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5 athletes who failed to defend their title at the Paris Olympics ft. Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Andre De Grasse
The Paris Olympics, concluded on August 11. It witnessed multiple brilliant performances and several dominant triumphs. However, there were some athletes who were poised to defend their 2020 Tokyo Olympic title in Paris but failed to accomplish their goal.
Some of the athletes who had high hopes of getting a second consecutive gold medal win at the 2024 Summer Games include Norwegian long-distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Canadian runner Andre De Grasse, and a few more. Let's dive deep into the names of those who couldn't defend their titles at the Paris Olympics.
#1 Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Jakob Ingebrigtsen competed in two events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including the 5000m and 1500m dashes. The 23-year-old was the defending champion of the 1500m race, having won gold at the Tokyo Olympics after clocking a time of 3:28.32.
However, the Norwegian failed to defend his Olympic crow and finished fourth in the event after recording a time of 3:28.24. He was bested by one of his arch-rivals, Josh Kerr, who secured silver with a time of 3:27.79, while American athlete Cole Hocker clinched gold after setting an Olympic record of 3:27.65.
Ingebrigtsen, on the other hand, won gold in the 5000m race by registering a time of 13:13.66 and trouncing Ronald Kwemoi and Grant Fisher, who secured second and third place, respectively.
#2 Andre de Grasse
Another big name who failed to defend his Tokyo Olympics title in Paris was the Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse. He was the 200m Olympic champion in the 2020 Summer Games, having clocked 19.62s in the event and defeating American athletes Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles, who secured second and third place, respectively.
However, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 29-year-old failed to qualify for the 200m finals. He finished third with a time of 20.41s in the semi final heat of the event, but was eliminated from the race after the athlete who secured third place in the next heat scored better than him, breaking the Canadian's Paris Olympics 200m dream. He still won one gold in the men's 4x100m relay race alongside his team.
#3 Caeleb Dressel
Caeleb Dressel competed in five events at the Paris Olympics, including the men's 4x100m medley relay, mixed 4x100m medley relay, men's 100m butterfly, men's 50m freestyle, and men's 4x100m freestyle relay. He was the defending champion of the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle events but couldn't continue his gold medal streak at the Paris Olympics.
In 2020, Dressel won the 100m butterfly with a world record of 49.45s but couldn't even attain a podium finish at Paris 2024, as he finished fifth after clocking a time of 51.57s. The gold medal was clinched by the French swimmer, Maxime Grousset, who produced 50.41s.
Similarly, in the 50m freestyle event, the swimmer won the gold medal in 2020 by setting an Olympic record of 21.07s, but ended up with the sixth place win in Paris, as he clocked 21.61s and the first place was claimed by Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy.
#4 Marcell Jacobs
Marcel Jacobs was the defending champion of the men's 100m race at the Paris Olympics. He won the event at the Tokyo Games three years ago by clocking a time of 9.80s. He defeated Fred Kerley, who recorded 9.84s, and Andre De Grasse with 9.89s to claim first place. However, he couldn't defend his title at the 2024 Summer Games, as he finished fifth with a time of 9.85s. The first place was claimed by the heavy favorite, Noah Lyles, who produced a blistering speed of 9.79s.
#5 Sifan Hassan
The Dutch middle-distance runner Sifan Hassan competed in three events at the Paris Olympics, namely, the women's marathon, 10,000m, and 5000m. She was the defending champion in the 10,000m and the 5000m events, as she won gold in both events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, clocking timings of 29:55.32 and 14:36.79, respectively.
While Hassan was unable to replicate her heroics from Tokyo, she did manage to win bronze in both the 5000m and 10000m events.
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