USA soar to double 4x400m relay Olympic gold medals

On Saturday, the United States maintained its supremacy in the Olympic 4x400 metres relay, albeit narrowly, as Rai Benjamin fended off Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in an exhilarating final leg contest between two individual gold medalists.

As anticipated, the U.S. team replaced Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who faced significant challenges during the heats, but did not include individual 400m champion Quincy Hall. Instead, they opted to have 400m hurdles champion Benjamin run the anchor leg.

Chris Bailey initiated the race but passed the baton in third place to Vernon Norwood, who had performed exceptionally in the heats and continued his strong performance in the final, allowing Bryce Deadmon to start in the lead.

However, Botswana’s Anthony Pesela closed the distance, setting the stage for a thrilling conclusion. Tebogo, the 200m champion who was a last-minute addition to run the first leg for Botswana during the heats on Friday, positioned himself closely behind Benjamin and appeared ready to overtake him as they approached the final straight.

Nevertheless, Benjamin’s endurance over the final lap proved decisive, enabling him to secure victory in an Olympic record time of 2 minutes 54.43 seconds. This marked an impressive 19th gold medal for the U.S. in this event.

Botswana, who earned bronze in Tokyo, claimed silver with an African record of 2:54.53, while Britain secured bronze with a European record of 2:55.83. The race showcased such exceptional quality that Belgium, finishing fourth, and South Africa in fifth both set national records, while Japan in sixth achieved an Asian record.

The United States secured the gold medal in the Olympic women's 4x400 metres relay on Saturday, achieving the second-fastest time ever recorded and extending the nation's impressive winning streak in this event to eight consecutive victories.

Featuring a formidable team that included Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas, the American squad finished with a time of three minutes 15.27 seconds, just shy of the world record established by the former Soviet Union in 1988.

Following Femke Bol's outstanding performance that propelled the Dutch team to victory in the mixed 4x400 relay the previous week, the Netherlands faced an insurmountable gap and ultimately claimed the silver medal with a time of 3:19.50. Great Britain secured the bronze, finishing in 3:19.

Jamaica initially held third place after the first leg; however, Andrenette Knight's baton drop, caused by a collision with Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke during the second leg, hindered their performance.

Shamier Little positioned the U.S. in the lead before passing the baton to McLaughlin-Levrone, who extended the lead to 30 metres with her impressive lap time of 47.71 seconds. From that moment, the only uncertainty was which team would take the silver medal.

Thomas passed the baton to Alexis Holmes with a 40-metre advantage, allowing her to guide the team to victory.