Relay medals complete Olympics for Razorbacks

SAINT-DENIS, France – On the final evening of athletics at Stade de France, four gold medals and a bronze medal were collected by Razorbacks and members of the Fayetteville pro group in 4 x 400m relay action.

As the United States swept the relays to complete the evening, alum Chris Bailey ran the opening leg of the men’s winning squad. Then the pro tandem of Shamier Litte and Alexis Holmes handled the first and fourth legs for the women’s victory.

Razorback Amber Anning anchored Great Britain to a bronze medal. Razorback Kaylyn Brown, who ran in the prelims of the 4 x 400m relay, also received a gold medal with Team USA.

Overall, the current Razorbacks and alums totaled seven medals with 3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze. The pro group also totaled seven medals with 4 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze. Combined, the crew generated 14 medals with 7 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals.

The men’s 4 x 400m relay clocked an Olympic record time of 2:54.43 in holding off the challenge by Botswana (2:54.53). Bailey spit 44.45 on the opening leg and was followed by Vernon Norwood (43.26), Bryce Deadmon (43.54), and Rai Benjamin (43.18), who won the 400m hurdles the previous night.

The previous Olympic record of 2:55.39 was set by the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The top six places in the Paris Olympic final were best marks for place in any competition.

Botswana countered with splits of 44.30, 43.39, 43.80, and a 43.04 from Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to produce the best ever mark for place in any competition. Great Britain placed third in 2:55.83 with an European record. National records followed for Belgium (2:57.75) and South Africa (2:58.12) while Japan established an Asian record (2:58.33).

Capping the athletics portion of the Olympic Games in Stade de France, which will host the Closing Ceremony on Sunday evening, the women’s 4 x 400m relay delivered an American record as Team USA came within 0.10 of a second of the world record set in the 1988 Seoul Olympics by Russia.

In winning by four-plus seconds the United States produced a time of 3:15.27, the second fastest time ever on the world all-time list, as the Netherlands (3:19.50), Great Britain (3:19.72), and Ireland (3:19.90) battled for silver and bronze as each broke national records.

Little, who ran four relay legs during the Olympics, led off the relay with a 49.48 split, the fourth fastest first leg in world history. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone followed with a 47.71 split that put the race out of reach for any other country.

Gabby Thomas, the 200m Olympic champion, split 49.30 on the third leg. Holmes cruised to a 48.78 anchor split to complete the mission as Team USA captured its eighth consecutive Olympic title.

Anning split 49.01 as the anchor leg for Great Britain as Femke Bol split 48.62 to move Netherlands from fourth to silver medal position. A 49.14 by Ireland’s Sharlene Mawdsley left them just shy of earning bronze.

Alum Nikki Hiltz posted a time of 3:56.38 for seventh place in the 1,500m final, finishing as the top American with Elle St. Pierre eighth in 3:57.52.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon broke her Olympic record from Tokyo with a 3:51.29 victory. Australia’s Jessika Hull finished as runner-up in 3:52.56 while Georgia Bell of Great Britain placed third in a national record of 3:52.61.

Romaine Beckford placed 10th in the high jump with a clearance of 7-3.25 (2.22). Ackera Nugent did not finish the 100m hurdles final.

The morning session featured the men’s marathon through the streets of Paris. Incoming transfer Yaseen Abdalla, representing Sudan, made his marathon debut on the challenging course and delivered a national record in placing 33rd with an impressive time of 2:11:41.

Adballa bettered the previous national record of 2:18.59, which was also set in Paris by Sumaa Aboubakar in 2021.