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Centrowitz at the finish line after capturing his first Olympic gold medal.
Maryland native Matthew Centrowitz won the mens 1500 at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Saturday night with a winning time of 3:50.00. He is the first American to win the event since 1908.
Centrowitz's winning effort included a 50.62 final lap after an incredibly slow start to the race. Centrowitz's reputation as a great race tactician showed again as he was able to time his moves perfectly to outsprint the rest of the field.
His winning performance means that yet another Maryland-born athlete has won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Swimmers Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, wrestler Helen Maroulis and basketball player Angel McCoughtry are the other Maryland natives to have won gold medals so far at the 2016 Olympics.
Centrowitz, the son of a two-time Olympian, grew up in Arnold, Maryland and attended Broadneck High School. Over the course of his high school career, he won six state championships and still holds the Maryland state meet record in the 1600 (4:04.09). He also won the New Balance Nationals two mile in 2007 with a time of 8:41.55. Saturday's feat added to his list of accomplishments which also includes a world indoor championship.
Some of the best tweets on Centro's historic Olympic victory:
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