RIO DE JANEIRO _ Alise Post won a silver medal Friday afternoon in the BMX racing competition in Rio.
She finished .342 seconds behind the winner, Mariana Pajon, of Colombia.
Post finished third in her first of her three heats, second in the second one and third in the final heat.
Brooke Crain of the United States finished fourth.
The semifinals included two heats of eight riders each. They completed three runs, with the top four in each heat advancing to a one-run final.
Mariana Pajon of Colombia was the leader after winning all three of her heats, in which Post also raced.
Post finished third in the opening run, .838 of a second behind Pajon, the world champion and defending Olympic gold medalist who is often referred to within the sport as the "Queen of BMX."
In the second run, Post charged aggressively out of the gates to challenge Pajon. The two raced neck-and-neck down the final straightaway, with Pajon nipping Post by .019 of a second. That second-place finish put Post in excellent position to advance.
Post finished .433 of a second behind Pajon in the final run.
Post came to Rio looking for a better result than she had at the 2012 Olympics, when she crashed in the semifinals and finished 12th. Ranked third in the world after winning a bronze medal at the world championships in May, she had the eighth-best time in Wednesday's seeding run.
The United States ended its gold medal drought in the event when Connor Fields took the men's final.
Fields won with a time of 34.622 seconds, beating the Netherlands' Jelle van Gorkom by .684 seconds. It's the first time that Team USA has won BMX since the American-born action sport became an Olympic medal event in 2008.
The United States also returned to the podium after getting shut out in 2012 in London.
There was a photo finish for third, with Carlos Ramirez Yepes of Colombia just edging out the United States' Nic Long for the bronze.
The Olympic BMX track is part of an extreme-sports park tucked inside the scenic green hills of the Deodoro region. Despite the serene setting, it is a fierce course. Several riders crashed in the men's quarterfinals Thursday, when they battled shifting winds.
