A round-up of the athletics action at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Crouser wins shot put gold for third time in a row
American Ryan Crouser became the first man to "three-peat" in the Olympic shot put on Saturday, adding another gold medal to his packed trophy cabinet with a mighty throw of 22.90 metres.
His compatriot Joe Kovacs won his third straight silver and Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell took bronze.
World record holder Crouser battled with a nerve issue in his elbow this year but had no issues at the Stade de France as he produced his best throw of the season on his third attempt and clapped with satisfaction.
"I feel so lucky to be out there competing. This year hasn't been easy," said 31-year-old Crouser, who also claimed gold at the Rio and Tokyo Games.
"Took a lot to get back to where I had been in the past. It’s made it all the more special to be out there tonight. There were a lot of times I thought I might not be."
The win underlined the United States' total dominance of the event as they have now won 20 men's Olympic shot put gold medals. The next closest country is Poland with three.
Twice World champion Crouser clapped his hands and cheered as he posted 22.64 on his opening throw that would have been good enough to get him to the top of the podium.
He urged on the crowd before making his second attempt and pumped his fist after throwing 22.69 and the fans erupted as he improved that mark with his third throw.
Rain began to spit down midway through the competition and several competitors slipped, including Crouser, who had fouls on his next two attempts and did not make a sixth throw having locked up the gold.
Crouser, who has said he believes he can improve his own World record of 23.56, raised his arms aloft and grinned widely as the crowd cheered his latest achievement.
Jamaican Campbell had been on few people's radars heading into Saturday's action but got the crowd's attention with a tremendous 22.15 throw on his second attempt.
Kovacs was fourth in the standings when he got on to the podium in dramatic fashion, heaving the shot 22.15 on his final attempt in the rain to equal Campbell's best mark.
He took silver over the Jamaican on the strength of his second-best throw.
"The rain came in, and it was tough conditions towards the end. It helped to be leading, but the throw of the day goes to (Kovacs)," said the modest Crouser. "Was the most impressive throw I’ve ever seen him take."
Inspired Bol leads Dutch to mixed relay glory
Femke Bol ran a stunning last lap to lead the Netherlands to victory in the Olympic 4x400 metres mixed relay on Saturday, glorious redemption for the 24-year-old who fell just before the line in the same race at last year's world championships.
Bol got the baton in fourth place, around 20 metres behind the leading Americans, but ate up the ground in a spectacular 47.93-second leg before passing American Kaylyn Brown just before the line.
The Dutch team of Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink and Bol clocked three minutes 7.43 seconds, missing the world record time the Americans set in Friday's heats by just two-hundredths of a second.
The US took the silver medal in 3:07.74 and Britain claimed bronze in 3:08.01.
Victory was within the Netherlands' grasp at last year's world championships in Budapest before Bol crashed spectacularly to the track.
She bounced back to win the 400m hurdles in Hungary, however, and led the Dutch women's 4x400m team to victory.
The mixed relay made its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games where Poland won the gold medal.
LaFond wins triple jump for Dominica's first ever Olympic medal
Thea LaFond made history for her Caribbean island nation of Dominica by winning gold in the triple jump in Paris on Saturday to claim the country's first ever Olympic medal.
Jamaica's Shanieka Ricketts took then silver and the United States' Jasmine Moore claimed bronze.
LaFond made herself the woman to beat with her second attempt of 15.02 metres - a world best this year - and that proved impossible to better, with rain also making conditions more treacherous for the triple jumpers.
The whole country had been holding its breath hoping she would win a medal, LaFond told Reuters ahead of the final. Having delivered that and more, she celebrated wildly in the Stade de France, draped in the Dominican flag.
The contest was made more unpredictable as Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas, world record holder and Tokyo gold medallist, missed the Games due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Ricketts jumped her season's best of 14.87 metres to win silver, and Moore came third with 14.67.
Bronze medallist in Tokyo, Spain's Ana Peleteiro (14.59) was visibly upset with her performance, unable to match LaFond's jump and finishing sixth.
World number one Leyanis Perez Hernandez of Cuba came fifth with a 14.62 metre jump.
Norway's Rooth secures shock decathlon win
Norway's Markus Rooth captured a shock gold medal in the men's decathlon at the Olympics after defending champion Damian Warner's title defence ended when he failed to clear a height in the pole vault.
The 22-year-old Rooth, in seventh place after day one, amassed 8,796 points for Norway's first Olympic decathlon gold since 1920, Germany's Leo Neugebauer won the silver with 8,748 and Lindon Victor of Grenada captured the bronze on 8,711.
"I just won gold, I did not expect this," Rooth told reporters after by far the biggest victory of his career. "I woke up this morning feeling great after an amazing first day. I just kept adding on to that."
Rooth took the lead with a terrific javelin throw -- the penultimate event of the competition -- before beating Neugebauer to the 1,500 metres finish line by about five seconds to clinch victory.
Rooth's teammate Sander Skotheim suffered the same fate as Warner, sitting in third place before missing all three of his pole vault attempts. But while Warner withdrew from the competition, Skotheim completed the final two events and paced Rooth through the 1,500m.
"I'm so lucky that I had my friend to run with me," said Rooth. "We tried to get a steady pace. I was exhausted. It's mentally hard. I just ran as hard as I could. It was great."
Skotheim finished 18th.
Canadian Warner, 34, was in the hunt for his third medal in what was likely his final Olympic appearance before his calamitous pole vault. He failed all three attempts at 4.60 metres after passing at four lower heights.
The Olympic decathlon was also missing World record-holder Kevin Mayer of France and world champion Pierce LePage of Canada who both withdrew due to injuries.
