Team USA showcased their sprinting prowess with a commanding performance in the women’s 4x400m relay at the Paris Olympics, clinching the gold medal on Saturday. The quartet’s performance was nothing short of spectacular, as they narrowly missed out on breaking the world record.
Shamier Little set the tone with a stellar first leg, taking a commanding lead that set up her teammates for success. She passed the baton to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the newly-crowned 400m hurdles Olympic champion, who maintained the lead with a strong performance. McLaughlin-Levrone handed over to 200m champion Gabby Thomas, who continued to build the advantage.
The athletics queen of Paris 🥇🥇 🥇
🇺🇸's @itsgabbyt is the only athlete to win 3 gold medals at @Paris2024 😵
200m 🥇
4x100m 🥇
4x400m 🥇#Paris2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/ruQ1cnLHuK— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 10, 2024
Alexis Holmes took the baton for the final leg and secured Team USA’s gold medal with a time of 3:15.27, just a tenth of a second short of the world record of 3:15.17. The Americans’ time set a new area record and solidified their dominance in the event.
The Netherlands, anchored by world champion and Olympics silver medallist Femke Bol, finished second with a time of 3:19.50, while Great Britain, with Amber Anning anchoring, took bronze in 3:19.72.
It was a disappointing race for Jamaica, who encountered trouble early on. The Jamaican team, consisting of Stacy Ann Williams, Andrennet Night, Shiann Salmon, and Stephenie Ann McPherson, dropped the baton during the first leg, leading to a premature end of their race and leaving the team in tears.
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