Track and field recap, Aug. 6: Hocker wins 1500m final in a shocker

Men's 400m semifinals: Scorching-fast times highlighted the day's men's 400m semifinals. 31-year-old Grenadian Kirani James blazed around the track in just 43.78 seconds, just 0.14 off his lifetime best. In the final on Wednesday, he'll run for his fourth consecutive 400m Olympic medal. U.S. athletes Quincy Hall, Michael Norman and Chris Bailey all moved into the Olympic final, as well. Norman was noticeably grimacing after a slow start but stormed down the stretch to post a 44.26 and qualify for the final.

"I made a mistake," Norman said after his race. "I was too patient through the first 200 (meters). I have to make some slight adjustments for the final. It'll be a lot better."

Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith, the reigning world silver medalist, cruised through his semi and will go for his first Olympic medal on Wednesday.

Women's 400m hurdles semifinals: World record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made it official: She’s bound for her second Olympic final, where she’ll defend her Tokyo Olympic title a day after her 25th birthday. McLaughlin-Levrone ran her semi in 52.13 seconds to breeze into the final. That time is the fastest ever in a women’s 400m hurdles semifinal at an Olympics.

“You work all year to get here,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “What you’ve done is what keeps you here.”

Fellow Americans Jasmine Jones and Anna Cockrell also advanced to the final, as did Dutch superstar Femke Bol, who ran an jaw-dropping anchor leg in the Netherlands’ gold medal victory in the mixed 4x400m relay on Aug. 3. Next up is Thursday’s final, which features a highly anticipated McLaughlin-Levrone vs. Bol showdown. They’ve met twice in history, with McLaughlin-Levrone winning both.

Women's 1500m Round 1: Americans Nikki Hiltz, Elle St. Pierre and Emily Mackay all advanced to Thursday's semifinal, along with with top contenders for gold like Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and Great Britain's Laura Muir.

"I'm officially an Olympian now," Mackay said after her heat. "I couldn't be more happy about that. The energy is insane here. I'm super excited to get this party started."

Kipyegon and Tsegay were back in action just over 12 hours removed from scintillating controversy in Monday's women's 5000m final, which stemmed from shoving between those two. After a brief disqualification, Kipyegon rightly secured her silver medal.

“I went back to the Village and took a nap," Kipyegon said of the quick turnaround. "I knew I had another day today and another distance and I had to wake up strong and keep going."

Women's long jump qualification: Tokyo Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany fouled on her first two attempts to complicate things but leapt a solid 6.86 meters on her third try to advance to the final, where she'll defend her gold medal. American Tara Davis-Woodhall, who won gold at 2024 World Indoors, posted the top jump of 6.90m.

"I've never seen this many people in the stands before," Davis-Woodhall said of the Stade de France environment. "I'm just so happy to be here."

Fellow U.S. star Jasmine Moore, who took bronze in the women's triple jump last week, opened her quest for two medals by cruising through with a 6.66m jump. Moore is the first U.S. woman to contest both events in an Olympic career, let alone at a single Olympic Games. Monae' Nichols moved on, as well, which means all three American athletes are through to the final.

Women's 400m repechages: American Kendall Ellis sailed through her repechage in 50.44 seconds to join U.S. teammates Alexis Holmes and Aaliyah Butler in Wednesday's semis. 

"I was shaking the nerves off and the dust off. I came in today with a better mentality. I was so down yesterday, but I have such a great support system that wasn't going to let me do that. I'm so thankful for them."

Two-time defending Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas bowed out of the Olympics after running just 53.50 seconds and finishing seventh in her heat.

Men's javelin qualification: Defending Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra's toss of 89.34m booked his spot in the men's javelin Olympic final, set for Thursday at Stade de France. In Tokyo, Chopra earned India's first-ever Olympic gold medal in track and field. Soon, he'll go for gold No. 2. Fellow medal contenders Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia and Anderson Peters of Grenada also advanced. Curtis Thompson, the only American in the event, didn't move on.

Men's 400m hurdles repechages: American Trevor Bassitt posted a time of 48.64 seconds to sail through his repechage and clinch a spot in Wednesday's semis. Bassitt, who took world bronze in 2022, will join U.S. teammates Rai Benjamin and CJ Allen in the next round.

"A medal," Bassitt said of his expectations in Paris. "I didn't do myself any favors yesterday, but we're moving on.

Men's 200m repechages: France's Ryan Zeze posted a time of 20.40 seconds to move into Wednesday's semis. Canadians Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney advanced, as well, along with three others. The men's 200m semis will feature Noah Lyles continuing his quest to become the first American man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to achieve the 100m-200m double at the Olympics.

Men's 110m hurdles repechages: After intentionally jogging through his heat on Sunday due to a nagging injury, American Freddie Crittenden breezed through his repechage round in 13.42 seconds to advance to the men's 110m hurdles semifinals.

"I had a little bit of aggravation in my adductor yesterday," Crittenden explained to NBC Sports' Lewis Johnson on Sunday. "The idea was to get through and ... give it everything I've got on Tuesday."

Crittenden did just that, and he'll compete in the men's 110m hurdles semis on Wednesday.