Puerto Rico's athlete smashes an Olympic record

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(Jasmine Camacho-Quinn) "My name is Jasmine Comacho-Quinn. I am a 100-meter hurdler and I represent Puerto Rico and I won the gold medal for the 100 hurdles."

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn is Puerto Rico's first ever gold medallist in athletics.

And if a gold medal wasn’t quite enough…she also set a new Olympic record in Tokyo.

The 100-meter hurdle final saw 24-year-old Camacho-Quinn storm across the finish line ahead of world record holder American Kendra Harrison – who secured the silver medal.

A day earlier, Camacho-Quinn shattered the Olympic record in her semi-final, setting a new mark at 12.26 seconds.

"For me, like, at first I was upset because I hit the hurdle, but I'm like, "We're at the Olympics and you just won a gold medal," and it hit me there. I was like, I just won an Olympic gold medal. Like, that's something huge. And I waited five years for this. So, I mean, the feeling is you can't really describe it honestly. It's just like a lot of excitement."

Comacho-Quinn was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to an African American father and Puerto Rican mother, who were both track athletes themselves.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, but the commonwealth island sends its own team to the Olympics.

Comacho-Quinn said she was proud to represent Puerto Rico at the Games

and that she hopes to inspire young athletes of mixed race to compete.

"Me being... I'm mixed. I let it be known. I have that choice, like I have that choice to represent. If I wanted to represent the U.S., I could. If I want to represent Puerto Rico, I can, which I did, you know. But this is me representing a smaller country that's a part of me. And it gives a lot of kids hope. And there's a lot of people like me out there that, you know, that is mixed or grew up in the States. And, you know, we know our Puerto Rican roots, though. So, you know, my I had the option. I chose Puerto Rico. And that's what it is."

‘’You know, any athlete, it doesn't matter what sport that you do, whatever you want, you step out there, give it your all you know, and that's really it. Like you have to be dedicated to what you do. Stay true to yourself."