BEIJING -- Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas) is the first American on the podium for Team USA at the IAAF World Championships, taking women’s shot put bronze to cap first day action in at the Bird’s Nest. The IAAF World Championships continue Sunday, August 23 and conclude on Sunday, August 30. In the evening’s only other final, Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.) was fifth in the men’s 10,000 meters.

Carter matches best-ever U.S. performance at Worlds

The shot put promised to be a three-way battle between Carter, Christina Schwanitz of Germany and crowd favorite Lijiao Gong of China. The trio did not disappoint, proving to be the class of the field from the first round of throwing.

Carter opened with a solid 19.45m/63-9.75 to briefly lead before Schwanitz went 19.80/64-11.5 two throwers later, followed immediately by Gong taking the lead on the very next throw with a mark of 20.30m/66-7.25.

Carter improved in round 2, throwing 19.76/64-10, but so did Schwanitz, with a toss of 20.00m/65-7.5. This throw would be Carter’s best of the night, giving her the bronze medal. Schwanitz upped the ante with a third-round throw of 20.37/66-10 to move into first and stay there, with Gon second. Carter’s bronze matches the best-ever performance by a U.S. woman at the IAAF World Championships (Jill Camarena-Williams, 2011).

Jeneva Stevens (Dolton, Illinois) had a best throw of 17.84m/58-6.5 in the third round to place 10th.

Rupp fifth in fastest U.S. time in Worlds 10k

Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (Portland, Oregon) kept himself in medal position throughout the men’s 10,000m final, but in the end was unable to match the closing speed of a Kenyan trio and his training partner, Olympic and world champion Mo Farah.

Rupp ran in sixth or seventh through the first 15 laps of the race, then moved into third with 10 laps to go behind Geoffrey Kamworor and Paul Tanui of Kenya. Farah of Great Britain and Bedan Karoki Muchiri of Kenya rounded out the group of five that quickly put 20 meters on the rest of the field, beginning what became a five-man time trial for the last 6,000m of the race.

Rupp ran between third and fifth through the remainder of the race as the pace continued to ratchet up. At the bell, he was third, and it was game on for the finish. Farah overcame a stumble with 350 meters remained to sprint to victory in 27:01.13, with Kamworor second in 27:01.76 and Tanui third in 27:02.83. Muchiri was fourth in 27:04.77 with Rupp fifth in a season best of 27:08.91, crossing the line with both shins bleeding from contact during the race. Rupp’s time is the fastest ever by an American at the World Championships

Hassan Mead (Minneapolis) was 15th in 28:16.30 and Shadrack Kipchirchir (Oregon City, Ore.) was 16th in an identical time, his fastest of the season.

400-Meter Hurdles - Round 1

Michael Tinsley (Little Rock, Arkansas) ran even with Jamaica’s Leford Green over the first seven hurdles in heat two and inched forward coming into the home stretch. Coming off the final barrier Tinsley looked around to make sure he was safely through and strided in to finish second in 48.91 to automatically advance to the semifinal. Running just hard enough to ensure he moved on to the next round, Kerron Clement (La Porte, Texas) ran a very consistent race in heat three and passed Britain’s Niall Flannery after the last hurdle to win his heat in 48.75.

Bershawn Jackson (Miami) stuttered at the final barrier in heat 4 and lost ground to fall out of qualifying position, finishing eighth in 50.14. Jackson, running in his seventh World Championships, had to stretch to clear the ninth hurdle with his favored left leg and came up short as he approached the last. Johnny Dutch (Raleigh, North Carolina) cruised through the final heat, staying in the top three the whole way to finish third in 48.97 and advance to the semifinal.

Pole Vault - Qualifying

Sam Kendricks (Oxford, Mississippi) was the only athlete in his flight with a clean sheet through qualifying, clearing the 5.70m/18-8.25 automatic qualifier on his first attempt. He will compete in the men’s pole vault final at 7:05 p.m. local time on Monday, August 24. Brad Walker (Spokane, Washington) missed qualifying for the final, finishing 20th overall with his clearance of 5.65m/18-6.50. Jake Blankenship (Gahanna, Ohio) bowed out in his flight, clearing 5.55m/18-2.50. The Pan Am Games bronze medalist, along with Walker, has a bright future in front of him, having competed in his second senior event this summer entering his senior year at Tennessee.

Women’s Triple Jump - Qualifying

Christina Epps (Morristown, New Jersey) had only one legal jump in the qualifying round, going 13.36m/43-10 and failing to advance to the final.

Men’s 100m - Round 1

After a false start eliminated South Africa’s Anaso Jobodwana on the first try in heat two, Tyson Gay (Lexington, Kentucky) looked supremely confident in winning in 10.11 to clinch his place in the semifinal. Trayvon Bromell (St. Petersburg, Florida) was a convincing winner in heat four, blasting from the blocks in lane nine to take an early lead and finish in 9.91. Justin Gatlin (Pensacola, Florida) ran in lane nine in the sixth heat and was never challenged after his drive phase put him a meter up on the field on the way to a wind-aided 9.83. Michael Rodgers (St. Louis, Missouri) had his traditional good start and ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Usain Bolt to finish second in the seventh and final heat in 9.97.

Women’s Heptathlon - Day One

Barbara Nwaba (Los Angeles, California) uncorked a personal best in the second round of the shot with a 14.64m/48-0.5. Sharon Day-Monroe’s (Costa Mesa, California) first-round throw of 14.85m/48-8.75 was her only legal attempt and moved her up to 10th in the point standings as she finished third overall. Erica Bougard (Byhalia, Mississippi), who was eighth after the first two events, saved her best for last in the shot put with a round three throw of 11.40m/37-5 but fell to 21st after three events.

In the 200, Day-Monroe finished fifth in her heat in 25.05, good for 882 points. She finished day one with 3,736 points in 10th place. Bougard was sixth in her 200m heat, crossing in 24.41 for 942 points. After the first four events in Beijing, Bougard sits 20th with 3,662 points. Nwaba was seventh in her 200m heat, scoring 936 points with her time of 24.47. Nwaba is 33rd with 2,714 points.

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Team USA Medals

Bronze

Michelle Carter - Shot Put (19.76m/64-10)

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