Entertainment Sports Dalilah Muhammad Becomes First U.S. Woman to Win Gold in 400-Meter Hurdles Denmark's Sara Slott Petersen won the silver medal and American Ashley Spencer took the bronze in the Thursday night final By Tiare Dunlap Published on August 18, 2016 11:15 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images History, made. Dalilah Muhammad led from start to finish to win the United States’ first gold medal – ever – in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the Rio Olympic Games. Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen won the silver medal and American Ashley Spencer took the bronze in the Thursday night final. Making her Olympic debut, Muhammad got off to a blazing start under a steady rain and rose quickest over the first hurdle, never coming close to losing her lead. For more of PEOPLE’s Olympic coverage, pick up our collector’s edition, The Best of the Games, on sale now. Road to Rio: How Moms Support Olympic Hopefuls The 26-year-old clocked 53.13 seconds to win by a margin of 0.42. At U.S. team trials last month, she became the first woman in three years to run a heat in under 53 seconds. The gold and bronze wins are the ninth and tenth medals won by U.S. women in track events in Rio. With this latest win, the team has now taken a gold in every event that requires starting blocks at some point in history, according to CBS Sports.