The team of Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter made history in their spectacular 4x100m relay race. The Jamaican team ran so fast they set a national record with the third fastest time in history: 41.41 seconds. That, however, was not good enough for Olympic gold this year. Team USA ran a combined time of 40.82 seconds, beating the world record of 41.37 set by East Germany in 1985.
Each woman in this relay ran crucial legs. Madison took out a strong lead before seamlessly handing it off to the 200-meter champion, Felix. Despite having finished fifth in her individual 100m race, Felix ran a fantastic leg for her team. Knight made up more ground on her third leg before handing the baton to 100m silver medalist Jeter. Jeter brought it home for the United States, with hard-charging Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce doing everything in her power to catch the US. It was a proud moment for Jeter, crossing the finish line comfortably ahead of Jamaica and pointing at the clock with a look of pure victory at the new world record time glowing on the scoreboard.
The US women ran an average of 10.205 seconds for each of their legs, which is significantly faster than the times of either Felix or Jeter in their individual races. Fueled by running for a team rather than for themselves, they did their country proud. The US women’s team had not won the 4x100m relay since the 1996 Games when they ran in front of their home crowd. Now they have the honor of not only winning but breaking the second oldest world record in track and field to date.
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Michelle Bonja
Contributing Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
