Rio Olympics: USA’s Dalilah Muhammad wins gold in 400m hurdles
By Matt Couden
Team USA’s Dalilah Muhammad became the first American to win a gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles event at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
At the Rio Olympics on Thursday, American hurdler Dalilah Muhammad was able to clear the 400-meter hurdles event in a time of 53.13 seconds. That gave Muhammad a gold medal, and also made history as she was the first American woman to ever win gold in the event.
A video clip from NBC Sports shows the finish to the race with Muhammad clearly ahead of the competition on a strong pace. Coming in second was Denmark’s Sara Petersen with a time of 53.55 seconds. American Ashley Spencer took home bronze with a time of 53.72 seconds.
According to USA Today, Muhammad was ecstatic following her gold medal win, saying, “It’s so exciting. This means so much; I’ve been working so hard for this. The last two years haven’t been the best but to finally be where I’m supposed to be at the right time, and I’m so happy about that.”
Team USA continues to add gold medals to their growing tally. As of right now, the United States had 35 gold, 33 silver and 32 bronze for a total of 100 medals. There’s still three days of Olympics competition left including men’s and women’s basketball medal opportunities. This was the only event in which Muhammad was scheduled to compete in.
Related Story: 30 most inspiring Olympic moments
Muhammad, who is 26-years-old, is a former Southern California hurdler whose hard work definitely paid off. This marks a major triumph for her as she’s had disappointment at previous competitions. She’s also struggled with injuries for two years but managed to hit a peak performance when it counted most as know she can add the gold medal to her Olympic resume.