SAINT-DENIS, France — Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to give the United States a gold medal and an Olympic-record time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Games on Saturday night.
Then Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas teamed up for America’s 14th gold and 34th overall medal at the track Saturday, wrapping up the Olympic action at the Stade de France with a 4.23-second runaway in the women’s 4×400 relay.
Patrick Smith via Getty Images
The gold medalists in the 400 hurdles and 200 meters took care of legs two and three for the United States, handing a 30-meter lead to Alexis Holmes, who didn’t lose any ground.
The U.S. finished in 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds, only .1 short of the world record.
Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he claimed in the 400-meter hurdles a night earlier and prevented 200-meter champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another triumph over the Americans.
DeFodi Images via Getty Images
It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprinting sensation, who stole the spotlight — and the gold — from the U.S. in the 200 on Thursday, relegating Kenny Bednarek to silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for COVID-19, to bronze.
The U.S. quartet of Christpher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the American 4×400 team ran at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And Saturday’s time was just .14 seconds off the world record set by the United States in 1993.
Botswana was a tenth of a second back Saturday, with Tebogo joined by Bayapo Ndori, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi and Anthony Pesela.
Britain was third in 2:55.83.
