…The USA claim their fourth relay gold in Budapest while France’s silver secures their first medal of the Championships and Great Britain take bronze
Rai Benjamin led the USA home to a dominant victory in the men’s 4x400m on the last day of action at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest on Sunday (27 August).
The USA quartet of Quincy Hall, Vernon Norwood, Justin Robinson and Benjamin led from the first lap to the last, crossing the finish line in a world lead time of 2:57.31.
Silver winners France have had to wait a long time for this medal, with their first podium finish of these championships coming in the penultimate race.
But the wait was worth it as their team of Ludvy Vaillant, Gilles Biron, David Sombe and Tee Andant overcame the challenge of Great Britain to come second in a new national record of 2:58.45. Team GB, without the injured Matthew Hudson-Smith, held on for bronze in 2:58.71.
For the USA, this was their fourth consecutive relay win of these Worlds after their victories in the mixed 4x400m on the opening day and Saturday’s men’s and women’s 4x100m. They did not have the chance to make it five after their women’s 4x400m team were DQ’d in the semi-finals.
In this race, the Americans started strongly, with Hall claiming the lead at the end of the first lap. Norwood extended the USA’s distance to 10 metres heading into the third before the gap rose to around 30m with Benjamin striding towards the line.
The Olympic 400m silver medallist closed strongly to secure another memorable victory for Team USA who end the championships with 12 World Championship golds, eight ahead of second-placed Canada and third-placed Spain.
