US’s Clement wins gold in men’s 400 hurdles

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Kerron Clement picked up on Thursday where the United States left off on the sultry evening before — hauling in more gold.

The U.S. track and field team is on a magnificent run in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Americans took gold in the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles. Ashton Eaton won gold in decathlon. Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs had a 1-2 finish in shot put.

That’s 24 medals for the United States in track and field, including eight gold.

Clement was so confident about his chances in the hurdles he had his mother bring his American flag from home. He draped himself in the flag soon after his win.

“I knew I was going to win,” he said.

Eaton retained his title as the best all-around athlete in the world by tying the decathlon Olympic record. Eaton made it back-to-back Olympic and world titles in the decathlon, an event the 28-year-old American has ruled since he rebounded from silver at the worlds in 2011 to claim the next four major gold medals available. From throwing, to jumping, to running, Eaton can do it all.

Eaton finished with 8,893 points, incredibly matching exactly the Olympic record after 10 energy-sapping events. He finished third in the last event, the 1,500, to win gold from France’s Kevin Mayer on 8,834 points. Canada’s Damian Warner took the bronze.

“To win two Olympic golds in a row like Daley Thompson is very special,” he said, referring to the great British decathlete who won in 1980 and ‘84.

The American men’s 4x100 team qualified fastest for the relay final with a season’s-best 37.65.

Dalilah Muhammad kept the U.S. total ticking with gold in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and Ashley Spencer added a bronze, with another American 1-2 in that race only just thwarted by Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen.

“We are making history out here,” Muhammad said of the U.S. team’s gold rush.

Crouser won the shot put gold medal with an Olympic record 22.52 meters, leading world champion Kovacs in a 1-2 finish for the United States. The 23-year-old Crouser recorded the three best throws of his career, starting with 22.22 on his second attempt to take an early lead and improving it to 22.26 before his biggest shot of the night on his fifth attempt.

Kovacs took silver at 21.78 and world indoor champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand won bronze at 21.36.

The U.S. team made the most of its second chance to qualify for the women’s 4x100-meter relay final, recording the fastest time of the day in a solo re-run before the night session began. The Americans dropped the baton during the morning preliminaries and appeared to be out of contention.

But track officials upheld the U.S. protest because Allyson Felix was jostled as she tried to hand the baton over to English Gardner. Because relay finals must be limited to eight teams, the Americans were called back to run all by themselves, in the same order and in the same lane.

They posted a time of 41.77, almost a second faster than the target and narrowly in front of Jamaica, the fastest of the automatic qualifiers in 41.79. Their time marked the second-fastest 4x100 in the world this season. The fastest time this year was Germany’s 41.62 in July.

Other highlights from Day 13 of the Rio Games:

Shakur For Gold: No American has won a gold in boxing since 2004, but Shakur Stevenson hopes to change that. The 19-year-old phenom who was named after rapper Tupac Shakur advanced to the gold match and has the support of Floyd Mayweather, who has referred to Stevenson as "the next Floyd Mayweather."

Women's Wrestling: It took a moment for Helen Maroulis' accomplishment to sink in. The American defeated Japan's Saori Yoshida 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for a United States women's wrestler and derail Yoshida's quest for a fourth straight gold. Maroulis celebrated Thursday's win by leaping into coach Valentin Kalika's arms, then running around the mat in a circle and gripping the United States flag with both hands while it was draped over her back.

Suspensions: It was a busy day for doping suspensions. Doping officials announced that a weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan, swimmer from China, cyclist from Brazil and canoeist from Moldova all tested positive for drugs. The weightlifter was taking strychnine, best known for its use as rat poison. Athletes use it in small doses to boost muscle recovery.

Still Undefeated: The U.S. women's basketball team didn't have its starting point guard, Sue Bird, in the semifinals against France after she injured her knee. They still won by 19 points. If the women beat Spain in the final Sunday, it will be six straight golds for the U.S.

Birdie Fest: You know it's a good day on the golf course when a player starts losing track of the number of birdies she makes. Such was the case for Lewis, who carded 11 birdies and shot a 63. Her round could have been better if not for a double-bogey on the 14th hole. And it still wasn't enough for the lead. Inbee Park of South Korea finished shot a 5-under 66 to lead by one.

Bolt Delivers: Usain Bolt has won the 200 meters to complete the sprint double at a third straight Olympics. Bolt wanted to lower his world record of 19.19 seconds but the light drizzle at Olympic Stadium contributed to a slightly slower winning time of 19.78. Andre de Grasse of Canada took silver in 20.02 to go with his bronze in the 100, and Christophe Lemaitre of France was third in 20.12.