SAINT-DENIS, France — On the final night of competition at the Stade de France, the Americans torched the purple track in their relays, setting a pair of records and pulling off another gold medal sweep in the men’s and women’s events.
It’s the third straight Olympics both U.S. 4×400-meter teams have won gold medals. For the women, it has now been more than 30 years since they didn’t capture gold in the event.
“We got the real quarter horses,” women’s lead leg Shamier Little said. “We really do. And it’s amazing to be part of history, and to kind of add on to that. To see the dominance lay before you, and then fall in line with that.”
Such dominance was on full display Saturday in the middle of the women’s relay, when Little handed the baton off before any other team’s first leg. When she put the stick in Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s hands, the race was effectively over.
McLaughlin-Levrone, the 25-year-old now four-time gold medalist hurdler who seemingly gets faster every time she’s on the track, sprinted hard into the first turn. Almost instantly, she created a massive gap between Team USA and the…
