC Sports
Canada's Melissa Bishop will run for a medal on Saturday. So will compatriot Nate Brannen.
Bishop powered through her 800-metre semifinal race on Thursday, finishing second in one minute 59.05 seconds to qualify sixth overall going into Saturday's final.
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The 2015 Pan Am gold medallist and world silver medallist of Eganville, Ont., kept to the front of the pack for the entire rough and bumpy race, and actually took the lead in the final 100 metres.
Poland's Joanna Jozwik beat Bishop in the late stages, beating the Canadian — who posted the best time in the qualifying heats — by 12-100ths of a second.
"That's one of the messiest races I've been in and we had a few close calls there," Bishop said after the race.
Gold-medal favourite Caster Semenya qualified first overall after running a 1:58.15. She's been the centre of controversy as some competitors feel the south African's hyperandrogenic condition — one that can cause women to produce unusually elevated levels of testosterone — gives her an unfair advantage.
Asked about whether she can be beat, Bishop said she's simply focusing on what she can control.
"I think that if I can run my race and be the best possible Melissa Bishop in that final, then I think I have every opportunity," Bishop said.
"At the end of the day she's a competitor and she's on that line with me. I have to run my race plan and focus on what I can do."
The women's 800 final is set for Saturday at 7:15 p.m., ET.
Brannen finds a way
It was an anxious wait, and a very close call, but ultimately Brannen found a way.
The Cambridge, Ont., native finished seventh in his 1,500 metre semifinal race after getting jammed in the pack coming to the finish line, but crossed in 3:40.20 seconds, good enough to grab the last qualifying in Saturday's final.
I wish I could have got outside and swung wide, but I was kind of stuck," a nervous Brannen said before knowing whether his time would hold up.
"If I tried to block or push my way through I would have gotten disqualified. So I just had to stay and wait."
Brannen has to wait until the second semifinal race to find out if the sixth-place runner finished below him. Uganda's Ronald Musagala did, coming in 0.17 seconds behind the Canadian.
Brannan's sigh of relief runs deeper than just seeing his time hold up, though. He's competed in three Olympics, but this is the first time he's reached a 1,500 final.
The 33-year-old had a disastrous end to his London 2012 run, falling just after the halfway mark after clipping Germany's Carsten Schlangen. He previously called it "the lowest point in his life."
"To come back after what happened in 2012, and make the final. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," Brannen said after Thursday's semifinal, overcome with emotion.
"This is my last Olympics, to finally make the final is just amazing. I've been doing this my whole life, 15 years going strong. The ultimate goal was making the final, we'll see what happens Saturday, anything is possible.
"I'm probably the only guy in the final who trains in the morning then is on daddy duty all day with two kids. I don't do this for the paycheck, it's for the love of the sport."
But Brannen's luck came at the expense of another Canadian.
Quebec City's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot finished ninth in his heat, also getting stuck in a traffic jam in the final 100.
The 25-year-old, making his Olympic debut, finished eighth in his heat, running a 3:40.79.
American Crouser breaks Olympic shot put record
American Ryan Crouser hurled the longest throw of his life to win the men's shot put final on Thursday, breaking the Olympic record and snatching gold in his first-ever major competition.
The 23-year-old set three personal bests in the final and his longest throw of 22.52 metres shattered an Olympic record set by East Germany's Ulf Timmermann in 1988.
Crouser's compatriot and reigning world champion Joe Kovacs had to settle for second, while New Zealand's Tomas Walsh grabbed bronze.
Muhammad continues U.S. hurdle streak
Dalilah Muhammad of The United States led from start to finish to take the Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles and complete a U.S. double in the women's and men's events.
Denmark's Sara Slott Petersen won the silver medal ahead of Ashley Spencer of the United States, with world champion Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic managing only fourth.
With steady rain pouring down at the Olympic stadium, Muhammad shot out of the blocks, rose quickest at the first hurdle and never looked like being overtaken. She clocked 53.13 seconds to win by a margin of 0.42.
"The reality of winning is even better than the dream. Olympic champion in front of my name," said Muhammad, runner-up at the 2013 world championship.
The 26-year-old had come to the Rio Games as the fastest woman in the event this year, Petersen, the European champion, ran 53.55 seconds, and Spencer recorded a personal best of 53.72.
The result underlined U.S. supremacy in the hurdle events, with Kerron Clement winning the men's 400 earlier on Thursday and Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin completing an American podium sweep in the 100 on Wednesday.
Croatia's Kolak wins women's javelin gold
Croatian Sara Kolak won the Olympic women's javelin final, dashing Czech Barbora Spotakova's dreams of becoming the first woman to win three consecutive gold medals in the same individual athletics event.
The 21-year-old Croat set a personal best and a national record with her fourth attempt of 66.18 metres.
Kolak, who also broke the national record in the qualifying rounds, secured victory ahead of South Africa's Sunette Viljoen with a gold-winning throw of 1.26m.
Kolak won bronze at the European championships but few expected her to challenge for honours before the Rio 2016 Games in an event where the focus was on Spotakova's attempt to make history.
But the 35-year-old winner of London 2012 and Beijing 2008 had to settle for bronze with a best throw of 64.80m.