Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to give the United States a gold medal and an Olympic-record time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Games on Saturday night. Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he claimed in the 400-meter hurdles a night earlier and prevented 200-meter champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another triumph over the Americans.
Quick Read
- U.S. Wins Gold in Men’s 4×400 Relay: Rai Benjamin anchored the U.S. team to victory in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Olympics, holding off Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo to secure the gold with an Olympic-record time of 2:54.43.
- Tebogo’s Strong Finish Falls Short: Letsile Tebogo, who had previously won gold in the 200 meters, pushed hard on the final leg but finished just a tenth of a second behind the U.S., giving Botswana the silver medal.
- Close Finish for Bronze: Great Britain’s team took the bronze with a time of 2:55.83.
- Almost a World Record: The U.S. team’s time was just .14 seconds off the world record set by the U.S. in 1993.
The Associated Press has the story:
Benjamin of US holds off Tebogo of Botswana to win men’s 4×400 relay at Paris Olympics
Newslooks- SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) —
Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to give the United States a gold medal and an Olympic-record time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Games on Saturday night. Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he claimed in the 400-meter hurdles a night earlier and prevented 200-meter champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another triumph over the Americans.
It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprinting sensation, who stole the spotlight — and the gold — from the U.S. in the 200 on Thursday, relegating Kenny Bednarek to silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for COVID-19, to bronze. The U.S. quartet of Christpher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the American 4×400 team ran at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And Saturday’s time was just .14 seconds off the world record set by the United States in 1993.
Botswana was a tenth of a second back Saturday, with Tebogo joined by Bayapo Ndori, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi and Anthony Pesela. Britain was third in 2:55.83.
