The US women were expected to be challenged by Jamaica and Russia in this team effort of four laps. Right from Deedee Trotter’s first leg, though, they completely took over. Trotter handed off to Allyson Felix, 2-time gold medalist in these Olympics, in a good position. Felix ran a stellar leg in her fourth finals race of this Olympics before handing off to Francena McCorory who also helped her team win in the 2011 world championships. By the time Sanya Richards-Ross got the baton for the anchor leg, the 400m champion had no competition left. They finished in a time of 3:16.88, not too far off the world record. These four women continued relay perfection for the fifth straight Olympics.
Meanwhile, Russia and Jamaica were briefly challenged by Ukraine before ultimately taking silver and bronze behind the unbeatable American team in 3:20.23 and 3:20.95. In so many of these sprint races, there are classic photo finishes because of the incredibly fast field. For Team USA today, there was no need for a photo finish. Richards-Ross pulled through more than three seconds ahead of the Russian anchor. After the men’s disappointing silver-medal finish, the women highlighted the event in true championship fashion.
Standing on the podium in matching gray and black track suits, they happily smiled from ear to ear looking like a united team. The American national anthem rang true for one of the final track races of the night in London.
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Michelle Bonja
Contributing Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
