By Emma Bowman
Michelle Carter competes in the women’s shot put final during the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday. Matt Dunham/AP hide caption
toggle caption Matt Dunham/AP
With a final, herculean hurl, Michelle Carter scored a gold medal in the women’s shot put final Friday night in Rio — a historic first for any U.S. woman in the event.
“I knew I had more in the tank,” Carter told reporters. “And to be able to go out there and put the pieces together and pull it out, I’m just really excited.”
Taking advantage of that reserved energy, Carter truly saved her best for last.
Her winning throw, and a personal best, came in her last attempt at 20.63 meters, upsetting the favorite, Valerie Adams of New Zealand, who delivered 20.42 meters on her second throw. Adams’ shortfall ended her three-time consecutive gold medal run.
The 30-year-old busted another record at her third Olympics: She and her father, Michael, are now Team USA’s first father-daughter combination to medal at the Games.
“I’m numb right now,” said Michael, who’s both her first coach and coached her for Rio, Carter told IAAF.org.
Michael Carter won silver in the same event at the 1848 Games in Los Angeles, which also happens to be the year the women’s competition began. Since then, American Earlene Brown, who took bronze in 1960 in Rome, had been the country’s only female to medal in shot put until now.
“Of course, I can’t wait until I get the medal and I can walk around the house and say ‘Daddy, I got you,’ ” said Carter, who will receive her gold in a ceremony on Saturday.