Relay records, hurdles gold for Team USA on penultimate day of Paris 2024 Olympic Games track and field

PARIS — Team USA put the finishing touches on the nation's greatest medal haul since 1984, taking three golds, a silver, and a bronze Saturday night at Stade de France to finish the penultimate day with 34 medals, 14 of them gold. That is the highest total since 1984 in Los Angeles when the U.S. had 40 total and 16 golds in the absence of the Soviet Union due to a boycott. On the team point standings, the American squad has 322, 221 ahead of the next highest nation, Kenya.
 
When the women's 4x400 lineup was announced, the question was – how fast? No other country has the depth of talent that the U.S. boasts, and the foursome of Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes had to put fear in the hearts of the other seven teams on the track. Little, who has run magnificently throughout the week on relay duty, put to rest any ideas of a close race as she tore up the track with a 49.48 leadoff leg to open up a gap of more than a half-second. 
 
McLaughlin-Levrone, fresh off another stunning world record and gold in the 400 hurdles, ran one of the fastest relay legs in history, a 47.71 that increased the lead to more than two seconds. Thomas, seeking her third gold of the Games after picking up the 200 title and helping the American 4x100 to victory, ran a safe 49.30 to stretch the lead to more than four seconds.
 
That left the weight of history on the shoulders of Holmes, who lowered her lifetime best to 49.77 to place sixth in the 400. Holmes left nothing in the tank with a 48.78 solo effort that stopped the clock at 3:15.27, an American record and oh-so-close to the mythical world record of 3:15.17 set in 1988 by the Soviet Union. Far back in second, the Netherlands earned silver in 3:19.50, a national record, and Great Britain also garnered a national record for bronze with a 3:19.72. The 4.23-second gap between the U.S. and the Netherlands was the greatest margin of victory ever at the Games, and this was the eighth straight gold in the event for Team USA.
 
The tightest finish in the men's 4x400 relay at the Games since 2000 pitted the American quartet of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin against a superb squad from Botswana that featured Letsile Tebogo on the anchor. Bailey ran 44.45 on the opening leg and was a stride behind Bayapo Ndori at the first exchange. 
 
Norwood again ran a masterful second leg, splitting 43.26 to pass to Deadmon in third, .11 behind Great Britain. Deadmon burst to the front and down the backstretch he kept his cool en route to a 43.54 that gave Benjamin a tiny lead at the final pass. The 400m hurdles gold medalist and Tebogo, the 200m gold medalist, fought it out all the way, but Benjamin had just enough to seal the gold in an Olympic record 2:54.43, the second fastest time in history, with Botswana moving to No. 3 on the all-time list at 2:54.53 for silver. Great Britain set a national record of 2:55.83 for bronze.
 
Masai Russell just wins when it counts this year. Trials champion Russell charged over the final barrier in the women's 100 hurdles and outleaned the Paris crowd's favorite to grab gold in 12.33, .01 in front of France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who thrilled the locals with a 12.34 silver medal performance. Tokyo gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn earned bronze in 12.36.
 
Winner of only one of her previous nine finals in 2024, Russell clipped the second hurdle and was in fifth as late as hurdle six but was unbothered as she kept her focus and moved from third to gold off the final hurdle. Grace Stark clocked 12.43 for fifth, while Alaysha Johnson clattered the third barrier and ended up seventh in 12.93.
 
Capturing the first medal in the men's high jump by an American since Erik Kynard's gold at London in 2012, Shelby McEwen soared over a lifetime best 2.36/7-8.75 on his first attempt to tie with New Zealand's Hamish Kerr. Both men missed three times at 2.38/7-9.75 to send it to a jump-off, the first jump-off for gold at the Games since Los Angeles in 1932. 
 
Taking one more try at that height, both missed again and the bar was lowered to 2.36. McEwen grazed the bar and it came off, and then Kerr failed, too. With legs starting to fatigue, the duo saw the bar go down again, this time to 2.34/7-8. McEwen was up first and he missed, leaving the ball in Kerr's court. The Kiwi promptly glided over the bar to get gold. Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim, the reigning gold medalist, settled for bronze, his fourth straight Olympics with a medal.
 
