Athletics rivalries to watch out for at the Paris Olympics

A good athletics rivalry looks like a boxing championship fight – without violence – filled with chatter between the combatants, charisma at the starting line and straight fights until the end. (A popular new Netflix documentary, Race, examines this dynamic in depth.) Many rivalries are quieter: Athletes show outward respect and admiration for each other and do most of the talking on the track (or field). Others are not so subtle. As the second week of the Paris Games approaches – the first full day of the Olympic athletics competition takes place on August 2 at France Stadium – all eyes are on the runners, throwers and jumpers. Here are six of the sport’s best rivalries to watch.

USA x USA: men’s race

American Noah Lyles, current world champion in the 100m and 200m, has not exactly won the favor of his compatriots over the years. At the start of last year’s world championships in Budapest, Fred Kerley – silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics and winner of the world title in the 100 meters in 2022 – declared at a press conference: “My name is Fred Kerley, this is my title. If Noah is going to run 9.65, then I’m running faster.” Sitting on the same dais, Lyles chirped, “That’s what everyone says until they get beat.” And he beat Kerley Lyles in Hungary.

And after Lyles chased down then-18-year-old American phenom Erriyon Knighton in the 2022 US 200m nationals, Lyles pointed a finger at Knighton as they passed the finish line. “That’s called being posterized right there,” said NBC commentator Ato Boldon. NBC interviewed the two athletes side by side after the race: Knighton left the chat early while Lyles bragged about the victory. Knighton later declined to answer questions about the exchange.

In an interview with TIME in April of this year, Knighton seemed to rather talk about his favorite paint chip color than Lyles. When asked what makes Lyles so difficult to compete with, Knighton was concise. “I don’t know, I’m not really his coach,” he said. “I don’t study it.”

Lyles won the 100m and 200m at this year’s US Olympic Trials. And after struggling with his mental health before Tokyo, where he won a disappointing bronze in the 200m, Lyles is ready for Paris. “I can finally say I’m making it to the Olympics without being depressed,” Lyles said Monday. “And it’s amazing.”

Kerley placed third in the 100 metres, while Knighton qualified third in the 200 metres, in the trials. Kenny Bednarek, the 200m silver medalist in Tokyo, finished second in both events and is a threat to do damage in Tokyo. “I think the underdog in both the 100 and 200 meters is Kenny,” says Justin Gatlin, the five-time Olympic medalist who now hosts a running podcast.

Men’s 100m final: Sunday, August 4, 9:50 pm Paris, 3:50 pm ET

Men’s 200 m final: Thursday, August 8, 8:30 pm Paris, 2:30 pm ET

USA x Jamaica: women’s race

Jamaica dominated the women’s 100 and 200 meters at the last two Olympics. Elaine Thompson-Herah won gold medals in both races at both Games. Jamaica went 1-2-3 in the 100 meters in Tokyo.

But Sha’Carri Richardson wasn’t in Japan: remember, the American 100-meter star was suspended for testing positive for cannabis before Tokyo. She has the fastest 100m time in the world this year and at last year’s world championships, Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce finished behind Richardson in second and third respectively. (Thompson-Herah will miss the Paris Olympics due to an Achilles injury.) In the 200 meters, Harvard graduate Gabby Thomas ran the fastest time in the world this year at the U.S. trials, but Jackson is the reigning world champion .

“I loved it,” Thomas says of the U.S.-Jamaica clashes on the track. “We are encouraging each other to live really cool moments. Women’s sprints are now incredible to watch. I wish I could just be a fan.”

Women’s 100 m final: Saturday, August 3, 9:20 pm Paris, 3:20 pm ET

Women’s 200 m final: Tuesday, August 6, 9:40 pm Paris, 3:40 pm ET

Final of the women’s 4×100 m relay: Friday, August 9, 7:30 pm Paris, 1:30 pm ET

USA x Norway x Brazil – Men’s 400m Hurdles

What do the United States, Norway and Brazil have in common? Definitely not snowfall levels.

No, these three nations, disparate at first glance, produced the three fastest 400m hurdlers of all time.

And they will all be in Paris. Back in Tokyo three summers ago, Karsten Warholm of Norway and Rai Benjamin of the United States ran the Games race: Warhom broke a world record, running under 46 seconds for the first time in history; Meanwhile, Benjamin ran the second fastest race ever, but it still wasn’t enough for gold. Alison Dos Santos, from Brazil, finished third, with the third fastest time in history: she later improved this time in the following year’s world championship, winning the title.

“What we are doing is not normal,” Dos Santos he said before an Olympic prep race in Monaco a few weeks ago. Mark your calendars for this one.

Men’s 400 m hurdles final: Friday, August 9, 9:45 pm Paris, 3:45 pm ET

USA x Netherlands – Women’s 400m Hurdles

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States and Femke Bol of the Netherlands are so far ahead in this race that their 400m hurdles time could have qualified them for Paris in the 400m dash. They are the only two women in history to run this event under 51 seconds, and McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record in the 400 m hurdles at the US Olympic Trials in late June. But in July, Bol warned that she is a real threat to McLaughlin-Levrone’s supremacy: she set a new European record of 50.95 seconds at a meet in Switzerland. According to Olympic information services, Bol’s nickname is Bambi, “given to her by her teammates because she is the youngest and seen as a bit clumsy.”

“We cannot ignore the fact that in recent years, Femke Bol has definitely improved her game,” says Gatlin. “We are at a point where it all comes down to positioning. If Femke has a good track where she feeds off Sydney’s energy and perhaps keeps up or paces her, she can attack down the stretch and run step for step with Sydney.

The GOATs are facing obstacles. “Sydney is clearly the favourite,” Bol said in Paris on Tuesday. “But I’ll be ready for it.”

You don’t want to lose.

Women’s 400 m hurdles final: Thursday, August 8, 9:25 pm Paris, 3:25 pm ET

Great Britain v Norway – Men’s 1,500m

Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway is the current Olympic champion in the 1,500 m. Josh Kerr of Great Britain is the current world champion in the metric mile, having overtaken Ingebrigtsen during a fierce shot in the last 200m at last year’s World Championships. The pair took a war of words to these Olympics. Kerr he said that Ingebrigtsen has a “high ego”, is surrounded by “yes men” and “has some flaws in good manners”. And after Kerr broke Mo Farah’s indoor two-mile world record at the Millrose Games in New York in February, Ingebrigtsen, who didn’t compete in that event, said, “I would have beaten him in that race, blindfolded.”

The Ingebrigtsen-Kerr clash left even Gatlin, who is a sprinter through and through, excited. “It brings a whole different component to the event,” says Gatlin. “Like, yes, there have been rivalries in the past, but never to this level of people talking to each other and actually holding a grudge. When they go out there and run, it makes you want to grab the popcorn and go for a run.”

Men’s 1,500 m final: Tuesday, August 6, 8:50 pm Paris, 3:50 pm ET

India vs Pakistan: Men’s Javelin

This rivalry is much more friendly, which is ironic given the long history of border conflicts and skirmishes between these two countries. In fact, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan even lists Neeraj Chopra of India, the current Olympic and world champion, as his hero in his official Olympic biography. Chopra offered vocal support to Nadeem when he was fighting his federation to secure a new javelin. Nadeem, the flag bearer of Pakistan’s seven-athlete delegation at the opening ceremonies, won silver at last year’s world championships, so he is a clear candidate to end his hero’s gold medal run. He is the first Pakistani to win a medal in the world; the country has never won an Olympic medal in athletics in its history.

Men’s javelin throw final: Thursday, August 8, 8:25 pm Paris, 3:25 pm ET