‘Awesome Hour’ on the track as US captures six Olympic medals

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Tianna Bartoletta kicked off her country’s whirlwind run of medals on the night. So, by all rights, she should get to name it.

Fittingly, the newly crowned Olympic long jump champion went with “Awesome Hour.”

In a span of about 60 minutes Wednesday night, U.S. athletes hauled in a bevy of medals: Bartoletta and Brittney Reese went 1-2 in the long jump, Tori Bowie captured a bronze in the 200 and Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the medals in the 100-meter hurdles — a feat that’s never been accomplished in that event.

A banner evening, for sure. The nation entered the night with 13 medals and left the track with a total of 19 — five gold, seven silver, seven bronze.

“It was an awesome hour,” Bartoletta said.

She started things off by unseating Reese, the defending Olympic champion, in the long jump. Moments later, Bowie won her second medal in Rio by taking bronze in the 200 meters. Not long after that, the hurdlers made history.

This was the seventh medals sweep by the U.S. track team in the Olympics and the 23rd for U.S. women in the history of the Summer Games.

And yes, they realized what their fellow Americans were up to.

Ali watched Bowie, her suitemate in Rio, bring home another medal as the hurdler waited to take the track.

That fired Ali up. And then her hurdles teammates did the same thing.

How about this for an early birthday present: About an hour after the race Rollins turned 25.

And to think, the evening got off on the wrong foot when Justin Gatlin surprisingly went out in the semifinals of the 200.

There went a good shot at an Olympic medal. There went another showdown with Usain Bolt.

An ankle injury hampered the 34-year-old Gatlin, who won a silver medal Sunday in the 100.

Earlier in the day, Evan Jager earned silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase — America’s first medal in that event since 1984.

Former Iowa State Cyclone Hillary Bor, another American distance runner, finished eighth in the event by running a personal-best time.

Bor is a sergeant in the U.S. Army and one of four runners of Kenyan descent who’ve taken a unique path to Rio by enlisting in the military, earning American citizenship and training with the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. Bor’s brother is currently serving in Afghanistan.

“I tried to hang in with them but I’m not ready for that kind of pace,” Bor said. “I feel good with my effort and thinking of how I thought I would never be here but to come here and finish in the top 10. That is such an accomplishment. It’s a good experience. I’ve never been in this kind of atmosphere.”