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PARIS — The drought is over.

American weightlifter Olivia Reeves won a gold medal in her Olympic debut, giving the American team its gold medal since before Reeves was born.

Reeves, 21 and a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was generally favored to win the gold medal after a series of impressive performances in international competition. The last time the USA took home a gold medal was in 2000, at the games in Sydney. It was the first Olympic Games to include women’s weightlifting as part of the program.

Cara Heads-Slaughter, who was a member of the 2000 USA Women’s Weightlifting Team, told NPR that Reeves is “on her way to becoming the best American weightlifter in women’s history.”

In competition, athletes get three attempts at each lift. Their heaviest jerk and heaviest clean and jerk together make up their total. And the lifter with the highest total wins. Reeves weighed a total of 262 kilograms, or roughly 577 pounds.

She also set an Olympic record with her 117 kilograms, or roughly 258 pounds. Although Reeves had already won the gold medal, she attempted the 150 kilogram clean and jerk to set a new Olympic record in that lift as well. But she couldn’t complete the lift.

Mari Leivis Sanchez from Colombia took home the silver medal. Ecuador’s Angie Paola Palacios took bronze.

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