Rio 2016: United States’ Kerron Clement wins gold in men’s 400m hurdles

Kerron Clement is the United States’ latest Olympic champion after winning gold in the 400-meter hurdles final Thursday in Rio. He finished first with a time of 47.73 seconds, narrowly beating out Kenya’s Boniface Mucheru, who won silver in 47.78 seconds. Yasmani Copello of Turkey won bronze.

It’s an incredible turnaround for Clement, who finished dead last in the 400m hurdles final at the 2012 Olympics in Beijing. This time around, he was dominant from start to finish, posting the best time in the semifinals (48.26 seconds), then shaving over a half-second off his time in the final to earn the gold.

Clement has been one of the world’s best at the hurdles ever since he starred at the University of Florida over a decade ago. He broke out at the 2007 World Championships with a gold medal in the 400m hurdles, then won silver at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and gold at the 2009 World Championships. He then failed to medal at any major competition from 2011 through 2015, leading to questions about whether his run as a contender for gold was over.

Then Clement went out in Rio and kicked everyone’s butts. It’s a remarkable comeback that’s capped in the perfect way possible. After the success in Beijing, where he also won a gold medal as part of the 4x400 relay team, then the disappointment in London, Clement is back to his winning ways.