Team USA continues to rack up the medals and break records at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and in one of the latest history-making victories, American Michelle Carter took home the gold in shot put Friday—the first U.S. woman ever to do so. She's also the first shot putter to medal in quite a while: The last American woman to place in the top three was back in 1960, when Earlene Brown took home a bronze medal.
Carter's final toss—her sixth in the event final—hit 20.63 meters, breaking the American record she set and out-throwing the event favorite, New Zealand's Valerie Adams, by about a one-fifth of a meter.
"I knew I had more in the tank," Carter told reporters. "And to be able to go out there and put the pieces together and pull it out, I'm just really excited."
But there's a legacy to her story, too: Her father, Michael Carter, took home the silver medal in shot put at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. (As a former Super Bowl-winning football player for the San Francisco 49ers, he's also the only person to win an Olympic medal and NFL title in the same year). But he turned his attention to his daughter's training in recent years as both her first coach and the one who prepped her for Rio.
Michelle's victory makes them Team USA's first father-daughter combination to medal at the games—yet another reason to celebrate her own athletic accomplishment.
After officially becoming the best athlete in her sport, Carter took to Instagram with a gracious thank-you video for her supporters.
Congratulations, Michelle!
