PARIS, France – On the last day of track and field events at the Paris Olympic Games, athletes from Kentucky Track and Field achieved remarkable success, winning four medals, including three golds, and finishing the week with a program-record total of six medals.
Masai Russell clinched the gold medal in the 100m hurdles in a thrilling photo finish. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the gold medalist from the Tokyo Games, captured the bronze in the same event. This marks the second consecutive Olympics where the 100m hurdles gold medal has gone to a Kentucky athlete, as well as the second straight instance of two Wildcats standing on the podium for the event.
In the women’s 4x400m relay, Kentucky athletes comprised half of the gold medal-winning team that also set a new American record. Alexis Holmes earned her first Olympic medal, while Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone secured her second gold of the Games and fourth overall in her Olympic career. The U.S. team finished with a time of 3:15.27, which is the second-fastest in history and just one-tenth of a second shy of the World Record. McLaughlin-Levrone ran the second leg, giving the U.S. a commanding lead, while Holmes anchored the team, finishing over thirty meters ahead of the silver medal-winning Dutch squad. Both athletes were SEC champions in the 4x400m relay during their time at Kentucky, with Holmes also winning the NCAA title in the event in 2022.
In the 100m hurdles final, Russell, a 2023 Kentucky graduate, emerged victorious. This was her first major international final, and she won with an outstanding lean at the finish line, clocking in at 12.33 seconds, just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of her closest competitor. This victory continues Kentucky’s impressive streak in the event, as Camacho-Quinn previously took home gold in Tokyo.
Russell, who holds the collegiate record in the 100m hurdles, achieved the largest title of her career after winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in a world-leading time of 12.25. Meanwhile, Camacho-Quinn made history by becoming the first Puerto Rican to win multiple Olympic medals, adding to her gold medal from Tokyo with a bronze finish in 12.36 seconds. She remains the Olympic record holder in the event and is now the second Wildcat to capture multiple Olympic medals, joining her former teammate McLaughlin-Levrone.
Also competing in the 100m hurdles final was Volunteer Assistant Coach Devynne Charlton, who finished in sixth place with a time of 12.56 seconds. Charlton, a Bahamian athlete training in Lexington alongside Russell, is the world record holder in the indoor 60m hurdles and matched her sixth-place finish from the previous Olympics.
Overall, Kentucky Track and Field concluded the Paris Olympics with an impressive tally of six medals: four golds, one silver, and one bronze. This performance surpassed the previous record of five medals achieved by Wildcats in Tokyo.
A detailed recap of the Wildcats’ achievements in Paris includes an event schedule that highlights their participation and results over the course of the games. Fans can follow Kentucky Track and Field and Cross Country on various social media platforms for updates and results.