American Masai Russell won a photo finish in the women's 100m hurdles on Saturday, with the biggest cheer going to Cyréna Samba-Mayela, whose silver medal marks the first of any colour for France in Olympic track competition.
In a very close race on the straight, Russell finished in 12.33 seconds, but had to wait another 15 seconds to find out that he had beaten the Frenchwoman by 0.01.
Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, competing for Puerto Rico, finished 0.02 seconds behind for bronze.
By finishing second, Samba-Mayela broke the host country's scoring streak on the final day of action at the Stade de France.
The stadium was packed for all nine nights, cheering on sports stars from the United States, Kenya, Norway and all corners of the world.
Still, the biggest ovation for a French athlete so far went to a swimmer: Léon Marchand, who won a gold medal in the pool on the opening night of the track competition, prompting race officials to call for silence as a crowd watching on tablets and phones went wild.
Now, Samba-Mayela has given them a moment to cheer them on in person. It is a welcome break for a country with a rich tradition in athletics, which has produced Olympic champions such as Marie-José Pérec and Renaud Lavillenie. Even with this medal, France is still without an Olympic gold in athletics since Lavillenie won the pole vault in 2012.
Kenya's Wanyonyi wins men's 800m in another race decided by 0.01 seconds
In a fast-paced men's 800m race, Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi beat Canada's Marco Arop by 0.01 seconds in a photo finish, finishing in 1:41.19, just 0.28 off the world record.
American Bryce Hoppel's national record of 1:41.67 only earned him fourth place.
Kipyegon wins third consecutive 1,500m gold
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon won her third consecutive Olympic gold in the 1,500 metres, breaking away from the field to finish more than a second ahead of the rest in an Olympic record time of 3:51.29.
Kipyegon cemented her status as one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time, becoming the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic 1,500-meter titles.
Australia's Jessica Hull took silver and Britain's Georgia Bell bronze as both found the strength to overcome Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji in the final stretch.
Ingebrigtsen takes a win, this time in the 5,000 metres
Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 5,000 metres in a relatively drama-free race after a much-hyped 1,500m race four nights earlier against Britain's Josh Kerr turned into a disappointing fourth-place finish.
Ingebrigtsen won in 13 minutes and 13.66 seconds and added this title to her victories at the last two world championships.
Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi finished second and Grant Fisher of the U.S. finished third, adding to the bronze he won in the 10,000 meters earlier in the Olympics.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
