Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson got her Olympic 800m title bid off to a winning start as Joshua Cheptegei claimed his first track gold at Paris 2024 in the 10,000m.
Hodgkinson, 22, is aiming for her first world crown after finishing second at successive World Championships since claiming an impressive silver on her Olympic debut as a teenager in Tokyo.
She controlled her heat from the front to finish in one minute 59.31 seconds and qualify for Sunday’s semi-finals, where she will be joined by team-mates Jemma Reekie and 17-year-old Phoebe Gill.
World record holder Cheptegei of Uganda sprinted quickly on the final lap to set an Olympic record of 26:43.14 and claim the first gold on the striking purple track inside the Stade de France.
The 27-year-old, a three-time world 10,000m champion, finished ahead of Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi and bronze medallist Grant Fisher of the United States.
Elsewhere, Great Britain will be vying for a medal in the mixed 4x400m relay on Saturday after the quartet of Samuel Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson and Nicole Yeargin set a national record by winning their heat in 3:10.61.
The United States qualified fastest for that final with a new world record of 3:07.41.
Team GB’s Scott Lincoln failed to qualify for the shot put final with a best throw of 19.69m.
The French athletes were passionately supported throughout the evening and, in one notable moment, the men’s 400m decathlon was delayed by loud chants of ‘Allez les Bleus’ when swimming superstar Leon Marchand won her fourth gold of the Games.
Josh Kerr and rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen remain on course for their long-awaited Olympic gold medal showdown after both classified in their men’s 1500m heats in the morning session on Friday.
Hodgkinson starts confidently and the three Britons advance
Thanks to a combination of his own sustained development and determination, and the misfortune suffered by one of his greatest rivals, Paris represents Hodgkinson’s best chance yet of world gold after a series of near-fatal failures.
The Briton has run a second faster than any other woman this year after breaking her own national record with 1:54.61 at the Diamond League in London a fortnight ago, having defended her European title in June despite battling illness.
With Athing Mu unable to defend her Olympic title after falling at the US trials, one of the “big three” in the women’s 800m has been taken out of the equation, leaving Kenya’s reigning world champion Mary Moraa as the biggest threat to Hodgkinson.
Moraa placed second in her heat, with her time of 1:57.95 the second fastest overall, behind Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:57.90).
“The knockout stages are worse than the final. In the final you know you’re giving it your all,” Hodgkinson said.
“You have to compete with people who give their all. You have to keep your energy up, but at the same time you have to avoid making mistakes. I’m glad we’re done, the semi-finals will be more fun.”
Mu’s absence has also opened the door for the other two Britons, with Reekie, 26, hoping to overcome her agonising fourth-place finish in Tokyo and Gill looking to ride the wave of a sensational season.
Reekie won the first heat in 2:00.00, while Gill, Britain’s youngest track Olympian in 40 years, finished third in her race in 1:58.83.
Gill said: “It’s the Olympics, it’s the ultimate athletics competition, and seeing my face on the screen I tried my best not to cry.”
What’s happening in athletics on Saturday?
British sprinters Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Imani-Lara Lansiquot will attempt to reach the women’s 100m final at 18:50 BST.
American world champion Sha’Carri Richardson and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a two-time Olympic 100m gold medallist, will also be in action in the semi-finals, with the final taking place at 20:20.
Before that, Great Britain will contest the mixed 4x400m relay final at 19:55.
The men’s 100m competition gets underway during Saturday’s morning session, with Team GB’s world bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes, rising star Louie Hinchliffe and Jeremiah Azu contesting the first round from 10:55.
This will also mark the start of American Noah Lyles’ bid for a potential total of four golds in Paris.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis will begin his quest for a fourth consecutive world gold when the men’s pole vault qualification gets underway from 09:10.