This has been an adjust-on-the-fly year for America’s best-known track star her failure to make the team for the 200 meters, her jaw-dropping silver-medal moment when a diving Jamaican beat her in the 400 and more. With nine medals (six gold and three silver) she tied Merlene Ottey (three silver and six bronze) for the most Olympic track and field medals won by a female athlete.
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Nazarov, world silver medallist in Beijing past year, heaved a best of 78.68 metres to finish ahead of Belarus’ convicted doping cheat Ivan Tsikhan (77.79m).
After the race, the Jamaican team circled the field, danced the samba and basked in the adoration of the crowd.
Those prizes were both golds from the 4×400 relay teams, 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 both the world and track were very different places. Tony McQay made the difference for the USA, running the second leg in 43.2 seconds after taking the baton from Arman Hall.
Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia won the bronze medal.
Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin were ruled to have passed the baton outside the first passing zone of an event won by Usain Bolt and Jamaica. “It was a nightmare”.
According to USA Track and Field, Felix didn’t even start running until her freshman year of high school, and teammates called her “chicken legs” because of her long gams. “All that hard work just crumbles”.
The women’s team was smooth, despite the rocky path to the final.
Four years after the Bahamas beat the US team, the Americans finished with a time of 2 minutes, 57.30 seconds.
Slow motion TV replays clearly showed Brazilian Franciela Krasucki bumping Felix just before she attempted to hand over the baton to English Gardner.
The drawback was the team was given the worst lane of all, Lane 1, which has the tightest corners.
American Gwen Jorgensen clocked in at 1:56:16 to win gold in the women’s triathlon with a time of 1:56:16.
Felix had been knocked off balance by Brazilian runner Kauiza Venancio as she prepared to hand off and they earned another chance despite China, who were denied a place in the final in the process, claiming that the USA team were to blame for the dropped baton. For Bartoletta, it was the second gold in Rio, after winning the long jump too.
Felix set off calmly on her anchor leg pursued by Novlene Williams-Mills, the 34-year-old veteran who underwent a double mastectomy following the 2012 Olympics after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
She entered the games as one of six women to have won four golds in track and field.
The conclusion of her fourth Olympics – she made her debut at the 2004 Athens Games – left Felix reflecting on her career with satisfaction. That gives the US 105 medals with two days of competition remaining.
Matthew Centrowitz took the lead in the 1,500-meter race with two laps remaining and held off a late charge from the field to capture gold. It could be better than London four years ago, when the Americans brought home 29 medals.
The U.S. team has been on such a run that Bowie takes it in stride.
American J’den Michael Tbory Cox dominated Cuba’s Reineris Salas Perez to win a bronze medal in a women’s 86 kg wrestling match.
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“I’m extremely happy”, said Bartoletta after the race.
