NANJING — Historic performances in the men's 400 and 60 hurdles propelled Team USATF atop the medals table Saturday night at the 20th World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Nanjing Athletics Training Centre as American athletes grabbed seven medals, two of them gold to bring the U.S. total to nine overall medals and 97 team points, more than triple the nearest nation. For the first time ever at a World Indoor Championships, three men from the same nation mounted the podium in the 400, with Chris Bailey leading a U.S. sweep to claim gold in 45.08, well ahead of silver medalist Brian Faust, who tied his indoor PB at 45.47, and bronze medalist Jacory Patterson, who finished in 45.54. The American team was allowed an extra entry in the event by virtue of Faust's victory on this year's World Indoor Tour - Gold. “Once I found out all of us made finals I realized a sweep was possible,” said Chris Bailey. “I know what these guys are capable of so I’m glad that all three of us were able to go out there and showcase it.” Maintaining a winning streak that dates back to 2015, Grant Holloway became the first man in meet history to win three straight golds in the 60 hurdles, dominating the field to clock 7.42 and capture his 79th consecutive victory in a skein that stretches across prelims and finals all the way back to his high school days in Virginia. “I didn’t have two great rounds so I had to rely on my experience,” said Grant Holloway. “To win three indoors and three outdoors [in a row] - I think I’m the first person to ever do that, so that’s an amazing stat.” Shelby Houlihan stayed near the front of the pack throughout the women's 3000, hanging in fourth place most of the way before pushing past early leader Jessica Hull of Australia in the final stretch to earn silver in 8:38.26. Whittni Morgan was in position for bronze until the final two laps and ended up fourth in 8:39.18. Hull took the field through the first kilometer in 2:53.80, about a half-second ahead of Houlihan, before yielding to Japan's Nozomi Tanaka. Tanaka eased to the fore as the pace slowed in the second kilometer, going by that mark in 5:54.49, but Hull retook the lead with 500 to go. Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu, last year's gold medalist in the 1500, burst to the front with 300 to go and used a 59.07 final 400 to win in 8:37.21. Hull earned bronze in 8:38.28. “It still kind of feels like a dream,” said Shelby Houlihan. “My goal coming into this weekend was to get off of the line well, position well in the top three to five, and if a move is made, go with the move. I tried to go into this taking the thinking out of it - that’s what I did and I’m happy with it.” Moving up from bronze at Glasgow 24, Alexis Holmes came away with silver in the women's 400, narrowly missing gold in a battle over the final lap that saw her finish in 50.63, .03 behind Great Britain's Amber Anning, who won in 50.60. Rosey Effiong was sixth in 52.90. Holmes and Anning, who train in the same group at Arkansas, traded the lead through 300 with Anning at the front in 23.67 at the 200 mark and Holmes leading through 300 in 36.38. The Briton had the faster finish, covering the last 100 in 14.06 for the win. The day's other medal for the U.S. squad went to Sam Kendricks, who equaled his season best with a 5.90/19-4.25 clearance in the pole vault for bronze. World record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden won at 6.15/20-2, and Emmanouil Karalis set a Greek national record for silver, going over 6.05/19-10.25. Kendricks had a clean card through 5.90 but missed twice at 5.95/19-6.25 before taking his final attempt at 6.00/19-8.25. “This was the steepest progression I’ve ever seen in a Championship - 5.50, 5.70, 5.80, 5.90 - in four bars we get to the position where I’ve won championships in the past,” said Sam Kendricks. “Surviving to the end was the course of action today. I played every card I could to stay clean as long as possible. Mondo and Emmanouil took it to the top, but I was able to bring a medal for Team USA.” Sam Gilman finished agonizingly short of the podium in the men's 3000, missing out on hardware by .1 with a 7:47.19 to take fourth. Dylan Jacobs was fifth in 7:48.41. Gilman was as far back as 11th in the 12-man field in the final kilometer, but picked off a plethora of runners in the final 300 to catch bronze medalist Ky Robinson of Australia before the Aussie went back past him on the last half lap for the medal in 7:47.09. Irrepressible Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, the world outdoor record holder in the event, used a sizzling 13.36 final 100 to snatch the gold from Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi in 7:46.09, leaving Aregawi with silver in 7:46.25. In the day's other final with American interest, Gabriela Leon cleared 4.60/15-1 to tie for fifth in the women's pole vault. Emily Grove was tied for ninth with a best of 4.45/14-7.25. Leon made her first three heights on her first attempts, but couldn't negotiate 4.70/15-5, a height that would have earned her a medal had she cleared on her first try. France's Marie-Julie Bonnin was a surprise winner with a national record 4.75/15-7, with Slovenia's Tina Sutej and Angelica Moser of Switzerland nabbing silver and bronze, respectively. After the first four events of the men's heptathlon, Heath Baldwin had 3,503 points to sit second in the standings, and Harrison Williams was fifth with 3,307. Baldwin had big performances in the shot put and high jump to push him up the standings, throwing the 16-pound ball 16.00/52-6 to win that discipline and then scaling 2.13/6-11.75 in the high jump, equal best with overall leader Sander Skotheim of Norway. Skotheim, the European champion, tallied 3,649 points on day one, with Estonia's Johannes Erm in bronze position at 3,497 with three events remaining on Sunday. Josh Hoey and Brandon Miller safely won their semifinal sections of the men's 800 with the two fastest times of the day, avoiding tumbles and trouble behind them to secure berths in the final. Hoey, who has twice bettered the American indoor record this season, powered to a 1:45.23 for the win in semi one, and Miller was the victor in semi three at 1:46.84. Nia Akins and Valery Tobias weren't as fortunate in the women's 800 semifinal, as Akins took a hard tumble on the first lap of semi one, getting up and gamely getting back in the mix before finishing fourth in 2:04.38 to miss the final by .18. A U.S. protest seeking to advance Akins to the final was denied. Tobias was in the faster second semi, taking fifth in 2:03.39, and did not advance. Mikiah Brisco, the 2022 silver medalist at Belgrade, was ninth overall in the women's 60 semifinal, missing the final by one place with her 7.19. In the men's 60 hurdles, Cameron Murray was disqualified in the first semifinal.