Sarah Robles made history in Rio di Janeiro on Sunday night by becoming the first American weightlifter to win an Olympic medal since 2000.

Sarah Robles Wins Bronze, First Medal In 16 Years For USA Weightlifting

Her coach’s message to her before her final lift at Riocentro – Pavilion 2 was this: less than ten seconds separated Robles from a personal goal and a historic performance.

“I said to her, ‘Do you want to be on the medal stand? This is your opportunity,’” said Tim Swords, Robles’ coach. “’This is five seconds against the rest of your life.’ I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ You gotta bring it now, and you gotta go for it. Just five seconds of your life. This is going to change your life. Five seconds.’”

A lift of 160kg. after five grueling lifts, each one heavier than the last, gave the Mexican-American her first Olympic medal, a bronze in the +75 kg. weight class. It also marked Team USA’s first medal in women’s weightlifting in 16 years.

Robles, 28, lifted a combined 286 kg., including 126 kg. in the snatch and 160 kg. in the clean and jerk. She finished 21kg. behind China’s Suping Meng, who won the gold medal. Kuk Hyang Kim of North Korea took home silver.

Although an Olympic medal was the ultimate goal, Robles confessed she was simply aiming to have her best day on the big stage.

“I wasn’t really thinking about medals I just really thinking about having Sarah’s day,” Robles explained to USA Weightlifting. “if it got me medals, cool, if it didn’t then at least I had the best day. You can’t complain when you do your absolute best.”

Tara Nott and Cheryl Haworth were the last two U.S. women to win an Olympic medal; both won at the Sydney 2000 Games. Nott won gold in women’s flyweight, while Haworth took home bronze in super heavyweight, Robles’ class.

Robles, a San Diego native, began weightlifting in 2008 as a way to help her train for track and field. She threw shot put and discus in high school and added hammer throw in college.

Four years later, she qualified for the Olympic team for the London 2012 Games, where she finished seventh. Following a two-year suspension for testing positive for the banned substance DHEA, which she says was recommended by a doctor to assist in treating her polycystic ovary syndrome, Robles returned last year, finishing sixth at the 2015 World Championships.

Nevertheless, she suffered a small wrist injury at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. This didn’t cause Robles to lose hope ahead of the Rio Games, however.

“She was more calm here than she has been all year,” said Swords, Robles’ coach of 2 ½ years. “There was no anxiety. She was just ready to do what we asked her to do, and she did exactly what we asked her to do.”

Robles went six for six in her lifts, with her mother in attendance. She lifted 118, 122 and a personal-record 126 kg. in the snatch. In the clean and jerk, she lifted 151 and 155 kg., the latter of which she said led to pain in her upper back.

“I had, to me, the perfect day,” Robles said. “I’m the only person competing against myself. I’m competing against my own fears. I’m competing against my own body. And I feel like an Olympic champion. I felt awesome after I was lifting. I was just lost in my moment.”

On Instagram, Robles said she celebrated her medal with “protein drinks and a call to grandma.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJHWQGrDkVm/

Nathan Adrian, defending Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, took bronze in the event’s final on Wednesday in Rio, after losing to Australian up-and-comer Kyle Chalmers. 

USA’s Nathan Adrian, Defending Olympic Champion, Wins Bronze In 100M Freestyle

Adrian finished in 47.85 seconds. Chalmers took the lead in the last 50 and won in 47.58. Pieter Timmers of Belgium won silver.

Adrian’s time was 0.33 seconds slower at the London 2012 Games, where he won the gold medal by 0.01 seconds.

“I’m certainly happy to have another medal, happy to have two finals under my belt and come away with two medals so far,” Adrian said, referring to the gold that he won as part of the men’s 4×100 freestyle on Sunday night.

A three-time Olympian, Adrian, 27, now has five Olympic gold medals and six overall. The Bremerton, Washington native has now moved into the top 10 of most decorated Olympic swimmers.

The 100-meter freestyle is known for being one of the most challenging Olympic events. The last Olympian to defend the title was Pieter van den Hoogenband from the Netherlands, who won the race at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Games.

Often-times, swimmers’ times (like they were on Wednesday) differ by merely hundredths of a second.

Swimming in Lane 4 in the middle of the pool in Wednesday’s final, Adrian claimed he has strong peripheral vision with his goggles, but “it’s not necessarily the wisest thing in the world to use it,” he said.

“If I had my choice, I would swim in Lane 1 or Lane 8 every time,” he added. “I’m a guy who likes to have clear water. In the middle of the pool there — you can’t really see it from the TV — but there’s a giant wave that hits you pretty hard. It’s hard. You just have to deal with it. You have to play the hand that you’re dealt.”

Despite not winning gold again this year, Adrian became the fifth U.S. man to win two medals in the 100 free.

He says a poor performance at the 2015 world championships gave him the motivation to get back into shape to even have a chance at defending his tittle. In the 100 free at the Kazan worlds, Adrian tied for last.

“Last year was a big wake up call,” he said. “I wasn’t in the shape I needed to be to break 48 [seconds] in the 100 and it showed. That was very clear to me. We had to make some changes.”

The 18-year-old Chalmers on Wednesday became the youngest man to win the event in 36 years, something which Adrian stated is more of a testament of the quality of the swimmers competing in the event.

“When you look on the page [start list], Pieter and I are the only ones born in the 80s, that’s a little weird,” Adrian said with a laugh. “I plan on continuing to swim, so we’ll probably see some guys coming up being born in 2000s soon.”

Adrian said he noticed Chalmers after he competed at Australian Olympic Trials this year and knew immediately he would be a strong competitor.

Adrian didn’t count out 19-year-old teammate Caeleb Dressel, either. Dressel is considered a future star in freestyle sprinting in the U.S., and he finished sixth in the 100 free in his first Olympics.

Asked if he was happy with his time in the 100 free, Adrian said no– “But I’m happy with a medal.”

The UC-Berkley swimmer will have two more opportunities to win medals in Rio. He competes in the men’s 50 free on Friday and the men’s 4×100 medley on Saturday.