The United States has secured its eighth consecutive victory in the Olympic women’s 4×400 meter relay, marking the country’s 14th gold medal in athletics at the Paris Olympics. The star-studded American team, which included two-time Olympic champion in the 400-meter hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and gold medalist in the 200 meters, Gabby Thomas, sent a clear message by crossing the finish line in 3 minutes and 15.27 seconds on Saturday.
The Netherlands took home the silver medal with a time of 3:19.50, while Great Britain claimed bronze with a time of 3:19.72. “The USA just has so much depth,” McLaughlin-Levrone stated after the victory. “Each woman from the trials to the finals had to do her job. I am grateful that we all could do it and come out with a gold medal.”
In the men’s 4×400 meter relay final, the USA also emerged victorious, albeit narrowly, as Rai Benjamin held off Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo during a hectic final leg. Great Britain secured the bronze medal in this event. The USA opted to exclude Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who struggled in the preliminary heats, and did not include the individual 400-meter champion Quincy Hall in the final. Instead, they added 400-meter hurdles champion Benjamin to the anchor leg.
Chris Bailey opened for the team but handed off in third position to Vernon Norwood, who had performed strongly in the trials and repeated his performance in the final, passing the baton to Bryce Deadmon in the lead. However, Botswana’s Anthony Pesela quickly reduced the gap, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Tebogo, who was called up at the last minute to run the first leg for Botswana, shadowed Benjamin and looked poised to overtake him on the final straight. However, Benjamin demonstrated his experience and held him off, securing victory in an Olympic record time of 2:54.43. Botswana, which won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, claimed silver with an African record time of 2:54.53, while Great Britain achieved bronze with a European record of 2:55.83.
In the men’s high jump, Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim captured bronze, losing the gold medal he won in Tokyo four years ago to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. Kerr was shocked to earn a rare gold medal for his country after a dramatic jump-off against American Shelby McEwen. Both men cleared 2.36 meters in the regular competition, but could not be distinguished by the number of failed attempts, prompting a jump-off in which Kerr cleared 2.34 meters while McEwen failed. “I was just in shock. Both McEwen and I were a bit tired after all the jumps we had taken,” Kerr said. “I knew I had a good jump in me, and if I could get it done early, I could finish the competition and start recovering.”
Barshim, who has medaled at four Olympics, has announced he will not compete in Los Angeles in 2028. “You’ll see me with popcorn and a couple of extra kilos while I watch the others. This is definitely my last Olympics,” said the 33-year-old three-time world champion.
Later in the day, American Masai Russell delivered an impressive performance by winning the Olympic gold in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in a tight finish, where she narrowly edged out French hopeful Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tokyo champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Russell clocked in at 12.33 seconds, while Samba-Mayela (12.34 seconds) secured France’s first medal in athletics at the Paris Olympics. Camacho-Quinn from Puerto Rico claimed bronze with a time of 12.36 seconds. “I knew from the start that I was a bit hesitant when the signal went,” Russell remarked.