SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Ray Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the final leg to give the United States the gold medal and an Olympic record time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Rio Olympics. Paris games On Saturday night.
“I calculated this run very well,” Benjamin said. “I have a really good sense of how people run and how to get a fast time, so I didn’t have to put in a lot of effort: let’s save it for the home run.”
Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he had already won in 400m hurdles The night before, he had stopped Tebogo, the 200m champion, from giving Botswana another victory over the Americans.
It was TebogoThe 21-year-old sprint sensation stole the show — and the gold medal — from the United States in the 200 meters on Thursday, with Kenny Bednarik taking silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for doping, taking the silver. Covid-19to bronze.
The American quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Dedmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the U.S. 4x400m team won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Saturday’s time was just 0.14 seconds off the world record set by the United States in 1993.
It is the 19th gold medal won by the United States in 26 relay events at the Summer Olympics. No other country has won more than two gold medals in the men’s 4×400-meter event.
“Team USA has always been dominant in the 4x4s, and we just wanted to continue that,” Bailey said.
Quincy WilsonThe 16-year-old from Virginia ran in the first round of the relay, so he also took home the gold, making him the youngest U.S. male athlete to win a track and field medal at any Summer Olympics. Wilson left the Americans in a distant seventh place after his opening lap on Friday, but Bailey’s strong legs allowed the team to advance.
On Saturday, Botswana were a tenth of a second behind, with Tebogo Bayabo Ndure, Bosang Collin Kibinachebe and Anthony Bisela joining them.
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Britain came third with a time of 2:55.83.
“Coming into the U.S. Trials, we know what to expect. That’s the hard part; that’s the easy part,” Benjamin said. “So coming out here and believing in ourselves and believing in each other — that’s what makes this successful, and what makes us so successful, when it comes to these world championships.”
This victory was followed shortly after by another—much easier—victory for the United States in Women’s 4×400 relaywhich ended the track and field portion of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas helped the U.S. women win by 4.23 seconds, giving the country 14 gold medals and 34 overall medals on the track, the most ever by any nation competing in Paris.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
