`RIO DE JANEIRO — One day after seeing its Olympic hopes nearly dashed following a bobbled baton, the U.S. women’s 4×100 relay team claimed gold with a time of 41.01 seconds and defended its medal from the 2012 London Games.The time led the field by a significant margin but came up short of the team’s time (40.20) four years ago, which set an Olympic and world record that still stands.
Jamaica (41.36) finished in silver and Great Britain (41.77) in bronze. The USA and Jamaica also finished gold-silver in London.
The gold comes after a nerve-racking and surreal Thursday, which began with the USA fumbling its baton during the second exchange of the first round.
On replay, however, it became apparent that a Brazilian runner had bumped Allyson Felix upon entering the exchange zone, directly leading to the fumbled baton. The USA appealed and won, and then advanced into the finals during a surreal solo run on Thursday evening.
The U.S. team consisted of Tianna Bartoletta, Felix, English Gardner and Tori Bowie, the latter also a medalist in both the women’s 100 and 200 meters.