Track and field 101: What's happened since the Tokyo Olympics? (2024)

The track and field slate for the Paris Olympics is rife with scintillating storylines.

First, a quick refresher on the Tokyo Games:

The Tokyo Olympics delivered three world records: women’s triple jump (Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela), women’s 400m hurdles (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, United States) and men’s 400m hurdles (Karsten Warholm, Norway).

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah also shone bright. She completed a sprint treble, winning gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

The U.S. men’s team, meanwhile, mustered through a frustrating Olympics. After arriving in Tokyo with a chance to win at least five gold medals, the group failed to win a single individual gold for the first time in U.S. Olympic history. The team still earned four silver medals and two bronzes, but they’ll look to rebound in Paris.

Here’s what's happened in the track and field world since Tokyo.

2023 was Noah Lyles’ year. At the World Championships in Budapest, the 26-year-old became the first man to win both the 100m and 200m at the event since Usain Bolt in 2015. He also won gold in the 4x100m relay.

Lyles is bursting with confidence — and should be. After running a personal best 6.51 seconds in the 60m sprint (not an Olympic distance) at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston in February, he told Lewis Johnson of NBC Sports, “We’re coming after everything. All the Olympic medals. I don’t care who wants it. It’s mine.”

Lyles is vying to mirror his World Championships performance in Paris and complete the Olympic treble for the first time since Bolt in London. He previously won bronze in the 200m in Tokyo.

On the women’s side, Sha’Carri Richardson is vying to complete a comeback story after missing the Tokyo Games. Richardson was ruled ineligible to compete in Tokyo after testing positive for cannabis use following her 100m race at the U.S. Trials.

Since that setback, Richardson has won gold in both the 100m and 4x100m relay at 2023 Worlds. She's in the mix to emerge as one of the top stars, across all sports, in Paris.

In mid-February, Kelvin Kiptum, who last year ran the fastest marathon in history,died in a car crashalong with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana in Eldoret, Kenya.

Kiptum was just 24 years old. Hakizimana was 36.

Kiptum blazed to a record time of 2 hours, 35 seconds at the 2023 Chicago Marathon and was widely expected to become the first runner to break the elusive two-hour mark in the marathon.

He also figured to represent Kenya at the Paris Olympics and would have been favored to win gold.

Countryman Eliud Kipchoge, the two-time Olympic champion, is set to run in Paris and will honor Kiptum in doing so.

Since the Tokyo Olympics, more world records have fallen — many of which could soon be broken again in Paris.

Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, smashed the men’s pole vault record, securing a height of 6.23m at the Prefontaine Classic in September 2023.

Norway’s Jacob Ingebrigsten broke the men’s 2000m record, running in 4 minutes, 43.13 seconds in Brussels. Ingebrigsten won gold in the 1500m in Tokyo and will be a favorite again in Paris.

Grant Holloway shattered his own 60m hurdles world record at the U.S. Indoor Championships in February, clocking in at 7.27 seconds. Considered one of the greatest of all-time in men’s hurdles, Holloway has done just about everything but win Olympic gold. He took silver in Tokyo in the men’s 110m hurdles. The three-time world champion has gold on his mind in Paris.

Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma logged a time of 7:52.11 in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, a world record. He won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

Finally, U.S. shot put legend Ryan Crouser broke the world record with a distance of 23.56m at the USATF LA Grand Prix. He’ll contend for his third consecutive Olympic gold in Paris.

In addition to the new Olympic sport of breaking, a brand-new Olympic track and field event will debut in Paris: the marathon race walk mixed relay.

In the new event, 25 teams of two (one male and one female) will complete the marathon distance of 42.195km (26.2 miles) in stages of 10km (6.2) each, alternating as they go. The path will follow the same course as the individual marathon and race walks.

“This format is designed to be innovative, dynamic and unpredictable," Jon Ridgeon, CEO of World Athletics, said in a press release. "We believe it will be easily understood by fans, will offer exciting competition and, above all, will ensure full gender equality across the entire Olympic track and field program for the first time.”

The event will debut on Wednesday, Aug. 7.