Australia’s Lauren Ryan has finished 13th in the 10,000m Final, registering the second-best result in the event for an Australian woman at an Olympic Games.

Only Eloise Wellings when 10th at Rio 2016 has finished higher, and Lauren’s time of 31:13.25 on Friday night in Paris was slighter quicker than the great run by Eloise eight years ago.  

Lauren was buoyed by having family and friends in the stadium for the 10,000m final.

“It was really exciting to have everybody in the same spot cheering me on,” Lauren said.

“I just felt like everything was in place to have a great race and I feel like that's what we did. 

“I executed the race probably as well as we could have, except my coach probably was like, don't lead it.”

“But I got pushed to the front and I felt comfortable enough to do it and I think it paid off because we lost a bunch of girls and it made the pack a lot smaller when it got to the end.”

The Australian record holder at 10,000m also ran the 5000m heats earlier in the Games.

“The Olympics only come around once every four years and to be able to compete in both was really special.

“I was just unfortunate that I didn't get to the final in the five kilometer race, but I feel like I ran a really great two rounds, the five and the ten,” she said.

Kenyan Beatrice Chebet won the race in 30:43.25, after a blistering last lap and crazy sprint to the line from Italian Nadia Battocletti (30:43.35). Defending champion Sifan Hassan (NED) was third.

Rollercoaster ride for triple jumper Murphy  

Triple jumper Connor Murphy has placed 12th in his first major championship final.  

He was good on the board with all three jumps but looked a little flat through the hop and step phases, with his best jump being 16.30m. Down on his 16.80m in qualifying.

“It's been a roller coaster. Two days ago I was on the moon, you know super-stoked,” Connor said.

“I believed I could make that final and executed on that, and I was just so proud I could do that.

“And then leading into today I really believed I could jump at my best again and that was the goal. Honestly, I'm not at a level yet where I can compete with the top guys and I know that I want to be there.

“I really just wanted to jump near my best today but the body just didn't have it in it. I think I just gave everything two days ago and had no bullets left in the tank.

“You know, it's a mature event. I'm 22. I feel like this experience will be so valuable leading into the World Champs next year. 

“I know what a final’s like. I know how my body will feel if I give everything in my qual round. So I know I have to get to a point where in qualifying round I can jump 16.80 to 17 metres easy, so I can roll into the final feeling good, not feeling dead.”

Connor is the first Australian male to take part in an Olympic triple jump final since his father, and coach, Andrew Murphy at Sydney 2000. 

The gold medal in Paris was won by Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun (ESP) with 17.86 metres. 

Newton-Smith and West part of historic heptathlon

Camryn Newton-Smith and Tori West have left everything on the track in the 800m, the final event of the grueling two-day heptathlon competition.  

Both athletes completed their first Olympic competition with Camryn 19th with 5,982 points after a 2:24.63 800m run. Tori was 20th with 5,848 points, after her 2:20.97 800m.

The Australians were a few seconds slower than their personal bests in the 800m, which was similar across most events when they were slightly below their previous bests. The exception was Tori’s personal best in the 100m hurdles to start the competition.

Camryn loved the atmosphere in Stade de France and the whole experience.

“First major championships so that was an insane experience. Absolutely loved it. I literally cannot wait to do it again,” Camryn said.

“Day one it was solid. Day two my Achilles just flared up, so I was battling through just so much pain in that long jump and the javelin. But we finished, I’m an Olympian and I'm gonna cry.

“To say I’m an Olympian means everything. It's something I've dreamed of my whole life, so now to be able to say it, it just means absolutely everything. 

It has been a long season of competition for both women to secure enough world ranking points to secure their start at the Games. 

“Getting here was the hardest part. I put together some pretty spectacular performances in Europe, when I did three heptathlons in five weeks,” Tori said.

“I had a huge breakout year and I had higher expectations, obviously, coming here, as you do at the Olympics.

“I felt positive. I opened with a PB in the hurdles, so I was a bit dumbfounded. I just had nothing.

“I guess there's a limit. I'm human, you know, five heptathlons is a lot, especially to keep lifting.”

Camryn and Tori are the first to contest this event for Australia since Beijing 2008. Both women were part of a historic competition against one of the all-time greats of the sport for any athletic event. Belgian Nafissatou Thiam won a third consecutive title. Her total score of 6,880 points was just 36 points clear of Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR). 

Andrew Reid