The United States won the women’s Olympic 4×100 metres relay on Friday as Allyson Felix became the first woman to collect five gold medals in athletics. “See how they did”.
Advertisement
The victory by the US marked the first time that a 4×100 team won out of lane 1 at the Olympic Games since the USA men did it in 1972. She is now second on the all-time list in track and field behind Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey, who won nine Olympic medals from 1980 to 2004.
In Thursday’s first round, the USA botched the second handoff between Felix and English Gardner, knocking them out of the final.
Running in those borrowed, big shoes, Gardner’s third leg was critical in propelling the Americans to victory in 41.01 seconds, the second-fastest time in history.
Their time of 41.01 seconds is the second-fastest time ever run in the 4×100 relay, and they beat silver medalist Jamaica by.35 seconds.
Felix also was a member of the US team that won gold in the event at the 2012 Olympic Games, one of three golds she won in London.
Those prizes were both golds from the 4×400 relays, and the United States exited the final night of action at Olympic Stadium with 31 medals the most it has taken in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1956, when the world and track were both very different places.
“I’m extremely happy”, she said. For Bartoletta, it was the second gold in Rio, after winning the long jump.
Jamaica’s second place meant 100-meter and 200-meter victor Elaine Thompson added to her Rio medal collection, although not with the gold she desired.
Rhian Wilkinson and Canada defeated host nation Brazil, 2-1, to win Friday’s Bronze medal game. Great Britain claimed the bronze (41.77).
The worst part (as if it could get any worse) was that the US team has flubbed handing off the baton event many times before. She didn’t take home a gold in Athens in 2004, instead settling for silver in the 200 meters, but she was just getting warmed up. Felix has Olympic golds in the 200m and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays from 2012, and the 4x400m from 2008. Felix joined swimmers Jenny Thompson and Amy Van Dyken as the only US women with at least six gold medals. But replays showed that a Brazilian runner bumped Felix as she entered the exchange zone.
Advertisement
Her six gold medals move her into a tie for fifth among all women in any sport.
