America’s Masai Russell won a photo finish on Saturday in the women’s 100m hurdles where the biggest cheer came for Cyrena Samba-Mayela, whose silver medal marks the first of any colour for France at the Olympic track meet.

In a close-as-can-be race down the straightaway, Russell finished in 12.33 seconds, but had to wait another 15 seconds to learn she had beaten the Frenchwoman by .01.

Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who competes for Puerto Rico, was another .02 back for bronze.

No cheers were louder than those for Samba-Mayela, who broke a shutout for the host country on the last day of action at the Stade de France.

The stadium has been packed all nine nights, cheering for sports stars from the United States, Kenya, Norway and all corners of the globe.

US domination

The US men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams did more than just sweep Olympic gold.

They also cemented Paris 2024 as USA Track & Field’s most successful Olympics in 40 years.

For men, Rai Benjamin took the baton in first on the final leg, then held off a charge from Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo to win the men’s 4x400 relay in Olympic record time of 2:54.43 — .10 ahead of Tebogo.

About 15 minutes later, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone built a massive lead with a dominant second leg and Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes finished the job with ease to win the women’s relay. Holmes crossed the line in 3:15.27 — an American record and more than four seconds ahead the Netherlands (3:19.50).

Kipyegon’s ‘hat-trick’

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her third straight Olympic 1,500m gold, surging ahead of the pack to finish more than a second ahead of the field. Kipyegon cemented her status as one of the all-time great middle-distance runners, becoming the first athlete to claim three successive Olympic 1,500m titles.

Her winning time of three minutes 51.29 seconds broke the Olympic record, and she collapsed to the track, hands on her head in disbelief, after crossing the finish line.

Australia’s Jessica Hull took silver and Britain’s Georgia Bell bronze as both found the strength to pass Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji on the home straight.

In women’s javelin, Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi won the gold with a throw of 65.80m. South Africa’s Jo-Ane van Dyk took silver and Czechia’s Nikola Ogrodnikova claimed bronze.

In a speedy men’s 800 Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi beat Canada’s Marco Arop by .01 seconds in a photo finish, finishing in 1:41.19, only .28 off the world record.

American Bryce Hoppel’s national record of 1:41.67 was only good for fourth.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 5,000m in a relatively drama-free race after much-hyped 1,500 four nights earlier against Britain’s Josh Kerr turned into a disappointing fourth -place finish.

Ingebrigtsen won in 13 minutes, 13.66 seconds to add this title to wins at the last two world championships.

Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi finished second and Grant Fisher of the US finished third.

New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr won gold in high jump. The United States’ Shelby McEwen took silver and Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim got the bronze.

Marathon record

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won gold in the men’s marathon while Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who had been bidding for an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic crown, failed to finish.

Belgium’s Bashir Abdi took silver, improving on his bronze from Tokyo, and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto claimed bronze.

Tola built a strong lead early on and crossed the finish line in two hours, six minutes and 26 seconds, an Olympic record time especially impressive given the course was the toughest of any Olympics or championship, according to World Athletics.