Photo by Hannah Mckay, Reuters
The 2020 Olympic Games concluded this past weekend in Tokyo, after being delayed one year due to the pandemic. Despite the ongoing restrictions and the lack of fans, the athletes delivered on the biggest stage in sports, as the track & field action was highlighted by three world records and many other historically fast marks. 48 athletes who have previously competed at the Millrose Games represented Team USA in competition, with numerous Millrose alums representing other nations as well. Overall, these athletes earned thirteen gold medals, seven silver medals, and nine bronze medals, a tremendous haul that further solidifies the status of Millrose as the greatest and most historic indoor track & field meet in the world.
One of the highlights of the meet took place on the final day of track competition, as the United States “Dream Team” of Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad, and Athing Mu won gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, running 3:16.85, the fifth fastest time in history. All four of these athletes won individual medals earlier in the meet, and have all won individual golds at some point in their careers. They have also all competed at Millrose in the past, with McLaughlin, Muhammad, and Mu each hailing from the tri-state area. The amount of star power on this elite quartet was truly a sight to behold as they left the rest of the world in the dust, winning by nearly four seconds.
McLaughlin and Muhammad put on a show in the women’s 400m hurdles, taking gold and silver with the two fastest times in history, as McLaughlin broke her own world record in 51.46, with Muhammad close behind in 51.58. Muhammad led over the first nine hurdles, determined to defend her gold from Rio, but McLaughlin was able to find another gear in the closing meters. The world record has now fallen in four consecutive races where these two athletes have faced off, taking the event into another stratosphere.
The 19-year-old phenom Mu powered away from the field in the women’s 800m, winning gold in an American record time of 1:55.21. Mu’s rise to the top of the sport has been meteoric, and still it seems that she is only scratching the surface of her unlimited potential. Raevyn Rogers, who helped set the 4x800m world record at Millrose in 2018, kicked past four athletes down the home straightaway, securing the bronze medal in the process.
Felix, who has already accomplished everything in the sport, added to her greatest of all-time resume with a bronze medal in the women’s 400m, along with her relay gold. Not expected to be a factor entering the meet, the 35-year-old legend found her form at the right time, running 49.46, her fastest time in five years. Felix has now won 11 Olympic medals over the course of her career, surpassing Carl Lewis for the most by any American track athlete. The gold medal in the women's 400m was won by Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, who ran a personal best of 48.36 to top the field. Miller-Uibo had previously tied the world record in the 300m at the 2018 Millrose Games.
Sifan Hassan, the Dutch superstar who won the 2017 Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, attempted perhaps the most ambitious triple in Olympic history, running the 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m over the course of six days. After falling to the track in her 1500m prelim and rallying to win the heat, Hassan returned just twelve hours later to win her first gold in the 5000m, taking down a stacked field in the process. She then claimed a hard-earned bronze in the 1500m final, which was the fastest 1500m race in Olympic history, before toeing the line the next morning in the 10000m. Battling exhaustion and the brutal Tokyo heat, Hassan outlasted the field over 25 laps to win her second gold, etching her name alongside the greatest distance runners ever.
There was an opening for the title of Fastest Man Alive following the retirement of Usain Bolt, and Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse staked his claim, winning three medals in Tokyo. De Grasse, who won his professional debut race at the 2016 Millrose Games, took bronze in the 100m before upsetting fellow Millrose champion Noah Lyles in the 200m to win gold and claim his first global title. De Grasse concluded his tremendous meet by anchoring Canada to bronze in the 4x100m relay.
Rai Benjamin, a 2020 Millrose champion, took silver in the men’s 400m hurdles in what was perhaps the greatest race in the history of track & field. Benjamin ran 46.17, slicing over half a second off the previous world record, but he couldn’t quite catch Norway’s Karsten Warholm, who won gold in an absolutely mind-boggling 45.94. Benjamin gained some redemption later in the meet, linking up with Michael Cherry, another Millrose champion, to win gold for Team USA in the 4x400m relay in 2:55.70, the third-fastest time ever.
The American duo of Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs have been the two best shot putters in the world for over a half a decade, and they proved it once again, repeating their gold and silver finishes from Rio 2016. Crouser, who set the world record at the Olympic Trials in June, came very close to that mark in Tokyo with an epic series that culminated in an Olympic record of 23.30 meters. Kovacs was not far behind with a fourth round toss of 22.65 meters that was further than Crouser’s previous Olympic Record entering competition. In addition to all their accomplishments on the world stage, Crouser and Kovacs have thrilled the Millrose crowd with their duels in 2019 and 2020 from the center of The Armory’s infield.
Emmanuel Korir won the men’s 800m in 1:45.06, marking the fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event for Kenya. Korir also won at the 2018 Millrose Games with a time that remains on the top five all-time indoor list for the 800m.
Briana Williams, the teenage sprint standout who competed at Millrose in 2019, led off the stacked Jamaican women’s 4x100m relay team that stormed to gold in 41.02, the third-fastest time ever. Earning silver was Team USA, which featured three Millrose alums in the final (Javianne Oliver, Jenna Prandini, and Gabby Thomas), along with English Gardner, who competed in the preliminary heat.
World record holder Mondo Duplantis, who broke the high school pole vault record at Millrose in 2017, won gold for Sweden, clearing 6.02 meters. On the women’s side, American Katie Nageotte made it double gold for Millrose competitors, completing her dream season with a winning vault of 4.90 meters.
Full medal results for Millrose Games alumni are below. Millrose Games champions are denoted in bold.
Men’s Events
100m- Andre De Grasse (Canada), Bronze
200m- Andre De Grasse (Canada), Gold
Noah Lyles (USA), Bronze
800m- Emmanuel Korir (Kenya), Gold
1500m- Josh Kerr (Great Britain), Bronze
5000m- Mo Ahmed (Canada), Silver
400m hurdles- Rai Benjamin (USA), Silver
4x100m- Andre De Grasse (Canada), Bronze
4x400m- Michael Cherry/Rai Benjamin (USA), Gold
Shot put- Ryan Crouser (USA), Gold
Joe Kovacs (USA), Silver
Pole vault- Mondo Duplantis (Sweden), Gold
Mixed 4x400m- Vernon Norwood (USA), Bronze
Women’s Events
200m- Gabby Thomas (USA), Bronze
400m- Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas), Gold
Allyson Felix (USA), Bronze
800m- Athing Mu (USA), Gold
Raevyn Rogers (USA), Bronze
1500m- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), Bronze
5000m- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), Gold
10000m- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), Gold
100m hurdles- Keni Harrison (USA), Silver
400 hurdles- Sydney McLaughlin (USA), Gold
Dalilah Muhammad (USA), Silver
4x100m- Briana Williams (Jamaica), Gold
Javianne Oliver/Jenna Prandini/Gabby Thomas/English Gardner (prelim) (USA), Silver
4x400m- Sydney McLaughlin/Allyson Felix/Dalilah Muhammad/Athing Mu/Wadeline Jonathas
(prelim) (USA), Gold
Long jump- Brittney Reese (USA), Silver
Pole vault- Katie Nageotte (USA), Gold
