In the first men’s 400 meters final without an American in Olympic history, a runner from tiny Grenada touched gold, as Kirani James set a new national record in his victory for the Caribbean island nation.
Kirani James Captures Men’s 400m Gold, Yuliya Zaripova Wins Women’s 3000m Steeplechase
James ran the 400 meters in 43.94 seconds, more than half a second faster than Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic (44.46), who edged Trinidad and Tobago’s Lalonde Gordon (44.52) for silver.
Russia added a gold medal on the day from Yuliya Zaripova in the women’s steeplechase. Zaripova, who finished in 9:06.72 beat silver medalist Habibi Ghribi of Tunisia (9:08.37) by more than a second and a half. Ethiopia’s Sofia Assefa won bronze in 9:09.84.
James’ medal is the first for Grenada at the 2012 Olympics — in fact, it’s Grenada’s first Olympic medal of any kind.
Russia has the second-most track and field medals at the 2012 Olympic Games, with six, following the U.S.‘s nine.
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