Paris Olympics 2024 Athletics: Women's Field Events Preview

Posted by: Watch Athletics

The track and field action at the Paris Olympics will kick off on Friday, August 2. The women's field events promise to be as thrilling as the track events, showcasing the world’s brightest athletes as they compete for medals and aim to break records. In this preview, we'll explore the star athletes who are set to defend their titles, as well as the emerging talents poised to surprise the world with their remarkable performances. From the high jump to the hammer throw, these competitions are set to captivate audiences and highlight the incredible prowess of female athletes on the global stage.

Women’s long jump: 

Malaika Mihambo won her second European gold medal with a world leading mark of 7.22m, setting the second best performance of her career, just 8 cm off her PB of 7.30m set in 2019, when she won the world outdoor gold medal in Doha. 

She was forced to miss the World Championships in Budapest due to a harmstring injury. 

This year Mihambo won the Diamond League in London with 6.87m. 

“This means so much for me to come back again after all those years of change, crisis, grief and sorrow, but I grew personally through all of that and now I am mentally stronger as ever before”, said Mihambo. 

Tara Davis Woodhall won her first international medal last August, when she finished second to Ivana Spanovic at the World Championships in Budapest. The US jumper won the US Indoor title with 7.18m in Albuquerque and the world indoor gold medal with 7.07m. She added these medals to her collection that includes the world under 18 title in 2015 and the world under 20 bronze medal in 2018, two US titles in 2023 and 2024 and NCAA Indoor and outdoor titles in 2021. 

Larissa Iapichino won the European silver medal behind Mihambo with 6.94m, one cm off her outdoor PB of 6.95m set last year when she won the Diamond League competition in Monaco. Iapichino won the fourth Diamond League win of the career in Paris with 6.82m and finished third in London with 6.70m. The Italian jumper will try to follow in the footsteps of her mother Fiona May, who won two Olympic silver medals in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. 

Jasmine Moore leapt to 6.98m to finish second to Davis Woodhall at the US Trials and won the NCAA indoor titles in both the long and triple jump in 2022 and 2023. 

Ivana Spanovic won her first world outdoor medal in Budapest with 7.14m ahead of Davis Woodhall and Alina Rotatu Kottman. 

Agate De Sousa from Portugal leapt to 6.91m to win the European bronze medal in Rome and finished second at the London Diamond League meeting with 6.75m. 

The other final candidates are Ackelia Smith from Jamaica, NCAA champion in the long and triple jump in 2024, world under 20 champion Plamena Mitkova, who jumped 6.97m this year, Natalia Linares from Colombia, world under 20 silver medallist in Cali 2022, former heptathlete Martha Koala from Burkina Faso, winner at the Diamond League meeting in Suzhou, and Eze Brume from Nigeria, Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo 2021 and world silver medallist in Eugene 2022.

Women’s high jump: 

Yaroslava Mahuchik set the world record in the women’s high jump clearing 2.10m in her first attempt at the Diamond League meeting In the Charlety Stadium in Paris on 7 July. Mahuchik won the Olympic bronze in Tokyo 2021 at the age of 19 on her debut at this event and went on to win the world gold medal in Budapest last year. 

Yaroslava Mahuchik: “My coach told me that maybe I should stop after setting the national record of 2.07m at the Paris Diamond League meeting with the Olympic Games coming up, of course it is more important, but I felt inside I could do it, and, to be honest, I wanted to try the world record. And I did it at my first attempt. I am looking forward to the Olympic Games here. I am sure it will be a great competition, and even better atmosphere, but I know it will be hard, and will be very competitive. In a major event like the Olympics, you really need to be mentally strong, and like my coach says, it is a celebration and you should definitely enjoy it”. 

Nicola Olyslagers equalled her Oceanian record with 2.03m to win the world indoor title in Glasgow. She sustained a minor injury last June, but she returned to her best shape by clearing 2.01 in Paris. 

Patterson cleared a seasonal best of 1.95m, but she has already shown her ability to perform well when it matters most. The Australian jumper won the world title in Eugene with 2.02m and came back from a long injury lay-off to win the world silver in Budapest. 

