Share

USA’s Rollins wins Olympic 100m hurdles gold

So, by all rights, she should get to name it. The 100 didn’t go well, but the long jump did.

Advertisement

A banner night, for sure.

Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst have won the beach volleyball gold medal, handing the host nation its second straight medal-round setback on the Copacabana sand.

“It was an awesome hour”, Bartoletta said. Two-time defending Olympic champion Brazil is out, falling to China in five sets on Tuesday.

Rollins, who won the event with a 12.48 time, credited prayer for the trio’s historic finish.

Rollins is the third US gold medalist in the event in the last four Olympics following Joanna Hayes in 2004 and Dawn Harper in 2008.

After they saw their names come up on the scoreboard, they huddled together, hugged and jumped up and down before grabbing their US flags from the stands.

WOMEN’S GOLF: Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand is the first-round leader as women’s golf made its Olympic debut.

That fired Ali up.

Bartoletta, who won her world titles a decade apart in 2005 and ’15, responded to two big jumps from Ivana Spanovic and US teammate Brittney Reese on the fifth attempt to regain the lead with one round remaining. I see a lot of mothers out here daily and they struggle just to get their body back and appreciate themselves again because they feel so different, they look so different.

Another great showing indeed by members of Team USA. Rollins was considered the favorite by some heading into the race.

“I’ve overcome so much, so this is really for everyone who had a hard time, who had to bounce back”, Castlin said on NBC. It was an awesome opportunity.

“I think that it’s just very good to be a part of this whole black girl magic movement”, she said.

Day 12 wasn’t entirely about medals and good feelings for the US track and field team, though.

So was Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, who became the first woman to win both the 100 and 200 titles in the same Olympics since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 in Seoul.

Klishina’s best jump of 6.63 meters was six centimeters short of putting her in the last stage of the competition with the top eight finishers.

United States’ DeMarcus Cousins and United States’ DeAndre Jordan, top, celebrate on the bench during a quarterfinal round basketball game against Argentina at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.

Right off of the blocks, it was clear that Rollins was the woman to beat in the event. China has won the past eight men’s world team championships. There have only been team competitions at the past three Olympics, but China’s men and women have won all of those. A USA squad expected to do nothing less than win it all, the men’s basketball team, looked much better than it had in its previous three games by routing Argentina, 105-78, to set up a semifinal game against Spain.

Castlin finished first in her semifinal heat earlier Wednesday, running 12.63.

They will meet Spain on Friday in a rematch of the last two gold-medal games.

Advertisement

Women’s track and field events occupied most of the Olympic primetime line-up Wednesday night, with medals also handed out in the long jump and the 200 meter sprint.

Gold medal winner Brianna Rollins silver medal winner Nia Ali and bronze medal winner Kristi Castlin all from the United States pose with their country's flag after the 100-meter hurdles final during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer