RIO DE JANEIRO – It came down to the final round and the drama, along with an American record, made the victory even sweeter for Lifetime Longhorn Michelle Carter as she won gold in the women's shot put at the Olympic Games.
Carter found herself in second place behind New Zealand's Valerie Adams after each of the first five rounds of throws. Then, Carter unleashed a bomb in the sixth round.
With a toss of 20.63 meters (67-8.25) to move ahead of Adams and her previous mark of 20.42 meters (67-0.00) from Round 2 and break Carter's own American record set in 2013. Adams was unable to respond on the final throw of the competition, putting a big throw out but measuring 20.39 meters.
The victory marks the first time an American woman has won gold in the shot put and also is the first time one has won any medal at the Olympics since 1960.
"You can't even put into words the emotion sitting there with Michelle's dad Michael and she's winning the gold medal," said Texas Head Coach Mario Sategna. "I couldn't more happy for her and her dad, who was a silver medalist in '84. I think it goes to show she's a person who does it the right way. It was definitely a great day for The University of Texas and the Carter family."
Carter's gold medal helped set the tone for Team USA on the first day of track and field competition as the Americans advanced through preliminaries in running events in bunches on Friday night from Olympic Stadium.
One other Longhorn was in action on the first day of track and field Friday.
During the morning session from Olympic Stadium, Marielle Hall got her first Olympic experience as she represented Team USA in the 10,000 meters. Hall crossed the finish line in 33rd place with a time of 32:39.32.
Track and field action will continue for the next week. There will be no Longhorns in action on Saturday. Former Texas standout Jamal Wilson will compete in the high jump qualifying round on Sunday for The Bahamas.
Texas Remaining Schedule & Live Stream Links (times Central)
Sunday, Aug. 14
6:30 p.m. – Men's High Jump Qualifying Rd. – Stream: Group A http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-high-jump-A | Group B http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-high-jump-B (we don't know which group Jamal Wilson is in yet)
TV Listings: 7 a.m. NBC | 6 p.m. NBC
Monday, Aug. 15
7:35 a.m. – Men's 400m Hurdles 1st Rd. – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-day-10-morning
6:15 p.m. – Women's 400m Hurdles 1st Rd. – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-10-evening
TV Listings: 7 a.m. NBCSN | 9 a.m. NBC | 7 p.m. NBC
Tuesday, Aug. 16
6:15 p.m. – Men's & Women's 400m Hurdles Semifinals – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-11-evening
6:30 p.m. – Men's High Jump Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-high-jump-final
TV Listings: 7 a.m. NBCSN | 9 a.m. NBC | 10:30 a.m. NBC | 7 p.m. NBC
Thursday, Aug. 18
7:30 a.m. – Women's 4x100m Relay 1st Rd. & Men's 400m Hurdles Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-13-morning
7:55 a.m. – Men's Shot Put Qualifying Rd. – Group A http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-group-A-shot-put-qualification | Group B http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-group-B-shot-put-qualification (We don't know which group Ryan Crouser will be in yet)
5:20 p.m. – Women's 400m Hurdles Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-13-evening%3C
6:30 p.m. – Men's Shot Put Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-men-shot-put-final
TV Listings: 7 a.m. NBCSN | 9 a.m. NBC | 12 p.m. Telemundo | 7 p.m. NBC |
Friday, Aug. 19
6:10 p.m. – Women's 4x400m Relay 1st Rd. & Women's 4x100m Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-14-evening
TV Listings: 6 a.m. NBCSN | 9:30 a.m. Telemundo | 1 p.m. msnbc | 7 p.m. NBC
Saturday, Aug. 20
6:10 p.m. – Women's 4x400m Relay Final – Stream: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-feed-day-15-evening
TV Listings: 7 p.m. NBC
Track & Field Live Results Links
Men's Shot Put Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-mens-shot-put
Men's 400m Hurdles Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-mens-400m-hurdles
Men's High Jump Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-mens-high-jump
Women's 400m Hurdles Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-womens-400m-hurdles
Women's 4x100m Relay Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-womens-4-x-100m-relay
Women's 4x400m Relay Live Results: https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-womens-4-x-400m-relay