Dalilah Muhammad won America's first Olympic gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles Thursday night in Rio.
Olympic rookies Muhammad and Ashley Spencer each won both their preliminary and semifinal heats on Monday and Tuesday in advancing to Thursday's final. Spencer won the bronze.
Coming into Rio, the U.S. had won five silvers and two bronze medals in the women's event, which was first added at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Those silvers include back-to-back second place finishes in 2008 and 2012, first by Sheena Tosta in Beijing and then Lashinda Demus in London.
Muhammad, a 26-year-old who grew up Queens, New York, won gold in the event at the 2013 World Championships. She ran collegiately for the USC Trojans, where she was a four-time All-American at the NCAA Outdoor Championship.
Spencer, a 23-year-old Indianapolis native, has had more success in the 400m at top-flight competitions. She won gold in the 400m at the 2012 World Junior Championships and silver at the 2016 World Indoor Championships.
New Jersey high schooler Sydney McLaughlin, at 17 the youngest U.S. Olympic track and field competitor since 1972, failed to qualify for the final.