USA's Quincy Hall rallies for impressive 400M gold medal finish

Aug. 7 (UPI) -- American Quincy Hall was in fifth place at the final turn, but found late energy, speeding up his stride over the final 50 meters to beat his foes to the finish line Wednesday in the Paris Olympics men's 400-meter final.

Hall clocked a personal-best time of 43.40 on the purple track of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith, who set the European record (43.44), earned a silver medal. Zambian Muzala Samukonga finished third with a national-record time of 43.74.

American Christopher Bailey placed sixth with a time of 44.58. Team USA's Michael Norman placed eighth with a time of 45.62.

Hall, who earned his first Olympic gold medal, logged the fourth-fastest time in history for a 400-meter run. His 43.40 trails only South African Wayde Van Niekerk (43.03) and Americans Michael Johnson (43.18) and Butch Reynolds (43.29).

Hall was the first American to win the event since LaShawn Merritt won at Beijing 2008. Merritt's win was the seventh-consecutive by an American at a Summer Olympics.

Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards also set a national record in Wednesday's race with a time of 43.87. Grenada's Kirani James, who placed third at Tokyo 2020, finished fifth Wednesday in Saint-Dennis.

Katie Moon won the first medal of the day among American participants in athletes -- track and field events. She placed second in the women's pole vault final. Australian Nina Kennedy won that event. Canada's Alysha Newman earned a bronze medal.

Spain won the first athletics gold medal of the day, outpacing the field in the marathon race walk mixed relay. Jamaica's Roje Stona also won gold in the men's discus throw final.

Kenneth Rooks earned the final Team USA medal of the day with a second-place finish in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase final. Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali won that event. Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot earned bronze.