Knight, U.S. 4x100m relay team grab gold medal, world record
Aug. 10, 2012 LONDON – The United States’ women’s 4x100m relay team, including former Longhorn Bianca Knight, grabbed the gold medal in a blistering 40.82 to smash the world record by more than half a second on Friday evening at Olympic Stadium. Knight, along with Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter, broke the 27-year-old world mark of 41.37 set by East Germany in 1985 by an impressive .55 seconds. “I’m happy to be part of a world-record and gold-medal relay in my first Olympics," said Knight. "After the first round, I knew the Olympic record was possible. We went out there and executed and got a world record.” Madison, at first leg, and Knight, at third leg, ran in the qualifying heat with Jeneba Tarmoh and Lauryn Williams on Thursday with the team finishing in 41.64, just .04 seconds short of the previous Olympic record. But with Olympic 200m gold medalist Felix and 100m silver medalist and 200m bronze medalist Jeter running second and fourth legs, the Americans had a great opportunity for an even more impressive performance in the final. Madison set a searing pace out of the gate for the U.S. along with Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, with the two countries establishing themselves as early front-runners. With the help of clean baton transitions, something that plagued both the United States and Jamaica in Beijing in 2008, Felix and Knight’s two strong middle legs set up Jeter to extend the lead on the anchor leg. Jamaica grabbed the silver in 41.41, half a second behind the U.S., while Ukraine took the bronze medal in 42.04. Complete results of the 4x100m final can be found here. Texas will be represented in one more event in London with Sanya Richards-Ross slated to compete in the 4x400m relay final on Saturday. Richards-Ross will look to pick up her second Olympic gold medal in London and third-straight in the Olympic 4x400m relay.
On Friday, the U.S. team composed of Keshia Baker, Francena McCorory, Diamond Dixon and DeeDee Trotter breezed through the qualification round, advancing to the final with the top overall time of 3:22.09. The Americans edged Russia (3:23.11) to win the second heat. Also advancing to the final were Great Britain (3:25.05), Jamaica (3:25.13), Ukraine (3:25.90), France (3:25.94), Czech Republic (3:26.20) and Nigeria (3:26.52). NBC is carrying coverage of track & field throughout the 2012 Olympics. Localized coverage schedules can be found by visiting NBCOlympics.com. Friday, August 10 Women’s 4x100m Relay Final Saturday, August 11
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