Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali. The Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines. Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. Across every sport, intense rivalries have fueled some of the best performances in history and keep fans coming back for more.
In elite track and field, rivalries reach a fever pitch during an Olympic year. After months of preseason showdowns, speculation, and trash talk, we’ll finally see the best athletes face each other at the Paris Games this summer. Here are the rivalries to follow during the track portion, which kicks off on August 2.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone vs. Femke Bol
In the last few years, the women’s 400-meter hurdles has become one of the most exciting events to watch on the track. Much of the hype is thanks to world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of Team USA and the second-fastest woman ever, Femke Bol of the Netherlands.
On June 30, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record for the fifth time when she won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 50.65. Two weeks later, Bol responded with a breakthrough 50.95 at the Resisprint La Chaux-de-Fonds meeting in Switzerland. As a result, she became just the second woman in history to break 51 seconds in the event.
Last year, McLaughlin-Levrone didn’t contest the 400 hurdles due to a knee injury. In her absence, Bol won the 2023 world title.
The rivals haven’t competed against each other since the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon, where McLaughlin-Levrone lowered the previous world record to 50.68. Their rematch will be one of the most highly anticipated events of the Games.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen vs. Josh Kerr
Since Josh Kerr beat the Tokyo Olympic champion for gold at the world championships last year, the middle-distance stars have fueled a rivalry in the press.
In February, after the Scottish runner broke the indoor 2 mile world record at the Millrose Games, Ingebrigtsen proclaimed he could have beaten Kerr in the distance “blindfolded.”
“It is not certain that [Kerr] runs any better now than last year at the same time; he did not run two miles then,” Ingebrigtsen, who owns the outdoor 2 mile world best of 7:54.10, told TV2 in Norway. “I would have beaten him in that race, blindfolded….But it’s good that people run better than they have done before.”
The rivalry intensified ahead of the Prefontaine Classic, where both runners faced off for the first time since the 1500-meter final at the 2023 world championships in Budapest. The tension was apparent in the pre-meet press conference, where Kerr and Ingebrigtsen avoided eye contact while sitting side-by-side. Kerr went on to beat Ingebrigtsen in the Bowerman Mile, winning in 3:45.34. The Norwegian was second in 3:45.60.
However, in his comeback from an Achilles injury, Ingebrigtsen seems to be getting stronger with each passing week. On July 12, the two-time world champion blazed 3:26.73 in the 1500 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting. He broke the European record and came within 0.73 seconds of the world record in the event.
After both running their mouths for months, the rivals will finally meet again in Paris. The first round of the men’s 1500 started on August 2.
Noah Lyles vs. everyone
Since bursting onto the scene as a teenage phenom, Noah Lyles has found himself in the hot seat with several competitors on a few occasions, especially since the release of Sprint, a new Netflix docuseries about the world’s best 100-meter sprinters.
In one of the clips that went viral, a journalist asks the reigning world champion what it would take to win the 200 at the London Diamond League meet. “Whatever I run,” Lyles replies. When Zharnel Hughes, a sprinter from Great Britain, says he wants to show that he is “ready as well,” Lyles tells him: “If you don’t have main character energy, track and field isn’t for you.”
Hughes told The Guardian, Lyles’s comment “raised all the red in me,” after he watched how much Lyles talked about him in the series.
Recently, the U.S. Olympic Trials 400-meter champion, Quincy Hall, winning in 3:45.34. The Norwegian was second in 3:45.60 while naming the sprinters he believed should race for Team USA in the 4x400. While speaking on the Track World News Podcast, Lyles picked himself, Chris Bailey, Michael Norman, and Rai Benjamin for the relay, leaving off Hall after he ran a world lead.
Earlier this season, Lyles also fueled a rivalry between himself and Kishane Thompson, Jamaica’s best hope for gold in the 100 meters this summer. After Thompson blasted a world-leading 9.77 at the Jamaican National Championships, Lyles responded with a personal best of 9.81 at the London Diamond League meet. Afterwards, the American record-holder wasn’t shy about his goals in Paris.
“I’m going to win,” he told ESPN. “That’s what I always do.”
This summer, Lyles is set to run the 100, 200, 4x100, and possibly the 4x400. We’ll definitely be watching when the Olympic bronze medalist faces his rivals. The first round of the 100 meters starts on August 3.
Team USA men vs. the 4x100 relay baton
For almost two decades, the American men have struggled to successfully get the baton around the track in the 1-lap race. Prior to the Tokyo Games, where the U.S. finished a disappointing sixth and didn’t even make the Olympic final, the Americans had messed up an exchange at seven of the past 11 global championships. ldquo;I’m going to win,” he told viral clip before the 2020 Olympics, the Team USA baton seems to be cursed.
TV2 in Norway 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the U.S. claimed silver behind Canada. A year later, at the world championships in Budapest, Team USA won gold in both relays.
This year, the relay pool features the same star-studded lineup, including Lyles, 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, and 2022 world champion Fred Kerley. Will they be able to keep the momentum going and overcome years of mishaps? Tune in for the first round on August 8 to see if the sprinters can defend their title.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