Angelina Topic won the European silver medal with 1.97m in Rome two years after claiming bronze in Munich 2022 when she was 17. Topic equalled her Serbian record with 1.98m to finish third behind Mahuchik and Olyslagers in Paris. Angelina is coached by her father Dragutin Topic, who won the European gold medal in Split 1990 and set a PB of 2.37m. Her mother Biljana Topic won the world bronze medal in the triple jump in Berlin 2009. 

The other potential candidates for the final are Iryna Gerashchenko from Ukraine, fourth at the World Championships in Eugene with 2.00m and European Championships in Rome with 1.95m, Jamaica’s Lamara Distin and USA’s Rachel Glenn, who both cleared 2.00m during last indoor season. Glenn also improved her PB to 53.46 in the 400 metres hurdles. 

Women’s triple jump: 

Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba leads the entry list with her PB of 14.96m set at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in the most competitive contest of the season. Perez Hernandez is unbeaten this season and leapt to a wind-assisted 15.16m in Guadalajara last month. Cuba will be also represented by Liadagmis Povea, who finished sixth at the World Championships in Budapest and holds a PB of 14.93m. 

Thea Lafond from Dominica won the world indoor gold medal improving her PB to 15.01m in Glasgow. Lafond finished 12th in her first Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021. 

Ana Peleteiro Compaoré from Spain improved her PB to 14.87m to win the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo. The Spanish triple jumper won the world indoor bronze medal in Glasgow last March and the European outdoor gold medal with her seasonal best of 14.85m in Rome last June. 

World silver medallist Maryna Beck Romanchuk from the Ukraine missed the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and the European Championships in Rome due to an injury and opened her season with a third place with 14.81m in Monaco. 

Shanieka Ricketts, who was flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony of these Olympic Games, leads a strong Jamaican team which also features 2024 NCAA champion Ackelia Smith and three-time Olympic finalist Kimberly Williams. Ricketts won two world silver medals in Doha 2019 and Eugene 2023 and improved her PB to 15.03m at the Diamond League final in Eugene last year. 

Tuga Danismaz from Turkey won the European indoor Championships in Istanbul beating Italy’s Dariya Derkach and won the European outdoor silver medal in Rome with a PB of 14.57m. Derkach finished eighth in the World Championships in Budapest with 14.38m and improved her PB to 14.52m at the Diamond League final in Eugene last year. 

Another athlete to watch is Ilionis Guillaume from France, who won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Rome with 14.43m and improved her PB to 14.59m in Guadalajara. 

World record holder Yulimar Rojas has been forced to skip the entire 2024 season due to an achilles tendon injury. 

Women’s pole vault: 

World indoor champion Molly Caudery leads the world seasonal list with her PB of 4.92m set in Toulouse. The British vaulter won the world indoor gold medal in front of her home fans in Glasgow with 4.80m and the European bronze medal in Rome with 4.73m. Caudery made her breakthrough last year when she set a personal best with 4.75m to finish fifth at the World Championships in Budapest. She improved this mark to 4.83m last January, and added her PB by two centimetres to 4.85m to win the British title before clearing 4.86m in Rouen. 

Nina Kennedy agreed to share the world gold medal with Olympic champion Katie Moon at 4.90m in Budapest last year. 

Kennedy won the final Diamond League competition before the Olympic Games by clearing 4.85m in London, as Caudery finished third with 4.65m. 

Moon is fourth on the world seasonal list with 4.85m and won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with 4.90m and two back-to-back titles in Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023. 

Angelica Moser from Switzerland, fifth at the World Championships in Budapest with 4.75m, equalled the national record of 4.78m to win the European gold medal in Rome. The Swiss vaulter improved her national record by 10 cm to 4.88m to finish second to Kennedy on countback at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco. 

Eliza McCartney from New Zealand won the world silver medal with 4.80m behind Caudery on countback and is fourth on the world seasonal list with 4.84m. 

Wilma Murto from Finland won gold medals at the European Championships in Munich 2022 with  a personal best of 4.85m and at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul 2023.  

Katerina Stefanidi from Greece,  Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro 2016, returned to her best form last June when she won the European silver medal in Rome with 4.73m. 

Italian record holder Roberta Bruni recently showed her good form when she cleared 4.66m in Monaco and 4.65m in London.

Women’s shot put: 

Defending champion Gong Lijao from China will defend her 2021 Olympic gold medal 16 years after her Olympic debut in Beijing 2008, when she won the Olympic bronze medal. She also collected the Olympic silver in 2016 and two world gold medals. 

