The United States men’s track team waited for the final event at Olympic Stadium to win its first gold medal in a running event. Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin finished the 1,600-meter relay in 2 minutes 55.70 seconds on Saturday night to help the U.S. men avoid a gold-medal shutout. The U.S. men’s team entered Saturday with only one gold medal: Ryan Crouser’s second consecutive gold medal in the shot put. But they had not won a single gold medal in a running event. Benjamin’s blaze to the finish for the gold medal was an apt reward after he ran a time faster than the world record in the 400-meter hurdles — only to finish behind Karsten Warholm of Norway, who established a new world record.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 07, 2021 13:21 UTC