Team GB win relay bronze but can’t stop US and Benjamin | Paris 2024 Olympics

As Rai Benjamin completed his final lap of the men’s 4x400m final, it quickly became apparent that he would be in for a desperate fight. All night long, the American team had been unable to shake off a spectacular Botswana team and now Letsile Tebogo, buoyed by his breakthrough 200m gold medal, was hot on their heels after closing the gap with a stunning lap. It took every fiber in Benjamin’s bones to hold off Tebogo and complete one of the greatest 4x400m races of all time.

Benjamin narrowly won the first of two gold medals for the United States in the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay. Two of the fastest relay races ever completed nine unforgettable days of athletics on the purple tracks of the Stade de France.

After the U.S. men’s team narrowly defeated Botswana in an Olympic record 2:54.43 in the men’s final, the U.S. women’s team finished a dominant race with the second-fastest time in history, 3:15.27, outpacing the Netherlands by more than four seconds. In both races, Great Britain added two more bronze medals to its total with two national records.

Botswana and the United States would go back and forth throughout the race after a brilliant opening leg from Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori. The last three members of both teams all produced excellent sub-44 second splits, with Letsile Tebogo running an incredible 43.04 final leg, holding off Benjamin with a brilliant 43.18 leg.

But one of the best performances of the men’s final came from Matthew Hudson-Smith, who continues to run with such confidence. He posted an elite 43.09 second leg, the second fastest of the final, to briefly put Britain in first place before Charlie Dobson secured bronze with an extremely fast final leg.

In the women’s event, the United States’ time was 3:15.27.

North American record, just one-tenth of a second slower than the record set by the Soviet team in 1988. The Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland and France all set national records in the meantime.

It was a race defined by the talents of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who still establishes herself as one of the greatest athletes of all time. After setting her sixth world record to defend her 400m hurdles gold medal on Thursday night, McLaughlin-Levrone produced an incredible second leg in the 4x400m race that left the rest of the field with no chance of catching up.

Shamier Little had already put in a stunning opening race for the United States, propelling her team into first place in the standings. But it was McLaughlin-Levrone’s race that proved decisive. The gap continued to widen until it became clear that their rivals would have no response. McLaughlin-Levrone’s split of 47.71 is one of the fastest splits ever recorded. That’s no surprise, of course. She’s long been a phenomenal 400m flat, relay and even 200m sprinter, and it’s a fresh reminder that if she weren’t so happy in the hurdles, McLaughlin-Levrone could well be making life difficult for sprinters across many distances.

Unfortunately for Femke Bol, McLaughlin-Levrone is currently her biggest problem. Bol was understandably in tears after significantly underperforming in her 400m hurdles showdown with the 25-year-old, finishing in third place behind American Anna Cockrell.

After the race, Bol’s coach, Laurent Meuwly, explained on social media that Bol had “risked everything” by running as fast as she could to challenge McLaughlin-Levrone and that she paid for it at the end of the race. By chasing gold, she lost silver.

In the final of the women’s 4x400m relay, Bol staged another great comeback, although it wasn’t as spectacular as her comeback on the opening night, when she won gold in the mixed 4x400m relay. In the last 50 meters of the race, she shot from fourth to second place, beating the strong final leg of Amber Anning of Great Britain.

Bols’ split of 48.62 was unsurprisingly the second fastest of the night behind McLaughlin-Levrone. She’s one of the most incredible athletes of this generation, but she just happens to be competing in the hurdles with a very big one.

The British quartet of Victoria Ohuruogu, Laviai Nielsen, Nicole Yeargin and Amber Anning finished with a strong bronze medal. This was a particularly brilliant championship for Anning, who has developed into one of Britain’s best track and field athletes.

She completed a string of brilliant performances with bronze medals in the women’s and mixed disciplines 4x400m relay and a fifth place in a lightning-fast 400m final with a British record of 49.29.