Paris 2024 athletics: All results, as Team USA defend gold in men’s 4x400m relay with new Olympic record
Team USA brought home the final men’s athletics gold medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Saturday, 10 August crossing the line in the men’s 4x400m relay in a new Olympic record time of 2:54.43.
The winning U.S. team included Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and the men’s 400m hurdles gold medallist Rai Benjamin.
The race came down to a sprint to the finish with the crowd at the Stade de France cheering Team USA’s Benjamin and Botswana’s Paris 2024 star, the 21-year-old Letsile Tebogo, to the finish line. The 200m sprinting champion gave chase to Benjamin but was unable to run him down with the race ending in a spectacular finish that had the crowd on its feet.
Tebogo set a new African record time of 2:54.53, with Great Britain taking the bronze and establishing a new European record time of 2:55.83.
Benjamin attributes success to the spirit of Team USA
This marks the third 4x400m relay gold in a row for the U.S. men.
“It feels amazing,” said Benjamin. “Team USA have always had dominance over the 4x4 and we just wanted to keep it going.
“This Olympic Games we were connected as a team and we fed off each other’s energy.”
Benjamin referred to the performance of Team USA on the opening day of track & field that saw the 4x400m mixed relay team of Norwood and Deadmon, along with Shamier Little and Kaylyn Brown, set a new world record to win gold.
Benjamin said that win “set this off for us... and they were just infectious after that”. He added: “It’s nothing that we don’t see at home, especially competing at U.S. Trials, we know what to expect. That’s the hard part, this is the easy part, so coming out here and believing in ourselves and trusting each other - that’s what makes this work, makes us so successful when it comes to these global championships.”
On his sprint to the finish line ahead of Tebogo, Benjamin said: “I calculated that run very well to a tee. I have a really high track IQ on people and how they run and how to do a quick time, so I didn’t have to get out too hard, let’s just save it up to come home, because lessons will be coming. Any guy that can run 19.4 (in the 200m) can split 43 low, so I just had to be ready for that.”
Tebogo did indeed run the fastest split of the night at 43.04. But Benjamin was not far off, running a 43.18 split to stay out front on the final leg.
The U.S. men were rewarded with medals including the opening-round starter, 16-year-old phenom Quincy Wilson, who has now added to his accolades of being the youngest U.S. track & field men’s athlete with the addition of an Olympic gold medal.
Botswana surges into silver with new African record
Tebogo was uplifted by Botswana’s performance, which marks a jump up from the bronze the team earned at Tokyo 2020. The team came into the finals after finishing at the top in round 1.
He said: “This race really shows us that we should keep doing this. Normally, during the Olympics, the United States always has a very big gap to the No. 2. Today, it’s a very big improvement.” Botswana finished just .10 behind the U.S.
Tebogo also expressed his gratitude to the team, which included Bayapo Ndori, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, and Anthony Pesela, saying: “If not for them, we wouldn’t be here. I made sure we stayed to one plan. We wanted that gold medal. I wanted to add another gold medal to my collection. It was really a great race, a great experience for me.
“We managed to close the gap on the back straight, on the home straight when I thought I had that one more kick, I just tried to hold. But I’m happy with what we did.”
Handover in the men's 4x400m relay final, which Team USA won
Great Britain wins bronze and sets new national record
Great Britain is back on the 4x400m relay podium for the first time since Beijing 2008 with a new national record time of 2:55.83 set by Alex Haydock-Wilson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Davey Lewis and Charles Dobson.
Hudson-Smith, who finished with silver in the 400m, ran the second-fastest split after Tebogo at 43.09 and said: “We’ve come away with a bronze and a national record, I can’t ask for anything more. We put our heart and soul in that run, and it’s an amazing feeling to deliver for our club, our country. We smashed that national record.”
The Brit is optimistic at their at beating the U.S. in the future: “It’s not just possible – it’s inevitable at this point. That’s how we see it. That’s our vision.”
Athletics: Men’s 4x400m relay podium
Gold: United States
Silver: Botswana
Bronze: Great Britain
See all the results on Olympics.com