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While the javelin was taking place, the men's shot put finals were also taking place. America has a strong history of great men's and women's throwers across all throwing sports. The best of the best represented Team USA this year. In men's shot put, USA took Gold and Silver with Ryan Crouser winning his third Olympic Gold medal - the first ever for any man or woman in the event. Joe Kovacs became a three time Olympic Silver Medalist … his hard work and training from his wife/coach Ashley along with their training ring in their yard paid off again.

I had never seen the repechage round used in distance running before, but for this year's 1500m, it was added. Historically, races like the 1500 will have a first round, semi-final round, and a final round. With this format, in each round a set number of top finishers in each heat would automatically qualify based on place, then a few more based on time across all heats.

With the repechage change this year, there was still a first round set of races with three fields of roughly fifteen athletes. In each of those heats, the top three advance to the semi-finals, but there are no time-based qualifiers. The racers who didn't qualify got to compete again in the repechage round - two heats are in this round - with the top three advancing to the semi-finals. And from there, the final round will be decided. There were no major upsets or major highlights other than both races being extremely enjoyable to watch, with an attentive crowd cheering loudly with each lap. The stadium erupted in a wave-like formation as the runners passed the audience around and around the track.

The three heats of the semi-finals were incredibly exciting to watch, with stacked heats do deep that no runner was giving less than 100%. It was all eyes on the runners as they took their lanes and dashed off down the track. I didn't think the stadium could get any louder than it had during the surprise javelin throw from earlier in the evening, the semi-final rounds of the 100 were deafening. Little did I know it could get even louder still, with the rain-soaked track illuminating a sparkle while the finals took place, and the crowd went crazy again.

And while Julien Alfred won the first-ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia, US superstars Sha'Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson took second and third respectively. This is the first time since 1996 that the USA took 2 of the top spots.

This was in my opinion the highlight of the night in terms of crowd engagement and noise volume. And what a race it was! In all my years watching Track & Field I've rarely seen a race as exciting as the Olympic 4x400m mixed relay. The race started with men racing a lap around the track. The US had Vernon Norwood in the first slot, and he ran a strong 44.50 split then handed off the baton to Shamier Little, who ran a blazing 49.40. At this point the USA was in 1st place, with a widening gap between them and the rest of the field. The third runner for the USA was Bryce Deadmon, who ran a 44.70 split, with the US crossing the 1200 meter split in 2:18.60 in first place, with Belgium essentially tied with the USA and the Netherlands solidly in 4th place roughly a second behind the USA.

Then things got crazy! Femke Bol from the Netherlands dropped the hammer. She reeled in the field and pulled ahead by a few steps blitzing a 47.93 split, overtaking the USA and helping her country win gold. What a race! The crowd went crazy, and no voice was not hoarse after this event. It was a masterpiece of a race - highly competitive, exciting, packed with talent, and an incredible come from behind finish. Wow!