By EDDIE PELLS
SAINT-DENIS, France — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas teamed up for America’s 14th gold and 34th overall medal at the track Saturday, wrapping up the Olympic action at the Stade de France with a 4.23-second runaway in the women’s 4×400 relay.
The gold medalists in the 400 hurdles and 200 meters took care of legs two and three for the United States, handing a 30-meter lead to Alexis Holmes, who didn’t lose any ground.
The U.S. finished in 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds, only .1 short of the world record.
The 34 track medals were the most for the U.S. at a non-boycotted Games since the early 20th century, when there were more events and fewer countries, and the 14 golds are the most in a non-boycotted Olympics since Bob Beamon, Tommie Smith and John Carlos led the U.S. to 15 wins in 1968.
Moments before the women’s race, there was more tension involving the men. Rai Benjamin, the 400 hurdles gold medalist held off 200 champion Letsile Tebogo to give the United States a .1-second win over Botswana — the final thriller in a nine-day meet full of them.
The U.S. had earlier equaled its medal total of 32 from the Rio Games when high jumper Shelby McEwen won a surprise silver medal after losing a drawn-out tiebreaker to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr, who celebrated by diving into the thankfully inactive javelin landing zone.
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