page_title: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics
section_title: Final three days
hierarchical_section_title: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics / Daily summaries / Final three days
caption_attribution_description: Rio de Janeiro - A queniana Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot vence final e bate recorde olímpico dos 5 mil metros nos Jogos Rio 2016, no Estádio Olímpico (Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil)
context_page_description: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from 12–21 August 2016, at the Olympic Stadium. The sport of athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics was made into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events.
context_section_description: The 400 metres hurdles finals were contested on day seven: Kerron Clement won the United States's 19th men's title and in contrast Dalilah Muhammad became the first American female winner. On a day of strong American performances, Ashton Eaton defended his decathlon title in an Olympic record score of 8893 points and in the men's shot put Ryan Crouser greatly improved his best to 22.52 m (73 ft 10 ¹⁄₂ in) to break Ulf Timmermann's Olympic record from 1988 (among men's Olympic records, only Bob Beamon's long jump had stood for longer). The women's javelin throw had an unexpected winner in Croatia's Sara Kolak, whose winning mark of 66.18 m (217 ft 1 ¹⁄₂ in) meant the 21-year-old had improved her best by over eight metres that year. The favourite delivered in the men's 200 m, with Usain Bolt taking his third straight Olympic 200 m title by a margin of a quarter of a second. The women's 4 × 100 metres relay heats featured the first ever re-run – Brazil has obstructed the American baton handover and the United States were allowed a solo run to qualify for the final on time, which they did.
  The morning of the penultimate day began with two racewalking finals. In the men's 50 km walk Matej Tóth overtook defending champion Jared Tallent to win Slovakia's first Olympic gold in athletics while Liu Hong returned China to the top of the women's 20 km walk podium. Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece won the women's pole vault after the pre-event favourites faltered. Dilshod Nazarov made history in the men's hammer throw by becoming Tajikistan's first Olympic gold medallist. Vivian Cheruiyot achieved a first for her country in the women's 5000 metres by outrunning 10,000 m champion Almaz Ayana to take Kenya's first ever gold in the distance event. In that race, Cheruiyot set the last of eight Olympic records in Rio. The 4 × 100 m finals delivered new highs for Olympic athletics. The American women overcame their qualification troubles by winning from uncomfortable lane one, making Allyson Felix the most successful female Olympian in athletics at five gold medals. Usain Bolt anchored the Jamaican men to the gold to complete a set of three consecutive victories across the 100 m, 200 m and relay (referred to as a "treble treble"). Bolt equalled Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi's record of nine Olympic gold medals in athletics.
  On the ninth and final day of action in the track and field stadium, Matthew Centrowitz Jr. secured a tactical win in the men's 1500 m while Caster Semenya used her sheer speed to win the women's 800 m. Behind her Francine Niyonsaba won only the second ever medal for Burundi at the Olympics. In the women's high jump, Ruth Beitia became Spain's inaugural female Olympic gold medalist in athletics, though this was overshadowed by the fact her winning mark was the lowest since 1980 and she was outperformed by two heptathletes in Rio. Thomas Röhler cleared ninety metres to win the men's javelin throw. Mo Farah became the second most successful track athlete of the 2016 Rio Olympics by defending his 5000 m title, making him one of only two men alongside Finland's Lasse Virén to have defended both long-distance titles at consecutive Olympics. In the last track events of the games, the United States won the men's and women's 4 × 400 metres relays. The women's victory gave Allyson Felix the distinction of setting a medals record for women's Olympic athletics; six gold medals and nine medals overall. In the closing competition of the Olympics, Eliud Kipchoge comfortably won the marathon by the largest margin since 1972. The runner-up Feyisa Lilesa made a political protest by crossing his arms near the finish line in solidarity with the Oromo killed in protests that year and later suggested he would seek asylum.
  The United States won the most medals in athletics and at thirteen golds and 32 overall they won more than double the next most successful nations. In the absence of Russia, Kenya and Jamaica placed second and third with six gold medals and the only other nations to win more than ten medals in total. In the 2016 Olympic athletic
caption: Vivian Cheruiyot celebrating Kenya's first 5000 m women's title
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