Rio Reflections: The U.S. dominates the 4x400m relays

By Posted on : 05

The U.S. men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams both took Olympic gold in Rio, despite failing to win the individual 400m title. South African Wayde Van Niekerk took the men’s 400m in a world record time of 43.03 seconds with the Bahamian Shaunae Miller (49.55) taking the women’s title. However, the U.S. is very deep in the 400m. On the men’s side, the quartet of Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts and LaShawn Merritt ran a controlled race to claim victory and stop the clock at (2:57.30) ahead of Jamaica (2:58.16) and Bahamas (2:58.49). This was a satisfying victory for the U.S. men who took the silver behind the Bahamian at the 2012 London Games. The U.S. men’s relay had taken gold at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

The U.S. women’s 4x400m relay team is equally deep and the quarter of Courtney Okolo, Natasha Hastings, Phyllis Francis and Allyson Felix took the title in a season-best time of 3:19.06 ahead of Jamaica (3:20.34) and Great Britain (3:25.88). Felix ran a smart and controlled anchor-leg to wrap-up the victory for the Americans.

Edited by Raymond Byfield

USA Track & Field Picture above taken by Joe Swift

Comment

@Mike
Nice article