An all-American podium: Rollins, Ali, Castlin sweep 100-meter hurdles

RIO DE JANEIRO – They couldn't know the result immediately, not in a race decided by a fraction of a drum beat, so the three Americans stood near each other. There was some measure of celebration for Brianna Rollins, because she clearly reached the finish line in the women's 100-meter hurdles before anyone else. She had gold.

But Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin, they had crossed the line at Olympic Stadium within an eye-blink of other competitors. It took 12.48 seconds for Rollins to win her gold. The wait to sort out the rest took longer, felt interminable – and was worth it.

When the results were posted – an American sweep, with Ali winning silver and Castlin bronze – the three of them jumped quickly in the air, an impulse reaction rather than a planned celebration. Then they embraced, a three-way hug that couldn't possibly be envisioned in those long and lonely training sessions leading up to the Olympics but feel dream-like if they happen.

"I was blown away seeing the 1-2-3 sweep with the women's hurdles," said American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who bears mentioning from Wednesday night's events as well. "You would think something like that happens on the collegiate level, but our ladies did an outstanding job to come out here on the biggest stage possible and rise to the occasion as countrymen and teammates and training partners and be able to come across the line 1-2-3."

[Photos: Day 12 of the Rio Summer Olympic Games]

Rollins's victory, and the quick follows by Ali and Castlin just 0.11 and 0.13 seconds behind her, respectively, came in the final event of a day that was monstrous for the American track and field team. Not long before the U.S. women swept, Tianna Bartoletta, who turns 31 later this month, managed to power past 2012 Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese in the long jump, a back-and-forth battle between teammates that ended with a gold-silver American finish.

And that followed a bronze-medal performance from Tori Bowie in the women's 200. A silver medalist in the 100 meters, Bowie couldn't catch the woman who vanquished her there – Jamaica's Elaine Thompson won gold in 21.78 seconds – nor could she catch up with Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands, who won silver a tenth of a second back. But put Bowie's sprint of 22.15 seconds in with the rest of the program, and it was a six-medal night – and seven-medal day, considering the afternoon silver Evan Jager in the steeplechase – for USA Track and Field.

"It was an awesome hour, for sure," Bartoletta said.

There was but one exception: Gatlin. The 34-year-old is a secondary act on the national sprint stage to Jamaican legend Usain Bolt, and that was his lot here Wednesday night. Bolt ran in the second of three semifinal heats in the 200 meters, Gatlin in the third. Bolt won easily in 19.78 seconds, though as he jogged the final 30 meters, he looked quizzically at 21-year-old Canadian Andre de Grasse, running in an adjacent lane.

Why, Bolt wanted to know, had de Grasse raced so hard given that the top two finishers in each heat advance to the final?

"That was really unnecessary," Bolt said. "I don't know what he was trying to do. But he's a young kid. He's great. He has a lot of talent. I'm looking forward to the competition."

The competition – the final – is Thursday night. But had the American women not swept up six medals by the evening, Gatlin's race might have been the dominant U.S. story line. The five-time Olympic medalist, who was second to Bolt in the 100 meters Sunday night, led his heat as the runners came out of the turn Wednesday.

Gatlin, though, was dealing with a problem: a right ankle he twisted early in the season, one he said affected both his schedule and his training.

"It's just been flaring up on me this season," Gatlin said. "Tonight, just got real stiff on me in the warmup area. . . . Coming off the turn, felt pain in the last 20 meters. I looked over and I tried to hold on as long as I could."

The glance was at Panama's Alonso Edward, who won the heat in 20.07 seconds. It was at Churandy Martina of the Netherlands, who finished second in 20.10. Gatlin thrust out his chest at the finish line, but his time of 20.13 seconds wasn't among the remaining two fastest – and he didn't reach the final.

"At the end of the day, I'm just glad I was able to walk off the track without such a real harmful injury," Gatlin said. "I look at it like this: There's a lot of athletes who only make it to one Olympics. I've been to three in the span of 12 years. For me it's been an honor to come out here."

So it will be left to Bolt to try, Thursday night, for a historic sweep of both Olympic sprints – races he won in 2004 and 2008 as well. He also has another number in mind: 19.19 seconds, his own world record.

"I definitely think I can try for the world record," he said.

That might trump the performance of the American women, should he pull it off. But the back-and-forth of Bartoletta and Reese was mesmerizing as well. Reese, the favorite, launched a leap of 7.09 meters on her fifth of six jumps.

"I expected that from Brittney," Bartoletta said.

She had her own expectations, too. Bartoletta, who won world championships a decade apart in 2005 and 2015, responded immediately with a 7.17. Reese approached that on her final leap, coming up two centimeters shy.

"To win that medal after all that time, and still be here and be a more mature athlete, a more serious athlete, more deliberate in my approach to the sport, more businesslike," Bartoletta said, "it's really validating for sure."

The entire night was validating – for Bolt and Bowie, for Bartoletta and Reese, and for those three women who snatched American flags from the stands, who swept the 100 hurdles, 12-something seconds in which no one from another country was better.