PARIS — Crown him king of the long hurdles. Rai Benjamin turned Tokyo silver into Paris gold in the men's 400 hurdles Friday night at Stade de France, demolishing a field that included five of the fastest seven men in history to seize the top spot on the podium with a 46.46 that equaled the fifth fastest time ever. Benjamin's gold was the second of the night for Team USA, bringing the nation's total to 11 and giving the U.S. 29 total medals, the second highest total since 2000, with two days remaining. Americans have scored 270 points to stand atop the team standings, 198 ahead of Great Britain, the next highest nation. Lining up in lane eight, with only Jamaica's Roshawn Clarke to his outside, Benjamin had reigning gold medalist and world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway one lane inside him, and Brazil's Alison dos Santos, the bronze medalist at Tokyo and the third fastest man ever, in lane three. A notorious fast starter, Warholm had a slight edge at hurdle five and he held that until the eighth barrier, where Benjamin started to ease ahead after a long stride to get to that hurdle. Over the final two hurdles really pulled away from Warholm, who was able to protect the silver in 47.06, with dos Santos taking bronze again in 47.26. A little rain couldn't stop the U.S. women's 4x100 relay team from sprinting to gold and glory, with a sizzling anchor leg from Sha'Carri Richardson bringing the baton across the line in 41.78. Melissa Jefferson, the 100m bronze medalist, got the party started with a solid leadoff leg, passing to 100 fifth-place finisher TeeTee Terry, who blazed down the backstretch to give the stick to 200 gold medalist Gabby Thomas with a slight lead. Thomas acquitted herself well around the bend, and after a slight bobble on the handoff to Richardson, the 100m silver medalist did what Sha'Carri does, blowing past all challengers to give the American foursome the first Olympic gold since Rio 2016. Agonizingly close to the podium in her first global championship final, NCAA champion Jaida Ross overcame damp conditions in the women's shot put to power out a 19.28/63-3.25 on her first attempt. That throw would stand as her best of the day and earned her fourth place. Raven Saunders, the silver medalist at Tokyo, ended up 11th with a best of 17.79/58-4.5. Germany's Yemisi Ogunleye grabbed the gold with a 20.00/65-7.5 on the penultimate throw of the competition, passing New Zealand's Maddison-Lee Wesche, who earned silver with a lifetime best of 19.86/65-2. China's Jiayuan Song passed Ross in round four and took bronze with a 19.32/63-4.75. Putting all she had into the final event, Anna Hall won the 800 in the women's heptathlon in 2:04.39 but couldn't overcome a disappointing long jump as she finished fifth with 6,615 points, one point more than she scored to win the U.S. Olympic Trials and the highest ever for fifth at the Games. Hall was in bronze medal position after day one, but her 5.93/19-5.5 in the long jump cost her 81 points versus the 6.19/20-3.75 she did at the Trials. She picked up a few points with a 45.99/150-10 in the javelin but would have needed a Herculean effort in the final event to get on the podium. Taliyah Brooks was 11th with 6,258, and Chari Hawkins placed 21st with 5,255 after a no height in the high jump on day one. Gold in the greatest women's 400 in history went to Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in an Olympic record 48.17 that made her the fourth fastest woman ever. Paulino, the silver medalist at Tokyo three years ago, pulled away from the field coming off the final turn and was untouchable coming into the finish, with Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain a distant silver medalist in 48.53. Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek earned bronze in 48.98, and Alexis Holmes had nothing to be ashamed of as she set a lifetime best of 49.77 in sixth. For the first time ever, all eight women broke 50 seconds. NCAA champion and Olympic Trials winner Salif Mane had the second-best effort of his career in the final of the men's triple jump, a 17.41/57-1.5 that earned him a sixth-place finish. Mane had four jumps of 17 meters or better, and his top effort was the best ever for someone who placed sixth. Three Cubans who transferred allegiance to European nations claimed the medals, led by Spain's Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun, who took gold at 17.86/58-7.25. Pedro Pichardo of Portugal was the silver medalist at 17.84/58-6.5, and Andy Diaz Hernandez of Italy earned bronze at 17.64/57-10.5. Marked by an early pace that resembled a light jog in the park more than an Olympic final, the women's 10,000 inevitably turned into a burner over the final laps that saw world record holder Beatrice Chebet complete the distance double with a 30:43.25 that gave her gold to go with the 5000 medal she won earlier in the week. Weini Kelati was the top American, finishing eighth in 30:49.98, one place ahead of Karissa Schweizer, who set a season best of 30:51.99. NCAA champion Parker Valby was a very respectable 11th in her international debut, clocking 30:59.28. Disaster struck on the first exchange of the men's 4x100 when Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek had trouble with the pass and didn't complete it in the zone. With that, hopes of the team's first medal since 2004 went by the wayside. Bednarek kept running and handed it off to Kyree King, with 100 bronze medalist Fred Kerley anchoring and finishing in 37.89 in seventh before the DQ was confirmed. Impressive hurdling in the semis of the women's 100H produced three U.S. finalists, led by Alaysha Johnson, who had the fastest time overall at 12.34 to win semifinal two. Grace Stark won the first semi in 12.39, and Masai Russell was second in the final semi in 12.42. World record holder Tobi Amusan was the most notable casualty, missing the final by one place with a 12.55. Both 4x400m relay squads advanced to the final, but in different fashion. The women's quartet of Quanera Hayes, Shamier Little, Aaliyah Butler and Kaylyn Brown won the first heat with room to spare, clocking the fastest time overall at 3:21.44, more than three seconds up on the nearest nation. Hayes opened up with a 51.27 hand off in second, and Little promptly put the team ahead with a 49.22 split that was the fastest out of both heats. Butler ran 50.41 to maintain the lead, and Brown closed it out with a 50.54. In the men's first heat, 16-year-old Quincy Wilson became the youngest man ever to represent the U.S. in the Olympic Games, handling first leg duties with a 47.27 that had the Americans in seventh. Veteran Vernon Norwood ran a masterful second leg in 43.54 to move up to sixth and make up a huge amount of ground, and then Bryce Deadmon chipped away a little more at the deficit with a 44.20 that had Christopher Bailey in fourth at the final exchange. Bailey ran a very controlled anchor to bring the U.S. up to third, his 44.14 split giving the Americans a 2:59.15 in third to automatically advance. Olympic Trials champion Bryce Hoppel was the only American to make it through to the final of the men's 800, and he did it in impressive fashion. Going through 400 in third at 51.2, Hoppel bided his time and passed Britain's Max Burgin at the finish to take second behind Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi in 1:43.41 and advance automatically. Brandon Miller was fifth in semifinal one in 1:45.79, and Hobbs Kessler took sixth in the second semi in 1:46.20, with neither man making the final.