In Saint-Denis, France, Rai Benjamin secured a gold medal for the United States in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at the Paris Games by fending off Letsile Tebogo on the final leg. Benjamin, who had already won a gold in the 400-meter hurdles, prevented Tebogo, the 200-meter champion from Botswana, from besting the Americans again.
Tebogo had gained attention by winning gold in the 200 meters, surpassing Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, who took silver and bronze, respectively. Lyles had faced a setback after testing positive for COVID-19. The U.S. team, consisting of Christpher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, and Benjamin, set an Olympic record with a time of 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, coming close to the world record set by the U.S. in 1993.
Following closely behind, Botswana finished just a tenth of a second later, with a team composed of Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori, Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, and Anthony Pesela. Britain secured the third spot in the race with a time of 2:55.83.
