Eugene, Jul 25 (BUS): The United States maintained a stifling grip on the men’s 4x400m relay on Sunday as they won the world championship gold in completely dominant style in front of a home crowd.
The United States has now won eight of the past nine world titles and eight out of 10 former Olympic golds, and there was no doubt about Sunday’s title, Reuters reported.
Elijah Goodwin and Bryce Dedmon were kept from the semi-finals with newly crowned singles gold medalist Michael Norman and champion Allison, fourth in the final, doubling each player’s lead as they came home in 2 minutes 56.17 seconds.
In the backstroke 20m, Jamaica took the silver for their second straight with Belgium, sponsored by Kevin Burley at his seventh world championships, and took the bronze again after finishing third in Doha.
Japan set an Asian record to finish fourth as it went under three minutes for the first time with 2:59.51.
“It feels great,” said Norman, who with Dedmon was also part of the team that won the Olympic gold medal last year.
“Eliga ran an amazing first leg, really setting the right tune, I had to make sure I got to Bryce so we could keep up. I’m really happy with the medal, happy with the team and really felt the energy today.”
Deadmon also applauded fans, who produced big noises on their final night of action living up to Eugene’s “Tracktown USA” reputation.
“In Tokyo they had a virtual voice but to hear this crowd here, it was crazy and definitely a help,” he said.
“All our transitions were smooth. The pace was good, the time was good, I mean, I felt like we went out to win.”
Jevonne Powell of Jamaica said: “It’s always a tough job with Team USA, but we try to challenge them as much as we can and I think we did.
“It’s great to be part of this team. I’ve been watching these guys since high school, and it’s great to bring Jamaica to the podium again.”
MI