Day 11 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was a cracker with a huge world record set on the track in the men’s 400m hurdles final won by Norway’s Karsten Warholm.
The new champion only broke the 29-year-old record last month but clocked 45.94 seconds in Tokyo taking almost a second off his previous world best of 46.70secs he set in Oslo at the start of July. He finished ahead of the USA’s Rai Benjamin (46.17s) and Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos (46.72s). Later, Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson won a fabulous silver medal in the 800m as American 19-year-old Athing Mu stormed to gold before Jamaican star Elaine Thompson-Herah completed the sprint double-double, adding the 200m crown to her 100m title just as she did in Rio.
Gymnastics queen Simone Biles returned to action on Tuesday in the balance beam final after withdrawing from the team final after just one rotation a week ago. After taking herself out of competition citing mental health concerns and the “twisties” she produced a phenomenal routine to claim bronze, just as she did five years ago.
Elsewhere, Laura and Jason Kenny both claimed silver medals in track cycling finals. Laura finished second in the team pursuit behind Germany while Jason came in behind Netherlands in the team sprint to equal Bradley Wiggins as Britain’s most decorated Olympian with eight medals.
