It was a win-win competition for the Americans in the triple-jump final: Christian Taylor got the gold and Will Claye got the girl. And while breakfast at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro failed to produce a world record, it supplied a buffet of ambrosial outcomes.

Taylor became the first American man in 112 years to secure back-to-back Olympic titles with a jump of 17.86 meters (58 feet 7¼ inches).

Claye became the first in history to earn consecutive silvers, and Dong Bin, who captured the bronze, became the first jumper from China to grace the Olympic medals podium. All three recorded their medal jumps on their first attempts.

Taylor and Claye devoted their next five jumps to trying to surpass Jonathan Edwards’s world record, set in 1995, of 18.29 meters (60 feet). The harder they pressed, the more they fouled. Both scratched on three of their remaining attempts.

“When you stretch that measuring tape out, you realize how long it is,’’ Taylor said, referring to Edwards’s mark.

Taylor, who has come within 3 inches of the record, added: “I thought today was my moment. I’ve seen world records go right and left here and I thought, Let me add to that story. To come away with the gold is not a bad day at the office.’’

Claye’s second-place jump of 17.76 meters (58-3¼ inches) was a personal best, but not as memorable as the literal and metaphorical leap he took next. In the backpack he brought to the track, he had tucked away an engagement ring for American hurdler Queen Harrison, whom he has dated since 2011.

Harrison, a 2008 Olympian, missed a berth to Rio by one spot in the 100-meter hurdles at the US trials. She originally didn’t plan to travel here because she thought it would be too painful to watch her event go on without her. She decided a few weeks after the trials that she owed it to Claye to come and support him.

Claye said he knew exactly how he would show his gratitude. For security reasons, many Summer Games visitors left all their jewelry, including wedding rings, at home, the better not to become targets of would-be thieves. Claye did the opposite: He had bought an engagement ring for Harrison shortly after the US trials, and he included the ring when he packed for the Olympics.

When Claye discussed his plans to propose to Harrison while in Rio with the people closest to the couple, they tried to dissuade him.

“I talked to my coach about it, he was like, Maybe you should wait until you get back,’’ Claye said. “I think in his head he probably didn’t want me to be focused on that rather than competing.

“And I talked to her friend, who actually told me: ‘Don’t do it there. That’s your moment.’ I was like, all right, but in the back of my head I was like, It could be our moment.’’

Claye woke up Tuesday morning and decided it was going to be a special day no matter what happened on the track.

After the conclusion of the final, he rummaged through the backpack he had carried to the track until he found the ring. He put it in his pocket and trotted toward the stands, where Harrison was sitting with members of his family.

Claye hopped, stepped and jumped from a photographer’s platform over a photographer’s pit that was several feet deep and onto a railing, where he was pulled into the stands by fans. He made his way to Harrison, dropped to one knee, produced the ring and asked if she would marry him. She said yes.

“Just to see her face in the moment was special,’’ Claye said, adding: “She started crying. You could just tell she was shocked.’’

Men’s 200 meters — Usain Bolt cruised through his heat and into Wednesday’s semifinals, as did his biggest rival, Justin Gatlin of the United States.

His full stride going full flow, Bolt could start looking around for opposition. No surprise, he was all alone. He turned the power off and coasted across the line in 20.28 seconds. ‘‘It’s the heats, bro,’’ he said.

Bolt’s immediate aim is a third Olympic sprint double in the 100 and 200. A triple-triple is still alive, with the Jamaicans favored to win the 4 x 100 relay on Friday night.

He said it was no sweat in the 200, but that wasn’t entirely the case in the warm midday sun.

‘‘The morning session, I'm not an early morning person,’’ Bolt said. ‘‘I came out here to qualify and that’s what I did.’’

Women’s 200 meters — World champion Dafne Schippers won a high-powered semifinal heat with Olympic 100-meter champion Elaine Thompson as both went through to Wednesday’s final.

Schippers was the only woman to dip under the 22-second mark with 21.96 seconds, holding an edge of .17 seconds over the Jamaican in the heat. The Dutchwoman disappointed with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter but insisted she had been slowed by a groin injury.

Tori Bowie of the United States, the silver medalist in the 100, won the second 200-meter heat in 22.13 seconds while Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory coast won the third heat.

Women’s 1,500 meters— Faith Kipyegon of Kenya ran away from world-record holder Genzebe Dibaba over the last half lap to win the gold medal.

Kipyegon, who was runner-up to the Ethiopian Dibaba at last year’s world championships, finished Tuesday’s race in 4 minutes, 8.92 seconds for a 1.35-second margin over Dibaba, who took silver.

Jennifer Simpson of the United States took bronze.

Men’s 110-meter hurdles — Omar McLeod’s 13.05-second trip in the evening’s final event made it three gold medals on the straightaway for Jamaica. He beat Orlando Ortega of Spain by .12 seconds. Dimitri Bascou of France took third, and University of Oregon receiver Devon Allen finished fifth.

Men’s high jump — Derek Drouin of Canada won at a height of 2.38 meters, adding the Olympic title to his world championship victory last year.

The 26-year-old Drouin, who won bronze at the London Olympics, was clean through his first five heights and, after clinching the gold medal, stopped after missing one attempt at 2.40 to start his celebrations.

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, who shared the Olympic bronze in 2012 and had the leading mark of the season entering the Olympics, took the silver at 2.36.

Bogdan Bondarenko of Ukraine, the 2013 world champion, missed twice at 2.38 and then passed and raised the bar to 2.40 in a bid for gold. He balked at his first run up and then walked into the bar, ensuring Drouin would take the gold.

Women’s discus — Sandra Perkovic of Croatia, who twice was a single throw from elimination but came through both times and defended her Olympic title.

Women’s 400-meter hurdles — Sydney McLaughlin can get back to the homework that’s due before the end of the summer.

The youngest US track and field Olympian since 1972 did not advance to the final of the 400-meter hurdles.

McLaughlin, a 17-year-old from Dunellen, N.J., was fifth in her 400-meter hurdles semifinal, finishing in 56.22 seconds.

The top two runners in each semifinal automatically qualify for the final, along with the top two fastest others.

So McLaughlin’s Olympics are over. That’s the bad news. The good news is she can focus on the summer reading project that’s due before she starts her senior year of high school.