Olympic Track and Field 2016: Women's High Jump Winners, Scores and Results

The women's high jump final at the 2016 Olympics unfolded Saturday evening in Rio de Janeiro, and Spain's Ruth Beitia took home the gold medal after she cleared 1.97 meters on attempt No. 1 to separate herself from the competition. 

According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Beitia, 37, became the oldest jumps medalist in Olympics history by virtue of her win. 

Bulgaria's Mirela Demireva captured silver after an inauspicious start when she failed to clear the opening height of 1.88 meters on her first try, while Croatia's Blanka Vlasic won bronze with a clearance of 1.97 meters on her second attempt. 

Here's a rundown of the results and official standings from Saturday's final: 

Medal	Athlete	Country	Top Height Cleared (Meters)
Gold	Ruth Beitia	Spain	1.97
Silver	Mirela Demireva	Bulgaria	1.97
Bronze	Blanka Vlasic	Croatia	1.97
4	Chaunte Lowe	United States	1.97
5	Alessia Trost	Italy	1.93
6	Levern Spencer	Saint Lucia	1.93
7	Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch	Germany	1.93
8	Sofie Skoog	Sweden	1.93
9	Kamila Licwinko	Poland	1.93
10	Iryna Gerashchenko	Ukraine	1.93
11	Morgan Lake	Great Britain	1.93
12	Inika McPherson	United States	1.93
13	Vashti Cunningham	United States	1.88
14	Airine Palsyte	Lithuania	1.88
15	Svetlana Radzivil	Uzbekistan	1.88
16	Desiree Rossit	Italy	1.88
17	Alyxandria Treasure	Canada	1.88

And here's an overview of the updated medal count, which the United States continues to dominate following track and field events on Saturday: 

Beitia bested the competition, but there was plenty to write home about besides the gold medalist. 

Demireva set a personal best with a final clearance of 1.97 meters, while Vlasic's 1.97-meter clearance was good enough for a season best. 

Beyond the medalists, American eyes were trained on Chaunte Lowe—who entered the final with a 2016-best clearance of 2.01 meters. As a result, she was projected to compete for a spot on the medal stand alongside the ageless Spanish wonder. 

However, Lowe was undone when she needed all three attempts to clear 1.97 meters, while Vlasic and Demireva vaulted ahead and into the medal conversation. 

In other Red, White and Blue news, Vashti Cunningham—the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham—cleared her first attempt at 1.88 meters to get her night off to a great start. Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, her final came to a screeching halt when she missed all three attempts at 1.93 meters. 

But despite her inability to compete for a spot on the podium in her first Olympics, Cunningham has a bright future that should be filled with medal contention as her career begins to blossom. 

Post-Meet Reaction

"I'm aware that I'm 37 years old," Beitia said, per AFP (via News18.com). "I think I'm one of the oldest women to win an Olympic gold medal."

"Of course, I'm very proud to still be continuing up to now," she added, per AFP. "Even at my age, I have the same enthusiasm and happiness."