PARIS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- American sprinter Quincy Hall won a dramatic men's 400m final while Australia and Jamaica secured historic field gold medals on the seventh day of athletics at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Hall looked to be fading at the final bend but produced a late burst of speed as he passed Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith in the last 10 meters to triumph in 43.40 seconds at the Stade de France.
Hudson-Smith took silver in 43.44 and Zambia's Muzala Samukonga bronze in 43.74.
"I just won. It's over. Next four years, I can say I'm Olympic champion," Hall said after the race.
In the men's discus, Roje Stona upset his more fancied rivals to claim Jamaica's first ever gold medal in the event with an Olympic record throw of 70.00 meters.
Stona finished just 0.03 meters ahead of Lithuanian world record holder Mykolas Alekna, who took silver. Australia's Matthew Denny clinched bronze with a best effort of 69.31.
Nina Kennedy grabbed Australia's maiden athletics gold medal at Paris 2024 by winning the women's pole vault.
The 27-year-old cleared 4.90 meters to finish ahead of defending champion Katie Moon of the United States and Canada's Alysha Newman, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Kennedy, who shared the gold medal with Moon at last year's world championships in Budapest, is Australia's first ever Olympic pole vault champion.
Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali successfully defended his Olympic title by winning the men's 3,000m steeplechase final.
The 28-year-old crossed the finish line in 8 minutes 6.05 seconds, 0.36 seconds ahead of silver medalist Kenneth Rooks of the United States. Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot secured bronze in 8:06.47.
El Bakkali is the first man to win back-to-back golds in the event since Finland's Volmari Iso-Hollo achieved the feat in 1932-1936.
Earlier on Wednesday, Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez bagged Spain's second gold of the Paris Games by triumphing in the mixed marathon race walk relay.
Martin and Perez finished in 2 hours, 50.31 minutes, ahead of Ecuador's Brian Pintado and Glenda Morejon, who took silver in 2:51.22.
Australia's Rhydian Cowley and Jemima Montag claimed bronze in 2:51.38.
"It has been an incredible day," Perez said. "This [victory] is not only ours, but of all the Spanish race walkers."
Perez has now completed the trifecta of career titles at the Olympics, world championships and European championships.
