In two blistering 4x400m relay races on Saturday in Paris, both the men’s and women’s U.S. teams successfully defended their Olympic titles, storming to gold medals with performances that were mere fractions of a second off the men’s and women’s world records, and the silver and bronze medallists all set national or area records themselves.
The American men crossed the line in 2:54.44–only 14 hundredths of a second off their own team’s world record, set in 1993 (they also hold the Olympic record, set at 2:55.39 at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing). The American women, too, missed setting a world record by a mere tenth of a second, finishing in 3:15.27, more than four seconds ahead of the Netherlands in silver (3:19.50, a European record) and Great Britain with bronze (3:19.72, a British record).
Benjamin vs. Tebogo
The men’s race came down to a fourth-leg battle between two newly-minted Olympic champions in the anchor positions–the USA’s Rai Benjamin and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo–but Tebogo couldn’t close the three metres Benjamin had on him, and had to settle for silver (2:54.53–an African record).
Quincy Wilson, at 16 the youngest participant in Paris (who ran in the heats), earned a gold medal in his first Olympics.
Gold: USA 2:54.44 (North American record)
Silver: Botswana 2:54.53 (African record
Bronze: Great Britain 2:55.83 (European record)
Canada did not have a team entered in the men’s 4x400m relay.
That men’s 4x400m was something else 😤
🥇 🇺🇸 2:54.43 OR
🥈 🇧🇼 2:54.53 AR
🥉 🇬🇧 2:55.83 AR#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/72fSLugOVM— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 10, 2024
American women score dominant win
Team USA’s Shamier Little was the first to get the baton to the second leg runner, and 400m hurdles gold medallist and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone quickly created a huge lead between herself and the rest of the field, handing off to 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas, then anchor Alexis Holmes brought it home for gold. Then it was a battle for silver and bronze, with the Dutch team, anchored by Femke Bol taking silver in 3:19.50 (a Dutch record) and Great Britain took bronze in 3:19.72, also a national record.
Gold: USA 3:15.27 (North American record)
Silver: Netherlands 3:19.50 (Dutch record)
Bronze: Great Britain 3:19.72 (British record)
The Canadian team of Zoë Sherar, Savannah Sutherland, Kyra Constantine and Lauren Gale finished sixth, in 3:22.01, a season’s best.
“Our group’s just getting stronger, year over year, Sherar said after the race. “We’re excited for what’s to come.”
Sutherland added: “We have a pretty young team, and I think that we can continue to get better each time we step on the track, and each time we get more experience with each other. This is my first time running on the 4x400m, but I’m looking forward to see what we can improve after we work together a couple more times.”
Athletics events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are taking place from Aug. 1-11. Today’s coverage is brought to you by Canadian Running and ASICS Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.
