The United States won the Olympic title in the women’s 4×400 meter relay for the eighth consecutive year, securing the country’s 14th gold medal in athletics at the Paris Games.

A star-studded US quartet, including two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas, crossed the finish line on Saturday with a time of 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds.

The Netherlands took silver in 3:19.50 and Great Britain secured bronze in 3:19.72.

“The USA just has so much depth,” said McLaughlin-Levrone after the victory. “Every woman from the preliminary rounds to the final did her job.”

“I am grateful that we all managed to do this and went home with a gold medal.”

And in the final of the men’s 4×400 meter relay, the USA emerged victorious again – but only narrowly, as Rai Benjamin prevailed over Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in a thrilling final battle between two individual gold medalists, with Great Britain taking bronze.

The USA left out 16-year-old Quincy Wilson, who had great difficulties in the preliminary rounds, but did not send 400-meter individual champion Quincy Hall into the race, instead sending 400-meter hurdles champion Benjamin into the race for the final leg.

Chris Bailey caught them but handed over third place to Vernon Norwood, who showed an excellent performance in the heats and repeated this in the final, putting Bryce Deadmon in the lead.

However, Anthony Pesela from Botswana was able to catch up and ensure a dramatic finale.

Tebogo, the 200m champion who was drafted in at the last minute to run the first leg for Botswana in the heats on Friday, sat on Benjamin’s shoulder and looked ready to overtake him on the home straight.

However, Benjamin’s endurance at one-lap speed showed as he kept him at bay and won with an Olympic record of 2:54.43.

Botswana, bronze medallists in Tokyo, took silver with an African record of 2:54.53, while Great Britain took bronze with a European record of 2:55.83.

Kerr wins jump-off and takes gold

In the field events, Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim won bronze in the men’s high jump final, losing the gold medal he won four years ago in Tokyo to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr.

Kerr said he was “shocked” after his country won a rare gold medal in athletics.

He reaped the glory after a dramatic playoff with American Shelby McEwen.

Both men achieved personal bests of 2.36 meters in the regular competition, but could not be separated when counting the missed jumps.

They decided on a jump-off, with Kerr clearing 2.34 metres while the American failed when the bar was lowered from 2.38 to 2.36 metres.

“I was just in shock. Both I and Shelby were a little tired after all the jumps,” Kerr said.

“I knew I had one more to go and if I could get it up sooner rather than later, I could just finish the competition and start recovering.”

There was a sense of déjà vu at the Stade de France, as Barshim shared Olympic gold with Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi at the COVID-affected Tokyo Games three years ago.

“This holds a very special place in the history of high jump,” Kerr said.

“Having the exact same scenario this time but opting for the jump-off has reassured some of the people who wanted to jump, so we’re both really happy to reach this historic milestone.”

The discussion between Kerr and McEwen and the officials was short and sweet. Both athletes wanted to continue and there should be no shared gold.

“We are good friends, good opponents and good jumpers when we jump together,” McEwen said of Kerr.

“He said he wanted to compete and I was all for it.

Barshim’s personal best was 2.34 metres, but for Tamberi, who was struggling with kidney stones, it was an unforgettable evening. With a personal best jump of 2.22 metres, he finished 11th in the field of twelve participants.

For Barshim, it was his fourth medal at his fourth Olympic Games, but the Qatari insisted that he would not compete in Los Angeles in 2028.

“You’ll see me with popcorn and a few extra pounds, watching the guys. These are definitely my last Olympic Games,” said the 33-year-old three-time world champion, who won Olympic silver in 2012 and 2016.

His four medals, he added, are “the legacy I want to leave. I have so much to give, maybe now is the time to give to the next generation and hopefully you will see the next champion.”

Russell beats the favorite in the 100-meter hurdles

Earlier in the day, American Masai Russell put in a stunning run to secure the Olympic title in the 100-meter hurdles in a neck-and-neck finish, beating home hopeful Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tokyo champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.

Russell clocked a time of 12.33 seconds as French President Emmanuel Macron watched as Samba-Mayela (12.34) won silver for France, its first track medal of the Paris Games, while Camacho-Quinn (12.36) of Puerto Rico took bronze.

“I knew from the beginning that I was a little hesitant when the starting gun went off,” said Russell.