PARIS – Texas A&M all-time greats Bryce Deadmon and Shamier Little helped Team USA claim Olympic gold in the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays, respectively, Saturday at the Stade de France.
On the final day of track & field action for the Aggies, Deadmon and Little left their marks on the purple track of the Stade de France as the pair won the final two gold medals in the Olympic stadium.
The United States men’s relay team was up first, as Deadmon was looking to claim his second medal of the Games and second-consecutive Olympic title in the 4x400m after securing gold in Tokyo.
The opening two legs, ran by Christopher Bailey and Vernon Norwood, had Deadmon receiving the baton narrowly in third. Wanting to push the pace, he burst around the outside of the leading two teams on the opening bend to give Team USA its first lead of the event. Deadmon extended he and the United States’ advantage with the fastest split of all third leg runners (43.54), handing off to Rai Benjamin who anchored the team home with an Olympic-record time of 2:54.43, which also rank as the second-fastest time in the history of the event.
Little was also searching for her second medal of the Games, as she and Team USA’s women took the track with eyes set on gold after dominating the opening round of the event Friday.
Needing to get out to a strong start, the Red, White and Blue put the baton in Little’s hand and she delivered. Running out of lane six, she stormed out of the blocks clocking the fastest opening split of the event in 49.48 and handed off to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone with the lead. The United States extended its advantage in the third leg thanks to Gabby Thomas, and Alexis Holmes left no doubt as the team crossed the line in an American-record time of 3:15.27, which like the men’s relay is the second-fastest time in history.
These pair of golds final brought Texas A&M track & field’s medal tally to six, with two golds, two silvers and two bronze.
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