19-year-old Athing Mu became the second-youngest Olympic 800 meter champion with a blistering performance at the Tokyo Olympic stadium on Tuesday.
Mu is the first US athlete to win the title in more than half a century, setting a new US national record in the process with a time of 1:55.21.
American Madeline Manning was the last US winner in this event back at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
Great Britain’s 19-year-old Keely Hodgkinson set a new British record of 1:55.88 to claim silver, with American Raevyn Rogers claiming bronze in a personal best time of 1:56.81.
Mu is the second-youngest of seven siblings and was the first to be born in the United States a year after her family immigrated to the US from Sudan.