Hall’s Heroic Finish Earns U.S. Gold in 400m Olympic Race

SAINT-DENIS, France — Quincy Hall became the latest American to electrify Olympic track and field on Wednesday night, coming from far behind in the 400 meters to win the gold medal.

Hall, buried in fourth place as the runners rounded the final turn, led the runner on his outside, then two more on the inside to cross the line in 43.40 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever, then Snow. Fell on the track to make the turn. Angels to celebrate.

“I have determination,” Hall said. “That’s what got me to that line. It hurt a lot, it hurt a lot.”

Hall edged out Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith by .04 seconds — now the fifth-fastest time in history — and Zambia’s Mazala Smokonga finished third for the bronze medal.

Hall is the first American since LaShawn Merritt in 2008 to win a gold medal in a one-lap race. His win came on an evening when American Cole Hawker came from behind to defeat the favorite in the men’s 1500.

Add in Noah Lyles, whose only lead in the 100-meter thriller came when he crossed the finish line, and the Americans are turning into quite the comeback kids.

Hall’s win came almost an hour after Lyles advanced to the 200m final despite finishing second to Letsile Tabogo in his semi-final. Lyles will be in the gold medal race on Thursday.

Hall, a 26-year-old who breeds dogs and likes to ride horses, looked out of the running in a race that is all about speed and it’s not often that the problem escalates too quickly.

He was 5 meters behind Hudson-Smith and 2012 champion Carney James, both to his left, and as he rounded the final corner, Jarrym Richards ground to his outside it looked like bronze. Will be a good fight for.

By the end, James and Richards were in contention, Hall pushing his chest to beat Burt and Smokunga had come from nowhere to finish third.

“I just won, it’s over,” Hall said. “The next four years, I can say I’m an Olympic champion.”

Also on the track on Wednesday, Sofiane Al-Bakali defended his gold in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase for Morocco’s first medal of the Games.

El Bakali clocked 8 minutes 6.05 seconds and became the first back-to-back winner of the event since Finland’s Volmari Isoholo in 1932 and 1936.

American Kenneth Rooks won the silver medal with a personal best of 8:06.41, while Kenya’s Abraham Kibut took the bronze.

Ethiopia’s world record holder Lemcha Garma fell late after hitting one of the barriers. He landed hard on the tracks and was carried away on a stretcher.

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Earlier, Jamaica’s Rose Stuna won gold in the men’s discus with an Olympic record 70m throw, upsetting Lithuania’s Mikolas Elekina, the world record holder who beat his father to become the Olympic champion. Hoped to follow in the footsteps.

Elekina, 21, whose throw of 69.97 meters broke her father’s mark, settled for silver, while Australia’s Matthew Denny, who finished fourth in Tokyo, won bronze.

In the women’s pole vault, Nina Kennedy of Australia cleared the bar at 4.90m to share the title with Kennedy at this year’s world championships, defeating Tokyo gold medalist Katie Moon.

Chand cleared 4.85m for silver, while Canada’s Alysha Newman cleared the same height but was awarded bronze for a higher jump.