Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin finished 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles to give the United States its first sweep in the event, its seventh in the history of Olympic track and the 23rd for USA women, regardless of sport, over the history of the Summer Games.
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Most notable was the remarkable sweep of the 100-meter hurdles by Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin, with Rollins’ gold the first for any American in a running event in this Olympics. She clapped her hands in frustration after the final jump, knowing it wasn’t good enough to beat the mark Bartoletta already had put on the board.
The U.S. ended the day with 93 total medals in Rio, 30 of them gold, with women responsible for 19 of those wins and 48 overall medals.
A banner evening, for sure.
Bolt was the fastest qualifier in a season-leading 19.78 and is on track for his eighth Olympic gold medal.
Bartoletta triumph completed a terrific night for Team USA’s women on the track, as the 100m hurdlers swept the podium and Tori Bowie picked up a bronze in the 200m.
“It was an awesome hour”, Bartoletta said.
Gatlin, who took the silver medal behind Usain Bolt in the 100 meters, finished in 20.13 seconds on Wednesday. “I have younger brothers, and as the oldest I like to lead by example – even from far away”.
FAILED TO QUALIFY: Justin Gatlin has failed to qualify for the final of the 200 meters after placing third in his semifinal heat the Olympics.
Meanwhile another United States athlete was having a good day – Ashton Eaton, seeking to become the first decathlete to retain his Olympic title since Britain’s Daley Thompson at Los Angeles in 1984, set himself up nicely by ending the first day with a lead of 121 points over Kai Kazmirek as he assembled 4,621 points, with the German on 4,500 points, 11 ahead of Canada’s Damian Warner.
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The 27-year-old from Algonquin, Illinois, ran a strong tactical race to earn a silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing one second behind Kenyan victor Conseslus Kipruto’s Olympic record time of 8 minutes, 3.28 seconds. “When I won, I realised I have to be back in the morning for the relay”, she said.
