The United States won its eighth consecutive Olympic crown in the women's 4×400-meter relay to secure the country's 14th track and field gold medal at the Paris Games.
A star-studded American quartet, including two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas, crossed the finish line in 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds on Saturday.
The Netherlands took silver with a time of 3:19.50 and Great Britain took bronze with a time of 3:19.72.
“The United States has a lot of depth,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after the win. “Every woman, from the trials to the final, was going to do her job.
“I’m grateful that we were all able to do that and come away with a gold medal.”
And in the men's 4x400m relay final, the United States again prevailed, but only just, as Rai Benjamin held off Botswana's Letsile Tebogo in a thrilling final battle between two individual gold medallists, with Great Britain taking bronze.
The United States left out Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who struggled in the heats, but did not bring in 400-meter individual champion Quincy Hall, instead adding 400-meter hurdles champion Benjamin to run the final leg.
Chris Bailey eliminated them, but handed over the third-place reins to Vernon Norwood, who put in a great run in the heats and repeated it in the final to leave Bryce Deadmon in the lead.
However, Botswana's Anthony Pesela narrowed the gap and set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Tebogo, the 200m champion who was drafted in at the last minute to run the opening leg for Botswana in Friday's qualifying, sat on Benjamin's shoulder and looked set to pass him entering the final straight.
However, Benjamin's resilience on a fast lap was demonstrated as he held off the challenge to win in an Olympic record time of 2:54.43.
Tokyo bronze medallists Botswana took silver in an African record time of 2:54.53, while Great Britain took bronze in a European record time of 2:55.83.
Kerr wins the tiebreaker and takes the gold
In the field events, Qatar's Mutaz Barshim won bronze in the men's high jump final, losing the gold he won in Tokyo four years ago to New Zealand's Hamish Kerr.
Kerr said she was “in shock” after a rare athletics gold medal for her country.
He tasted glory after a dramatic playoff with American Shelby McEwen.
Both men achieved bests of 2.36 metres in the regular competition, but could not break away due to the missed jump count.
They went to a jump-off, with Kerr clearing 2.34 metres while the American failed to clear the mark, which had been lowered from 2.38 to 2.36 metres.
“I was in shock. Both Shelby and I were a little tired after all the jumping we did,” Kerr said.
“I knew I had something good inside me and I knew that if I could get up sooner rather than later, then I could finish the competition and start to recover.”
There was a hint of déjà vu at the Stade de France, as Barshim had shared Olympic gold with Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi at the COVID-affected Tokyo Games three years ago.
“This has a very special place in the history of high jumping,” Kerr said.
“Having the exact same scenario this time, but choosing to do the jump, was reassuring to some of those people who wanted to jump, so we’re really happy to contribute to that story.”
The conversation Kerr and McEwen had with the officials was brief and to the point. Both athletes wanted to continue and would not share the gold.
“We're good friends, good opponents and good jumpers when we jump together,” McEwen said of Kerr.
“He said he wanted to face us and I was totally on board.
Barshim had a best jump of 2.34 metres, but Tamberi, who struggles with kidney stones, had a night to forget, finishing 11th out of 12 competitors with a best jump of 2.22 metres.
It was Barshim's fourth medal at his fourth Olympics, but the Qatari insisted he will not compete in Los Angeles in 2028.
“You'll see me with popcorn, a few pounds more and looking at the boys. I'm sure these are my last Olympic Games,” says the 33-year-old three-time world champion, who won Olympic silver in 2012 and 2016.
Her four medals, she added, are “the legacy I want to leave behind. I have so much to give, maybe now is my time to give to the next generation and hopefully you will see the next champion.”
Russell beats local favourite in 100m hurdles
Earlier in the day, American Masai Russell produced a stunning run to win the Olympic 100m hurdles title in a tied finish, beating local hope Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tokyo champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
Russell clocked 12.33 seconds as French President Emmanuel Macron looked on as Samba-Mayela (12.34) handed France its first ever athletics medal at the Paris Games with silver. Puerto Rico's Camacho-Quinn (12.36) took bronze.
“I knew from the beginning that I was going to have some doubts when the shot rang out,” Russell said.