Sarah Mitton improved her national record by 35 cm to move to the top of the world seasonal list with 20.68m last May. Mitton did not get through to the final at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but she came back in the past two seasons by winning a silver at the World Championships in Budapest 2023 and a gold at the World indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024. 

Chase Jackson is chasing her first Olympic gold medal after winning two world titles in a row. Jackson set a national record of 20.76m at the Diamond League final in Eugene and won two consecutive world outdoor titles in 2022 and 2023. She has won six of her eight competitions this year and threw over the 20 metres in five of these events. 

Raven Saunders finished second at the US Trials in Eugene, setting the second best mark of her career, just 6 cm off the PB of 19.96 she set in 2021.

The US team will be completed by Jaida Ross, who won the NCAA title and set a PB of 20.01m. 

Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands won the European gold medal in Rome and improved her PB to 20.33m in Hengelo. 

Yemisi Ogunleye from Germany won the world indoor silver medal in Glasgow with 20.19m and improved her outdoor PB to 19.53m in Schoenebeck in her last competition before the Olympic Games in Paris. 

Maddison Lee Wesche from New Zealand is looking to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot Valerie Adams, who won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012. Lee Wesche finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. 

Women’s discus throw: 

Defending champion Valarie Allman set the best performance in the world this year among the entrants with the seasonal best of 70.89m she threw in the qualifying round of the US Olympic Trials in Eugene last June. She went on to retain her US title with 70.73m three days later in the final where she surpassed the 67 metres barrier in all five of her valid throws. 

Allman won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021 before claiming two world medals (bronze in Eugene 2022 and silver in Budapest 2023). The US thrower has remained unbeaten this season and won four Diamond League competitions in Xiamen (69.80m), Suzhou (69.88m), Eugene (67.36m) and Paris (68.07m). 

Five other throwers on the entry list have thrown beyond the 67 metres barrier: Feng Bin from China, world champion in Eugene 2022, two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic Elkasevic from Croatia, 2023 NCAA champion Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands, Marike Steinacker from Germany and USA’s Veronica Fraley. 

Elkasevic won her seventh European gold medal in a row in Rome with a seasonal best of 67.04. The Croatian discus thrower is aiming to win her third Olympic gold medals after her triumphs in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. With a win in the French capital Elkasevic would equal Anita Wlodarczyk, who is the only athlete to have won the same individual event in three editions of the Olympic Games. 

Feng followed her world gold medal in Eugene (69.12m) with bronze in Budapest (68.20m). The Chinese thrower won the Diamond League in Oslo with a seasonal best of 67.89m.

Steinacker finished second behind Feng Bin with her PB of 67.31m in Wiesbaden last May. The German team will be represented by 2021 Olympic silver medallist Kristin Pudenz. 

Van Klinken won two European silver medals in the discus throw and shot put in Rome and finished fourth in the discus throw at the past two editions of the World Championships in Eugene and Budapest. 

This year’s NCAA champion Veronica Fraley finished second to Yaimé Perez with a lifetime best of 67.31m in Ramona and third at the US Trials in Eugene behind Allman and Jayden Ulrich. 

French 45-year-old veteran Melina Robert Michon will take part at the Olympic Games for the seventh time in her career. Robert Michon, who was the French flagbearer during the Opening Ceremony of these Olympic Games, will equal the record number of appearances for a woman in track and field at the Olympic Games. She won the Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016. 

Women’s javelin throw: 

Haruka Kitaguchi from Japan will seek to add the Olympic gold medal to the world title she won in Budapest last year. Kitaguchi became the first Japanese woman to win a senior global medal in any throwing event, when she finished third at the World Championships in Eugene 2022. She upgraded bronze into gold at the World Championships in Budapest with a final round effort of 66.73m. in the Hungarian capital Kitaguchi overtook Colombia’s Flor Ruiz, who had taken the early lead with a South American record of 65.47m in the first round. 

Kitaguchi took the win at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco with a seasonal best of 65.21m on the final round. 

Ruiz improved her South American record to a world leading mark of 66.70m last May at the Ibero American Championships. 

World bronze medallist Mackenzie Little from Australia won at the London Diamond League meeting moving to second on the world seasonal list with 66.27m. 

