Staff Reporter.
Team USA stormed to victory in the women’s 4x400m relay at Paris 2024 over four seconds ahead of second place, clocking 3:15.30 for a new Americas record in the event for the first time since Seoul 1988.
Shamier Little,Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone,Gabby Thomas and finally Alexis Holmes sealed an eighth consecutive Olympic title in the event.
Just 0.77 seconds ahead of the rest of the field at the first handoff, Mclaughlin-Levrone kicked into gear to set the U.S. ahead of silver medallists the Netherlands by nearly three seconds at the 200m mark, setting Thomas and Holmes up for a dominant place finish.
Their final time put them within 0.1 seconds of a World Record that has held for 36 years.
World champions the Netherlands, anchored by Femke Bol settled for silver with a time of 3:19.50.
Great Britain flew through the finish just 0.22 seconds behind the silver medallists to take the country’s third bronze medal in the event.
Meanwhile Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to give the United States a gold medal and an Olympic-record time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Games on Saturday night.
It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprinting sensation, who stole the spotlight — and the gold — from the U.S. in the 200 on Thursday, relegating Kenny Bednarek to silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for Covid-19, to bronze.
The U.S. quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the American 4×400 team ran at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And Saturday’s time was just .14 seconds off the world record set by the United States in 1993.
It’s the Americans’ 19th gold in the 26 runnings of this relay at the Summer Olympics. No other country has more than two golds in the men’s 4×400.
Compiled by Lehlohonolo Lehana.