American trio shot to victory in the men's 400 meters hurdles final on Monday in an atmosphere of fevered excitement, as they swept the medals of the event, hours after Stephanie Brown Trafton claimed the first athletics gold for the America in Beijing Olympics.

After Felix Sanchez put an end to the America's strongehold at the event within his Athens 2004 victory, the U.S. made a strong comeback as they won five out of six Olympics since 1984 Los Angeles.

Angelo Taylor flew across the line in 47.25 seconds, the world best performance this year, to claim the gold, 0.73 seconds ahead of compatriot Kerron Clement. Bershawn Jackson went out third at 48.06.

Taylor, who had a second best performance this year with 47.79 seconds, was not the fastest out of the blocks but powered back into contention after 200 meters, lunging over the line ahead of Clement with nearly 10 meters margin.

Defending Olympic silver medalist Danny McFarlane from Jamaica finished fourth with 48.30.

Early on Monday night, Trafton was crowned in the women's discus throw to give the U.S. the first gold medal in the Bird's Nest.

US runner Angelo Taylor [Xinhua]