Adriana Vilagos from Serbia won the European silver medal with a national record of 64.42m and improved her best mark to 65.58m to finish second at the London Diamond League. 

Austria’s Victoria Hudson won the European gold medal in Rome with 64.62m. 

Maggie Malone Hardin set a seasonal best of 65.00m and won at the US Trials with 64.42m. 

The other athletes to watch are this year’s European bronze medallist Marie Therese Obst from Norway, Rhema Otabor from Bahamas, NCAA champion this season and 2021 Olympic silver medallist Marja Andrejczyk from Poland. 

Women’s hammer throw: 

Camryn Rogers from Canada is aiming to add the Olympic gold medal one year after claiming the world title in Budapest. Rogers finished fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, took the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the world silver medal in Eugene in 2022. 

DeAnna Price finished second at the US Trials to qualify for her third Olympic Games and holds a seasonal best of 77.16m. Price set a North American record of 2021, but she finished eighth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo later that year. She won the world title in Doha 2019 and finished third at the World Championships in Budapest before winning the Panamerican title later last year. 

Annette Echikwonoke took a surprising win at the US Trials with a seasonal best of 74.68m. 

Brooke Anderson set a world leading performance of 79.92m but she fouled three times in the US Trials final. Janee Kassanavoid, two-time world championships medallist, placed at the US Trials. 

Italian record holder Sara Fantini won the European gold medal in Rome with 74.18 beating Anita Wlodarczyk. The daughter of former Olympic shot put finalist Corrado Fantini won the European bronze medal in Munich and reached two world finals (fourth in Eugene and sixth in Budapest). 

Anita Wlodarczyk is the only athlete in history to win three Olympic titles in a single athletics discipline and holds a world record of 82.98m. She returned to her best shape last June when she won the European silver medal in Rome. 

The other names to watch are China’s 21-year-old Zhao Jie, who won the Asian title last year and improved her PB to 75.42mm, Zhalina Marghieva from Moldova  and Krista Tervo from Finland, who set national records this year with 75.95m and 74.63m respectively. 

Women’s heptathlon: 

Nafissatou Thiam won the European gold medal in the heptathlon in Rome setting the third best performance of her career with 6848 points. Her series included 1.95m in the high jump, 53.00m in the javelin throw, 15.05m in the shot put and a PB of 2:11.79 in the 800 metres. If she wins the gold medal, Thiam would become the first woman to win three heptathlon titles at the Olympic Games. 

Katarina Johnson Thompson was the only athlete, who was able to beat Thiam in a major championships combined events competition, when she won the 2019 world gold medal breaking Jessica Ennis Hill’s British record with 6981 points. Johnson Thompson won her second world gold medal in Budapest with 6740 points. She took part at the European Championships in Rome, but she withdrew from the competition due to a minor leg injury, but she returned to her best shape with seasonal best performances of 13.33m in the shot put and 6.54m in the long jump. 

Anouk Vetter from the Netherlands won the world silver medal in Eugene 2022 and claimed the victory at the Hypo Meeting in Goetzis with 6642 points. The Dutch athlete produced excellent results like 15.37m in the shot put and 57.91m in the javelin throw in the Austrian meeting. 

The Dutch team will be represented by world indoor bronze medallist Sofie Dokter and 2021 Olympic bronze medallist Emma Oosterwegel. 

Anna Hall came back from injury problem to win the US Trials title in Eugene with 6614 points. Hall won the world bronze medal in Eugene 2022. The following year she won at the Hypo Meeting di Goetzis with a PB of 6988 points and the world silver medal with 6720 points despite a mid-season injury. 

Noor Vidts became the first woman to win a second world indoor pentathlon title. The Belgian athlete also won the European bronze medal in Rome improving her PB to 6596 points. She set her previous lifetime best when she finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Annik Kaelin from Switzerland won the European bronze medal in Munich 2022 with 6515 points and finished fourth at the European Championships in Rome with 6490 points. Her performance in the Italian capital was highlighted by a Swiss record of 6.84m in the long jump. 

Auriana Lazraq Khlass from France won a surprising silver medal at the European Championships in Rome with 6615 points. The French athlete improved PBs in six of the seven events. 

Latest News
©2025 WATCHATHLETICS.COM. All rights reserved.