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Sprinters seek post-Bolt gold on Day 3 Of Olympic athletics

World record holder Karsten Warholm needs to book his place in the Olympic 400 metre hurdles final

World record holder Karsten Warholm needs to book his place in the Olympic 400 metre hurdles final
World record holder Karsten Warholm needs to book his place in the Olympic 400 metre hurdles final

The third day of athletics at the Tokyo Olympics takes place on Sunday. AFP Sport looks at five stand-out events:

- Men's 100m - Final -

Bolt retired after the 2017 world championships in London, after taking three consecutive Olympic 100m titles in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro, as well as three straight 200m crowns.

US teammates Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley have been left holding the baton while Canada's Andre de Grasse and South African Akani Simbine are sure to offer some decent competition.

New Zealand veteran Valerie Adams is the first shot putter in history to reach five Olympic finals, and will bid to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic field event three times.

Competition comes in the form of China's Gong Lijiao, who has topped the world lists in three of the last four seasons and is the best so far this year, throwing 20.39m in June.

All eyes will be on Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas, who has brought joy to her troubled nation with back-to-back world triple jump titles.

Having won silver in Rio, it looks like there is little to stop her going one better.

- Men's high jump - Final -

Barshim, 30, won Olympic bronze in 2012 (later upgraded to silver after Russia's Ivan Ukhov was stripped of the gold for doping) and silver in 2016 before winning his two world titles.

But rivals for gold include authorised neutral athletes Ilya Ivanyuk and Mikhail Akimenko, plus Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi.

- Men's 400m hurdles - Semi-finals -

Both safely negotiated their heats, with the final to be held Tuesday.

Warholm held off Benjamin in a thrilling duel at the 2019 world championships in Doha, and the rivalry between the pair should guarantee a spectacle.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/sprinters-seek-postbolt-gold-on-day-3-of-olympic-athletics/news-story/2c60f7432ba702ce8ffed1392ea7e6ca