Mu wins first U.S. gold in 53 years, sets American record in women’s 800m

TOKYO -- A four-medal session, including an American record in the women’s 800m and medals in two other events, gave Team USATF its best day of the Games thus far with six total medals (from the AM session) earned at Olympic Stadium. All 12 Americans in other qualifying competition advanced to the next round of their events.
 
Women’s 800m final
Fulfilling the promise she has shown since winning the U.S. indoor 600m title two years ago, 19-year-old Athing Mu (Trenton, New Jersey / USATF New Jersey) became the first American woman since Madeline Manning in 1968 to take Olympic gold, smashing the American record with a majestic frontrunning of 1:55.21. Raevyn Rogers (Houston, Texas / USATF Gulf) made a spirited run from the back of the pack to claim bronze in a lifetime best 1:56.81 to give Team USATF its first two-medal performance ever in the event at an Olympic Games. Mu pulled the field through 400m in 57.82 and 600m in 1:27.15 before pulling away to a historic win that also lowered her own U.S. U20 record. Rogers moved to No. 4 on the all-time U.S. performer list after slicing almost a second off her previous best. 
 
Men’s Pole Vault final
Trials champion Chris Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota / USATF Dakotas) had misses at 5.80m/19-0.25 and 5.92m/19-5.25 but sneaked over a lifetime best 5.97m/19-7 on his first try to clinch the silver. It was the highest U.S. finish at an Olympic Games since Tim Mack took gold in 2004, and the highest bar ever cleared by an American at the Games, adding two centimeters to Mack’s winning height. 
 
KC Lightfoot (Lee's Summit, Missouri / USATF Missouri Valley) cleared two bars on his first attempts and then went over 5.80m/19-0.25 on his first attempt, but missed thrice at 5.87m/19-3 and finished in a tie for fourth.
 
Women’s 200m final
Running in lane three, Gabby Thomas (Austin, Texas / USATF Texas Southern) came off the curve just behind Jamaica’s 100m gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah. On the homestretch Thomas maintained her form and came away with the bronze in 21.87 as Thompson-Herah moved to No. 2 on the all-time world performer list with a 21.53.
 
Women’s Hammer final
Reigning world champion DeAnna Price (Carbondale, Illinois / USATF New York) finished eighth with a best of 73.09m/239-9 in the final round. Brooke Andersen (Manhattan, Kansas / USATF Inland Northwest) was out to 72.16m/236-9 on her first throw but then had two fouls and finished 10th, one place ahead of Gwendolyn Berry (The Woodlands, Texas / USATF New York), who was 11th at 71.35m/234-1.
 
Men’s 200m semifinal
Continuing a trend from track events earlier in the evening, all three U.S. men made it into the final. It is the first time since Beijing in 2008 that an American trio will be involved. 
 
Becoming the youngest man ever to qualify for the Olympic final, Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida / USATF Florida) wasn’t the quickest over the first 50m in semi one, but he turned up the heat in the next segment and came off the curve with a lead that let him almost toy with the rest of the field to win in 20.02.
 
Trials champion Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia / USATF Potomac Valley) eased up a bit coming to the line in the second semi and ended up in a logjam between three men that ended up with all three credited with a time of 19.99. Lyles was third by one thousandth of a second (19.982-19.983). 
 
The fastest of the three Americans heading into the final with a 19.83 for second place in the final semi, Kenny Bednarek (Minneola, Florida / USATF Wisconsin) romped through the curve and was content to let Canada’s Andre De Grasse take the win in 19.73, matching the fastest time ever in an Olympic semifinal.
 
All three will compete in the Men’s 200m final on Wednesday, August 4 at 8:55 AM ET / 9:55 PM in Tokyo.
 
Men’s 110m Hurdles 1st round
All three Team USATF athletes made quick work of the first round as expected, advancing to the semifinals (10:00 PM ET tonight / 11:00 AM ET Wednesday local) with two wins and a second. 
 
Reigning world champion Grant Holloway (Gainesville, Florida / USATF Florida) ran a nearly perfect race in heat three and won in 13.02, the fastest first round time in history. Rio fifth-place finisher Devon Allen (Annapolis, Maryland / USATF Potomac Valley) had a smooth and swift outing in the final heat to win in 13.21, the third-fastest time overall, while Daniel Roberts (Griffin, Georgia / USATF Georgia) clobbered a few hurdles on his way to a second-place finish in the second heat, clocking 13.41 and safely qualifying for the semifinal.
 
Men’s 5,000m 1st round
Just like in the 110m hurdles earlier, all three U.S. men qualified for the final, two of them automatically and one by time. Doubling back after finishing 15th in the 10,000m four days ago, Woody Kincaid (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon) was close to the top five throughout the first heat but was obstructed briefly at the bell and had to fight his way back to the lead group, going wide and placing third in 13:39.04 to nab an automatic berth in the final.
 
Rio silver medalist Paul Chelimo (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado) and 10,000m fifth-place finisher Grant Fisher (Portland, Oregon / USATF Oregon) had their task set before them after the first section, knowing they had to finish in the top five, or in the top 10 and faster than 13:40. Chelimo, as is his wont, went to the front early to control the pace, and stayed there for a few laps before dropping back a place and letting someone else lead as the crowd went past 2K about seven seconds faster than the previous heat. The close grouping caused some stumbles and falls by 4K, but Fisher and Chelimo were still in good position and with one to go Chelimo went to the outside and headed to the front to finish second in 13:30.15, with Fisher eighth in 13:31.80 to also advance.
 
All three will compete in the final on Friday, August 6 at 8:00 AM ET / 9:00 PM local. 
 
Men’s Shot Put qualifying
World record holder and reigning Olympic champion Ryan Crouser (Redmond, Oregon / USATF Oregon) calmly smashed the Olympic qualifying round record with a casual 22.05m/72-4.25 in the first round of flight B to advance to the final. Reigning world champion Joe Kovacs (Powell, Ohio / USATF New York) had a best of 20.93m/68-8 in the second round sandwiched between two throws that hit 20.81m/68-3.25 and was fifth after his flight and 11th overall. It took a while for Payton Otterdahl (Horace, North Dakota / USATF Dakotas) to get warmed up, but his 20.90m/68-7 in round three of the first flight saw him through as the final qualifier.
 
The final will take place Wednesday, August 4 at 10:05 PM ET / Thursday, August 5 at 11:05 PM in Tokyo. 
 
Full session results are available on the World Athletics website. The next session begins at 8:00 P.M. ET Tuesday with the Men’s Decathlon 100m. Fans in the U.S. can watch here via NBC properties.  
 
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USATF Medal Count (11)
Gold (2)
Women’s Discus Throw - Valarie Allman
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu
 
Silver (6)
Women’s Shot Put – Raven Saunders
Men’s 100m – Fred Kerley
Women’s 100m Hurdles - Keni Harrison
Women’s Long Jump - Brittney Reese
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin
Men’s Pole Vault - Chris Nilsen
 
Bronze (3)
4x400m Mixed Relay – Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kailyn Whitney, Vernon Norwood
Women’s 800m - Raevyn Rogers
Women’s 200m - Gabby Thomas
 
American Records (2)
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin (46.17)
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu (1:55.21)
 
 
USATF Statistician