Tuesday 10 / September / 2024
PARIS: Andre de Grasse anchored Canada to victory in the men's 4x100m relay final while Sha'Carri Richardson led the United States to the women's 4x100m title at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
De Grasse held off a challenge from South Africa's Akani Simbine in the final leg as he combined with Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney to claim Canada's first track gold of these Games in 37.50 seconds. South Africa took silver in 37.57 and Britain bronze in 37.61.
"It feels pretty amazing," De Grasse said. "To be out with these guys, my brothers, I've been with them since the beginning of time, so it's amazing. We talked about this moment for years."
The United States' poor recent record in this event continued as they were disqualified for a changeover outside the box.
Earlier, Richardson ran a scintillating final leg as the U.S. came from behind to win the women's 4x100m relay.
Richardson, who took the baton with her team in fourth place, completed her split in 10.09 seconds to cross the finish line in 41.78 seconds. Great Britain took silver, 0.07 seconds further back and Germany claimed bronze, 0.19 seconds behind the U.S..
The U.S. foursome also included Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry and Gabrielle Thomas.
"The moment we realized we won was a phenomenal feeling for all of us," Richardson said. "I just remember trusting my third leg, trusting Gabby [Thomas] and knowing that she's going to put this thing in my hand no matter what, and to leave my best on the track."
There were six other athletics gold medals decided in an action-filled night session at Stade de France on Friday.
The Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino set a new Olympic record to take gold in the women's 400m, crossing the line in 48.17 seconds.
Her time eclipsed Marie-Jose Perec's previous mark of 48.25 that had stood since 1996.
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser took silver in 48.53 and Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek bronze in 48.98.
"I'm very happy, I still cannot believe that just happened," Paulino said. "It was either going for the world record or the Olympic record, and thankfully, I achieved the Olympic record."
American Rai Benjamin took gold in the men's 400m hurdles with a season best time of 46.46 seconds. Defending champion Karsten Warholm of Norway took silver in 47.06 and Brazilian Alison dos Santos bronze in 47.26.
Benjamin, who has five podium finishes at the world championships, was the silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Spain's Jordan Diaz continued his meteoric rise by clinching the men's triple jump gold. The 23-year-old, who announced himself on the international stage by securing the European title in June, won with a distance of 17.86 meters at Stade de France.
Portugal's Pedro Pichardo claimed silver and Italy's Andy Diaz bronze.
Yemisi Ogunleye clinched Germany's first athletics gold medal at Paris 2024 in a dramatic women's shot put final. The 25-year-old took the lead with her last throw of 20.00m, relegating New Zealand's Maddison-Lee Wesche to the silver medal.
China's Song Jiayuan claimed bronze while her compatriot and defending Olympic champion Gong Lijiao finished fifth.
Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam secured her third straight Olympic pentathlon title with a combined score of 6,880 points. Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson took silver while Thiam's compatriot Noor Vidts claimed bronze.
Kenyan world record holder Beatrice Chebet held off a late challenge from Italy's Nadia Battocletti to claim gold in the women's 10,000m.
Chebet, who became the first woman to break the 29-minute barrier in May, finished in 30 minutes, 43.25, just a tenth of a second ahead of Battocletti.
The Netherlands' Sifan Hassan took bronze in 30:44.12.
