London, England – Kirani James claimed Grenada's first Olympic medal with an easy gold-medal run in the men's 400 meters.
James took a big lead into the final stretch and crossed the finish line at 43.94 seconds, posting the fastest time in his nation's history. Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic was .52 seconds behind for silver.
Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago was only .06 seconds behind Santos for bronze.
The United States won gold, silver and bronze in the 400 four years ago in Beijing, but didn't qualify a single runner for Tuesday's final. Not counting the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games, this marks the first time the U.S. failed to win a medal in this event since 1920.
The best chance at gold for the Americans was expected to be 2008 Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt, but he was unable to finish his semifinal race after pulling up lame with a hamstring injury.
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