American runners brought home another gold medal on Saturday, this time in the men's 4x400m relay final.
The first-place finish team was made up of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin not only secured gold, but set a new record as well.
The final lap of the relay race featured a showdown between USA's 400m gold medalist in Benjamin and Botswana's 200m Olympic champion in Letsile Tebogo. The two runners received the batons at around the same time.
It was Benjamin who crossed the finish line first in an Olympic record time of 2:54:43, ahead of Tebogo in 2:54:53.
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Great Britain, meanwhile, took bronze in 2:55.83.
Quincy Wilson, Team USA's alternate, became the youngest Olympic track-and-field gold medalist at just 16 years old. He broke the previous record set by Bob Mathias, then 17, during the London Olympics in 1948.
The women of Team USA secured gold in their 4x400m relay, too. The quartet grabbed an early lead no other team was able to catch. They finished with several seconds between them and second place.
Benjamin won team gold just one day after capturing individual gold in the men's 400m hurdles. He tied his season best-time of 46.46 seconds.
Benjamin took the silver medal three years ago in Tokyo.
"It was tears in Tokyo, it is all smiles here in Paris. Rai Benjamin of Mount Vernon, New York, you are an Olympic champion," said NBC Olympics' Leigh Diffey.
How many medals does Rai Benjamin have?
Rai Benjamin now has four Olympics medals: gold in the men's 4x400m relay and in the men's 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics, and silver in the men's 400m hurdles and gold in the men's 4x400m relay in the Tokyo Olympics.
Here are the medals Rai Benjamin has:
- 2024 Paris Olympics - Gold - men's 4x400m relay
- 2024 Paris Olympics - Gold - men's 400m hurdles
- 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Gold - men's 4x400m relay
- 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Silver - men's 400m hurdles
How old is Rai Benjamin?
Rai Benjamin is 27 and celebrated his birthday on July 27 during the Paris Olympics.
Where does Rai Benjamin live?
Rai Benjamin was born in the Bronx and lists Mount Vernon, New York as his hometown. He went to Mount Vernon High School.
He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Where did Rai Benjamin go to college?
Rai Benjamin was a hurdler a sprinter for USC in 2018 after transferring from UCLA following two seasons there.
He graduated from USC in 2019. He has volunteered as an assistant coach for the track program at USC.
