Hall gives Americans another come-from-behind gold

PARIS — Quincy Hall became the latest American to electrify Olympic track and field with an out-of-nowhere comeback Wednesday night at the Paris Olympics.

Hall sprinted from far behind in the 400 meters to reel in three runners and capture the gold medal. Hall, buried in fourth place as the runners rounded the last bend, outran the runner on his outside, then two more to the inside to cross the line in 43.40 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever.

Hall then dropped to the track to do snow angels to celebrate.

Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain finished second and Muzala Samukonga of Zambia finished third.

Hall is the first American since LaShawn Merritt in 2008 to capture gold in the one-lap race. His victory came an evening after teammate Cole Hocker came from far behind late to beat the favorites in the men’s 1,500.

The win came about an hour after Noah Lyles advanced to the final of the 200 meters despite finishing second to Letsile Tebogo in his semifinal heat. Lyles will race for the gold medal Thursday.

Highlights of what happened on Day 12 of the Paris Olympics:

U.S. takes silver, almost pulls upset in steeplechase

Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco defended his title in the men’s steeplechase with a .36-second win over American rival Kenneth Rooks.

Rooks had the lead heading into the homestretch and was looking to pull off a massive upset, but El Bakkali overtook him. Rooks still beat his personal best by almost 9 seconds to capture the second silver in three Olympics in the event for the United States.

Australia reaches new heights with vault win

Nina Kennedy’s gold medal in the pole vault was Australia’s 18th at the Paris Games, an Olympic record for the country.

Kennedy cleared 4.95 meters to beat defending champion Katie Moon of the U.S.

Lin Yu-ting advances

to gold-medal bout

Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division. She won her third consecutive bout while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender.

One day after welterweight Imane Khelif of Algeria reached her weight division’s final with a third straight victory in Paris, Lin defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0.

Lin will fight

for gold on Saturday

Lin and Khelif have dominated all of their Olympic bouts despite the massive distractions created by the fallout from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association’s decision last year to disqualify both fighters from the world championships for allegedly failing an eligibility test.

Both fighters have responded to this unwelcome spotlight by making two of the best tournament runs of their lengthy amateur careers.