Not to be denied a chance to bookend the Games with a pair of distance medals, Grant Fisher found heretofore unplumbed depths of energy in the final 150 of the men's 5000, passing a plethora of people on the way to an historic bronze that made him the first American man to medal in the 5000 and 10,000 in a single Olympic Games. Fisher was ninth with 300 to go and put together a final 39.8 that included a 13.2 last 100 to cross the line in 13:15.13.
 
Sluggish early pace carried the field through 1km in 2:50 and 2km in 5:37, barely enough to break 14 minutes. Going through 3km in 8:17.47, Ethiopia's Biniam Mehary tried to crank up the tempo and by 4km in 10:51.97 the chase for the podium was on. At the bell Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway had moved to second behind Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, and the Norwegian had the best finishing speed to churn out a 53.2 for the final 400 and take gold in 13:13.66, with Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi earning silver in 13:15.04. Graham Blanks also closed well to place ninth in 13:18.67 in his first global championship final.
 
There were no games, no playing around with tactics, just a two-lap sprint for the ages. Incredible does not begin to describe the madness that was the men's 800 final, where seven of the eight athletes broke 1:43 in the deepest quality race ever. An honest and sizzling pace through the first lap put the field through 400 in 50.3 as Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi went for it from the gun. Bryce Hoppel was third in 50.5, while Canada's Marco Arop and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria lurked at the back in 51.0. 
 
No one fell off as the torrid pace continued down the backstretch, and off the last turn it was anyone's race. Wanyonyi had just enough in the tank to hold off a hard-charging Arop to take gold by .01 in 1:41.19, with Arop earning silver in 1:41.20. Also coming on like a freight train, Sedjati held off Hoppel for bronze in 1:41.50, but Hoppel was rewarded with an American record of 1:41.67 in fourth, shattering the old AR of 1:42.34 that was set by Donavan Brazier to win the world title at Doha in 2019.
 
Wanyonyi moved to No. 3 on the all-time world performer list and Arop took over the No. 4 slot, while Hoppel ascended to the No. 7 position.
 
Putting the final touches on her status as the greatest women's 1500 runner of all time, Kenya's world record holder Faith Kipyegon won her third straight Olympic gold with a regal 3:51.29, breaking her own Olympic record. Kipyegon won by more than a second over Australia's Jess Hull, who nabbed silver in 3:52.56, with Britain's Georgia Bell a surprise bronze medalist in a national record 3:52.61.
 
Elle St. Pierre and Nikki Hiltz bravely tried to stay with the speedy early pace as the field went through 400 in 59.23 and 800 in 2:03.27 under the leadership of Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay, with St. Pierre in fourth at the bell and Hiltz in eighth. Kipyegon went to the front and hit 1200 in 3:07.10 and the two Americans started to slowly fall back. Hiltz had the better finish to take seventh in 3:56.38, the eighth fastest time ever by an American, and St. Pierre was eighth in 3:57.52.
 
One of the most beautiful Olympic marathon routes in recent memory was also one of the toughest, with hills thrown in to test the mettle of the world's best on the streets of Paris. Two-time reigning champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya was in contention through 15km, running in the chase pack behind Italy's Eyob Faniel, but he faltered in the next 5km and ultimately dropped out. Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young were always in contact with the lead group and they went through the half marathon mark in just under 1:05 behind leader Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia.
 
By 30km Tola had control of the race and he never trailed from that point, going on to set an Olympic record of 2:06:26. Belgium's Bashir Abdi also went under 2:07 with a 2:06:47 for silver and Kenya's Benson Kipruto took bronze in 2:07:00. Mantz ran a stellar race to place eighth in 2:08:12, with Young not far behind him in ninth in 2:08:44. Leonard Korir was 63rd in 2:18:45. It was the deepest Olympic marathon ever in terms of quality times, with 16 men under 2:10.

