Cyrena Samba-Mayela delivered France's first track and field medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, but she had to settle for silver after losing narrowly to Masai Russell.

Team USA star Russell, who is competing at her first edition of the Games, came flying up on the inside to beat Samba-Mayela by one-hundredth of a second at the Stade de France.

Samba-Mayela collapsed in tears on the track after claiming France's first athletics medal on the penultimate night of their home games, with president Emmanuel Macron watching on.

Russell's victory came on the back of Grant Holloway's triumph in the men's 110m hurdles on Thursday, and represents Team USA's 12th track and field gold at these Games.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico took bronze, finishing just three-hundredths of a second behind Russell in a fiercely contested race, while the Netherlands' Nadine Visser missed out on a medal in fourth.