The medal-laden U.S. women's 4x100-meter relay team added another to its collection on Friday afternoon, racing to a gold medal in the event final on a rain-slicked track at the Stade de France.
The team includes 100-meter medalists Sha'Carri Richardson (silver) and Melissa Jefferson (bronze) along with 200-meter champion Gabrielle Thomas and Twanisha Terry.
The victory came despite a shaky baton hand-off between the second and third legs, but Richardson made up the deficit down the homestretch and passed rivals from Great Britain and Germany in the final 10 meters. The stadium scoreboard initially listed Great Britain as the winner but quickly changed as Richardson celebrated.
The United States qualified first for the finals after Thursday's heat victory in 41.94 seconds, which was considered a less-than-premium performance given the star power of the team. The heat race was two days after Thomas won her gold in the 200 and five days after Richardson and Jefferson shared space on the 100 medals podium with Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia.
Terry finished fifth in the 100.
It's the eighth 4x100 relay medal for the U.S. in the last 40 years. Americans won consecutive golds in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 before sliding to bronze in 2000 and off the podium entirely in 2004 and 2008. Two more gold medals followed in 2012 and 2016, and the 2020 team of Thomas, Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels and Dina Asher-Smith got silver after finishing nearly a half-second behind Jamaica.