TEAM USA MEDALS (34)

Gold (14)

• Men's Shot Put - Ryan Crouser, 22.90/75-1.75
• Men's 100 - Noah Lyles, 9.79
• Women's Discus - Valarie Allman, 69.50/228-0
• Men's 1500 - Cole Hocker, 3:27.65 OLYMPIC RECORD
• Women's 200 - Gabby Thomas, 21.83
• Men's 400 - Quincy Hall, 43.40
• Women's Long Jump - Tara Davis-Woodhall, 7.10/23-3.5
• Women's 400 hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 50.37 WORLD RECORD 
• Men's 110 hurdles - Grant Holloway, 12.99
• Women's 4x100 relay - Melissa Jefferson, TeeTee Terry, Gabby Thomas, Sha'Carri Richardson, 41.78
• Men's 400 hurdles - Rai Benjamin, 46.46
• Women's 100 hurdles - Masai Russell, 12.33
• Men's 4x400 relay - Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, 2:54.43 OLYMPIC RECORD
• Women's 4x400 relay - Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Alexis Holmes, 3:15.27 AMERICAN RECORD

Silver (11)

• Men's Shot Put - Joe Kovacs, 22.15/72-8
• Mixed 4x400 relay - 3:07.74 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
• Women's 100 - 10.87, Sha'Carri Richardson
• Men's Pole Vault - Sam Kendricks, 5.95/19-6.25
• Women's Hammer - Annette Echikunwoke, 75.48/247-8
• Women's Pole Vault - Katie Moon, 4.85/15-11
• Men's 3000 Steeplechase - Kenneth Rooks, 8:06.41
• Men's 200 - Kenny Bednarek, 19.62
• Women's 400 hurdles - Anna Cockrell, 51.87
• Men's 110 hurdles - Daniel Roberts, 13.09
• Men's High Jump - Shelby McEwen, 2.36/7-8.75

Bronze (9)

• Men's 10,000 - Grant Fisher, 26:43.46
• Women's 100 - 10.92, Melissa Jefferson
• Women's Triple Jump - Jasmine Moore, 14.67/48-1.75
• Men's 100 - Fred Kerley, 9.81
• Men's 1500 - Yared Nuguse, 3:27.80
• Women's 200 - Brittany Brown, 22.20
• Men's 200 - Noah Lyles, 19.70
• Women's Long Jump - Jasmine Moore, 6.96/22-10
• Men's 5000 - Grant Fisher, 13:15.13

RECORDS SET

World Record

• Mixed 4x400 relay - 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
• Women's 400 hurdles - 50.37, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

American Record

• Mixed 4x400 relay - 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
• Women's 400 hurdles - 50.37, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
• Men's 800 - 1:41.67, Bryce Hoppel
• Women's 4x400 relay - Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Alexis Holmes, 3:15.27

Olympic Record

• Mixed 4x400 relay - 3:07.41, Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown
• Men's 1500 - Cole Hocker, 3:27.65
• Women's 400 hurdles - 50.37, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
• Men's 4x400 relay - Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, 2:54.43

American Olympic Best

• Women's Discus - Valarie Allman, 69.59/228-3 (in qualifying)
• Mixed 4x400 relay - 3:07.41 (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown)
• Men's 10,000 - Grant Fisher, 26:43.46
• Women's 1500 - Emily Mackay, 3:59.63 (semifinal)
• Women's Hammer - Annette Echikunwoke, 75.48/247-8
• Men's 1500 - Cole Hocker, 3:27.65
• Men's 400 - Quincy Hall, 43.40
• Women's 5000 - Karissa Schweizer, 14:45.57
• Women's 1500 - Nikki Hiltz, 3:56.17
• Women's 400 hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, 50.37
• Men's Marathon - Conner Mantz, 2:08:12
• Women's 100 hurdles - Masai Russell, 12.33
• Men's 4x400 relay - Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, 2:54.43
• Women's 4x400 relay - Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Alexis Holmes, 3:15.27