Rai Benjamin, Bryce Deadmon lead Team USA to gold medal in 4x400m relay final
The United States and Botswana went down to the wire in the men’s 4×400-meter relay on Saturday. Ultimately, Team USA managed to come away with the gold in a thrilling finish.
Quincy Wilson got things started off, trailing the pack as he handed off to Vernon Norwood. He made a surge down his final 100 meters and got into third place as he passed the baton to Bryce Deadmon, who immediately jumped out to the front of the pack to take control of the race.
The anchor of the race, Rai Benjamin, took it from there. He went against 200-meter champion Letsile Tebogo for the final leg, and the American held him off to seal the gold medal with a time of 2.54.43 seconds to set a new Olympic record in the event. Botswana finished second at 2.54.53 to land the silver, and Great Britain rounded out the podium with a bronze medal at 2.55.83 seconds.
In the first round on Friday, the U.S. men’s 4×400-meter relay team had to come all the way back to qualify for Saturday’s final. Wilson got off to a slow start, sitting at seventh place when he handed the baton off to Norwood. However, the 16-year-old U.S. star said he trusted his teammates and it paid off with an appearance in the final race by finishing third behind Botswana and Great Britain.
“They got me around the track,” Wilson said, via ESPN’s Coley Harvey. “My grit and determination got me around the track. I knew I had a great three legs behind me. I knew it wasn’t just myself [Friday], because if it was myself, we would be in last place.”
Despite Wilson’s struggles in the qualifier, Norwood said he’s impressed with the budding star during his first Olympics. At the same time, when taking the baton from such a young runner, he knew he had to kick it into gear.
“Honestly, I was kind of in the moment, because I’m watching a 16-year-old run an Olympics, making history,” Norwood said. “So I was very proud of him, and I’m just looking at him like, ‘Oh, snap back in and let me get this thing going.'”
The United States has had a dominant showing on the track through the 2024 Paris Olympics. Entering Saturday’s action, the U.S. had 29 total medals in athletics events, including 11 gold. The gold medal now gives Team USA 13 in the athletics events after Masai Russell won the 100-meter hurdles earlier Saturday.