The United States have won their eighth successive Olympic women’s 4×400-metre relay crown to clinch the country’s 14th track and field gold medal of the Paris Games.
A star-studded USA quartet, which included two-time Olympic 400-metre hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200-metres gold medallist Gabby Thomas, powered home in 3 minutes and 15.27 seconds on Saturday.
The Netherlands took silver in 3:19.50 with Great Britain grabbing bronze in 3:19.72.
“The US just has so much depth,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after the win. “Every woman from the trials to the final was going to do their job. “I’m grateful that we were all able to do that and come out with a gold medal.”
And in the men’s 4×400 metres relay final, the USA came out on top again but only just, as Rai Benjamin held off Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in a exciting last-leg battle between two individual gold medallists, with Britain taking bronze.
The USA dropped Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who struggled badly in the heats, but did not bring in individual 400-metre champion Quincy Hall; instead adding 400m hurdles champion Benjamin to run the final leg.
Chris Bailey took them out but handed over in third to Vernon Norwood, who ran a stormer in the heats and repeated it in the final to send Bryce Deadmon off in the lead.
Botswana’s Anthony Pesela, however, closed the gap to set up a affected finale.
Tebogo, the 200-metre champion who was drafted in at the last minute to run the first leg for Botswana in the heats on Friday, sat on Benjamin’s shoulder and looked poised to pass him entering the final straight.
Benjamin’s one-lap speed endurance showed, however, as he held him off to win in an Olympic record of 2:54.43.
Botswana, bronze medallists in Tokyo, took silver in an African record 2:54.53 with Britain taking bronze in a European record 2:55.83.
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