For Felix, it was a particularly potent golden moment as she notched her fifth career gold medal to become the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history.
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Only the gold-medal winning United States team at the 2012 London Games has gone faster. The U.S. claimed interference, saying a Brazilian runner bumped Felix.
So it was on to the final for Team USA.
The 4×100 meter gold was the 11th for the American women in the event, but those hopes looked dead in the water on Thursday morning after a botched handoff from Allyson Felix to English Gardner during the preliminary heat.
The US originally missed out on qualifying for the final but were allowed a solo re-run of their heat on Thursday when officials ruled they were obstructed.
It didn’t bother them.
It was the second-fastest 4×100 women’s race ever, and the second consecutive Olympic gold medal for the US team. For Bartoletta, it was the second gold in Rio, after winning the long jump too. “We had to leave it with the authority”, she said. But sometimes adversity makes you stronger. “Two golds, a silver, I can’t complain”, she said.
Individual sprint queen Elaine Thompson had to settle for silver as Jamaica – champions in 2004 – struggled to keep pace with the Americans, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce bringing them home in 41.36secs.
It was not all perfection for the Americans though.
Earlier Friday, Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece won gold in the women’s pole vault after recording a height of 4.85m.
Still, the USA added to their haul. The Kenyan team is next with 10 medals overall including five gold, and Jamaica has six gold among nine medals overall.
Allyson Felix brings home gold from Rio after all.
The time led the field by a significant margin but came up short of the team’s time (40.20) four years ago, which set an Olympic and world record that still stands.
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“I’m extremely happy”, she said.
