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regular-article-logo Sunday, 22 September 2024

Netherlands clinch mixed relay title: US fail to pull it off in 4x400 final after world record in the heats

Bol, along with Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver and Isaya Klein Ikkink clocked an European record of 3:07.43 seconds for victory

Our Bureau, AP/PTI Paris Published 04.08.24, 10:37 AM
Team US after setting a world record in the 4x400m mixed relay Round 1 heat inSaint-Denis on Friday.

Team US after setting a world record in the 4x400m mixed relay Round 1 heat inSaint-Denis on Friday. AP/PTI

Femke Bol ran a stunning last lap to lead the Netherlands to victory in the 4x400m mixed relay on Saturday.

Bol, along with Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver and Isaya Klein Ikkink clocked an European record of 3:07.43 seconds for victory.

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The United States, who set a world record in the heats, took the silver medal in 3:07.74 and Great Britain claimed the bronze with a new national record 3:08.01.

Bol measured her effort to perfection, tracking the leaders before making her final push for gold as the crowd roared her on, one year after her late fall cost her nation the world mixed relay title in Budapest.

Amber Anning held on to third position as the British team finished third at the Stade de France. However, she was passed on the home straight by Dutch star Bol, who produced a dramatic sprint finish to overhaul the British and then American teams for gold. The Americans put the same team out Saturday as they had the day before when they set the world record at 3:07.41.

They were tied for the lead with Belgium when Bryce Deadmon handed off to Kaylyn Brown for the anchor lap. But Brown could not hold off Bol, who has the sixth-fastest time in the world this year in the 400 flat.

The US were left ruing their luck after they broke their world record in the opening heats on Friday.

They had set the previous mark of 3:08.80 at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. The US led midway through the second lap in a text book performance, overcoming a fast field in the opening heat in which four national records were broken on top of the world mark.

The team of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Kaylyn Brown and Bryce Deadmon did so with an easy first-place finish in the first round of the event.

“I always knew we were going to run fast,” said Little, the second-leg sprinter.

“And we talked about, it’s gonna take a record to get a medal. But it took a record to win our prelim. So I was just excited.”

After Norwood led off the relay by putting the team in third place, it was Little who snatched the lead and pulled away, creating a buffer so large no other team came close.

Little almost made a mistake on securing the handoff from Norwood, however.

“I just thought I was locked in,” Little said. “I had to realize I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I just know I took a little momentum into it so I can get it back, and that was kind of the push I needed.”

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