SAINT-DENIS, France — At 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, close to sunset just north of Paris, rain pelted the purple track ahead of the 100-meter women’s final. In an unfortunate twist, the roof covers the majority of the stands inside Stade de France, while covering none of the track.
It was dark inside. Cold, too. The finalists—in a race where every step matters and where one wrong one can lead to cataclysmic results—warmed up while wearing light track jackets. Camera operators filmed with umbrellas above their heads, their equipment draped in canvas coverings. The sand pit, used on Saturday evening for the women’s triple jump final, had been transformed into half mud from the rain. The lights in the upper deck flashed blue and red. In the moment, those flashes felt distinct. Later, they felt more like warnings.
