With all due respect to the swimmers, skateboarders, shooters, and gymnasts, the Olympics are finally underway for real.

The world’s best athletes hit the purple track inside the Stade de France for the first time yesterday, dropping fast times in events ranging from the 100m to the 10,000m and thrilling the 80,000-strong crowd of track and field fans. The first Olympic medals were handed out on the track, and two of the three were first timers: Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi and American Grant Fisher, who upgraded from fourth and fifth in Tokyo to podium positions in the 10,000m final. Up front, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei won his first Olympic 10,000m gold in championship-record form, but it wasn’t his first time: Cheptegei now has two Olympic golds (he won the 5000m in Tokyo), four global titles over 10,000m, and has finished no lower than second in every global final in the event going back to 2017.

The day started with the initial rounds of the women’s 100m and men’s 1500m, where most, if not all, the medal favorites advanced, but the 1500m in particular will feature an intriguing lineup in the “repechage” round, a new addition to the Olympic format where non-qualifiers get a second chance at advancing. Experienced, talented runners like Great Britain’s George Mills, Spaniard Mario Garcia Romo, and all three Australians will do battle for a spot in the semifinal this afternoon.

In the 100m, reigning World champ Sha’Carri Richardson and two-time Olympic champ Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce both advanced cleanly, leading full rosters of Americans and Jamaicans into the semifinals. The women’s 800m and 5000m also didn’t feature many surprises, as heavy hitters like Keely Hodgkinson and Faith Kipyegon controlled their respective prelims. Plus, Dutch superstar Sifan Hassan completed race one of four, as she’s attempting the audacious 5000m-10,000m-marathon triple over the course of the next nine days.

The most exciting part of Day 2 (if you count yesterday’s race walks as Day 1) was the mixed-gender 4x400m prelims, where Team USA broke its own world record in the qualifying round with a 3:07.41 clocking, knocking over a second of the Americans’ winning time from Budapest 2023. The quartet of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown will head into final the heavy favorites thanks to a pair of 44-low splits from the men and 49-mid splits from the women.

Our CITIUS MAG crew kicked off the festivities as well with an on-the-ground report from the GOOD MORNING TRACK AND FIELD crew featuring Eric Jenkins, Mitch Dyer, and Karen Leisewicz, then unpacked all the action with the TORCH TALK podcast after the meet. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and Spotify for daily reports straight from the heart of Paris.

What To Watch On Day 3

A new Olympic decathlon champion will be crowned at the end of the day, as NCAA champ Leo Neugebauer (representing Germany) heads into Day 2 of the competition with the lead. We’ll also get the semifinals and then finals of the women’s 100m, along with the finals of the mixed 4x400m relay.

The first field event medals of the Olympics will be handed out in the men’s shot put and women’s jump, where Ryan Crouser will attempt to defend his crown for his third Olympic title and the absence of Yulimar Rojas means a new triple jump champion will be named. We’ll also get our first glimpse of Noah Lyles, Kishane Thompson, and the rest of the men’s 100m field in the morning’s first round.

We’ll also see repechage in action for the first time as the women’s 800m and men’s 1500m runners get their first shot at a second chance. In case you’re still torn or confused about repechage, Aisha Praught-Leer’s explanation of how repechage rounds came about and why they’re fun is a must-watch.

You can find a full schedule and live results here.

Race of the Day: Men’s 10,000m

This race had everything: team tactics, long-running rivalries, blistering kicks, redemption stories, and generational talent were all on display – along with some seriously fast times.

Behind Joshua Cheptegei’s third straight title and eight career global medal were too many incredible performances to count. 13 men dipped under 27 minutes and Kenenisa Bekeke’s 27:01.17 championship record, led by Cheptegei’s 26:43.14, setting three national records in the process. Berihu Aregawi and Grant Fisher, two runners who’ve consistently been knocking on the door of greatness for the last several championships, both picked up their first Olympic medals to the excitement of the roaring crowd.

Fisher in particular got his Olympic moment years in the making – in three 10,000m appearances over the last four years, he’s finished 5th, 4th, and 3rd. After missing the World Championships last year with an injury and changing coaches and training locations within the last year, this bronze medal has to feel like a validation of his big bet on himself.

You’ve gotta feel for guys like Canadian Moh Ahmed, who missed out on his second Olympic medal in his third Olympics by 0.36 seconds, or Adriaan Wildschutt, the Florida State-turned-NAZ Elite star who represents South Africa, who got a huge PB and national record of 26:50.64 but only finished 10th. Big kudos as well to Nico Young, who finished 12th in 26:58.11 in his Olympic debut, and Frenchman Jimmy Gressier. You’d think Gressier had won the whole thing by the way the crowd roared for his 26:58.67 national record.

In the end, Cheptegei’s prodigious talent was too much for the field. While the Ugandan has dealt with minor injuries over the years, his ability to perform in championships is simply undeniable. The world record holder has shown he can win in fast races or slow; kicking from the back or leading from the front. When Cheptegei transitions to the roads full-time, he’ll be sorely missed on the oval, but his rivals will certainly appreciate the opportunity to not have to battle him for 10,000m medals any longer.

Athlete of the Day: Kaylyn Brown

Can we take a moment and appreciate what a year Kaylyn Brown is having before it’s over?!

The Team USA debutante is only 19 years old and yet she’s made the most of her freshman year at the University of Arkansas, finishing runner-up to teammate Nickisha Price at NCAAs in the 400m, winning a national title on the 4x400m relay, clocking seven sub-50 second performances in the open 400m capped by a 49.13 personal best, and finishing fourth in her first Olympic Trials.

That fourth place was enough to land Brown a spot in the Team USA relay pool, where she anchored the mixed-gender 4x400m to a new world record with a 49.45 split. It’s one thing to deliver on the biggest possible stage; it’s going above and beyond to perform when you’ve got a whole team counting on you and you’re still a teenager yet.

With the final of the mixed relay and possibly the women’s 4x400m still to come, Brown’s season could easily end in one or more Olympic medals. But even if it doesn’t, it’s still incredible to see a young star rise to every new challenge with poise and determination.

Photo of the Day:

Team USA’s Karissa Schweizer and Elise Cranny embrace after the finish line of the women’s 5000m prelims. Americans will have all three athletes in the final after Schweizer, Cranny, and Whittni Morgan all advanced.

Social Moment of the Day:

NFL star J.J. Watt is a big fan of the 10,000m, and you should be too. The next time someone says “10ks are boring,” send them this tweet.