Here's a quick update on how New Jersey track and field athletes have performed so far at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Rudy Winkler, who attended Rutgers as a grad student in 2018 and is the American record holder in the hammer throw, finished sixth in the men's hammer on Sunday with a throw of 77.92 meters. That's the highest finish at the Olympics for Winkler, who was also an Olympian in 2016 and 2021.
Winkler, who has captured four U.S. Championships (2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023), was attempting to become the first American to medal in the hammer throw at the Olympics since Lance Deal earned the silver medal in Atlanta in 1996.
In 2021, Winkler, who starred at Averill Park High School (Class of 2013) in upstate N.Y. and was 2017 NCAA champ for Cornell, broke the American record in the hammer when he won the U.S. Championship with a massive 271-4.25 and then placed seventh at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
AIR ORJI TAKES FINAL FLIGHT
Keturah Orji (Mount Olive, Class of 2014) made history by becoming the first American woman to ever compete in three triple jump finals at the Olympics. She placed fourth in Rio in 2016, 7th in Tokyo in 2021, and she concluded her legendary career by placing ninth on Saturday with a mark of 14.05 meters. Orji, who said she's retiring after these Olympics, is the greatest triple jumper in U.S. history.
Orji, who has captured six U.S. Outdoor TJ titles and four U.S. Championships indoors, is the American outdoor record holder in the triple jump with the 48-11 she leaped in 2021 in Chula Vista, California.
She also competed at three outdoor Worlds and four under cover. At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow this past March, Orji again narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth.
WORLD RECORD HOLDER AND DEFENDING CHAMP ROLLS
World record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Union Catholic, Class of 2017) began defense of her 400-meter hurdle title on Sunday with an easy victory in her opening round heat with a time of 53.60. McLaughlin-Levrone will run in the semifinals on Tuesday at 2:07 p.m. The final is scheduled for Thursday at 3:25 p.m.
For those who need a quick history lesson on McLaughlin-Levrone, here you go -
In 2016 when she was just a 16 year-old high school junior, McLaughlin became the youngest athlete to make the Olympic track and field team since Carol Lewis of Willingboro (long jump) and Denean Howard (400) made the 1980 U.S. team, but neither competed in the Olympic Games that year because of the U.S. boycott. When McLaughlin ran in Rio, she was the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to participate in the Olympic Games since 1972 when 15 year-old Cindy Gilbert competed in the high jump.
Five years later, McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400 hurdles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 with a then world record time of 51.46, and also ran on the winning 4x400 relay. A year later, she dropped her world record down to 50.68 when she won the 400 hurdles at the 2022 World Championships at Hayward Field. And now she's on a quest to become the first woman to ever win the 400 hurdles in back-to-back Olympic Games.
NEW JERSEY CONNECTION FOR LYLES
Noah Lyles, who won the men's 100 dash on Sunday in electrifying comeback fashion in 9.79 (9.784) as he outleaned Kishane Thompson of Jamaica (also timed in 9.79 (9.789), has a connection to NJ through his parents, Kevin and Keisha.
Kevin was an All-State sprinter at NJ's Franklin High (Class of 1991) and went on to star at Seton Hall University where he met his wife, known then as Keisha Caine. They both starred for the Pirates under head coach John Moon.
WILSON NARROWLY MISSES ADVANCING
Allie Wilson (Monmouth University, Class of 2019) failed to advance to the semifinals of the women's 800. Wilson ran 1:59.69 to place sixth in her opening round heat, which landed her in the Repechage Round. Needing to win her heat or run one of the two fastest times of the non-heat winners in the Repechage Round, Wilson placed third in 1:59.73, just .08 behind the final time qualifier, Valentina Rosamilia of Switzerland, who ran 1:59.65 in the same heat as Wilson.