Pair of golden batons

US men, women deliver relay wins

BEIJING - At 4 p.m. yesterday, US women's track coach Jeanette Bolden and the US women's 4 x 400-meter relay team met in the athletes lounge in the Olympic Village.

The message from Bolden was simple: She told the runners that the US women had already won more track medals at the Beijing Olympics than at the Games in 2004, 2000, and 1996. It was a fact that astonished the women. On the final day of competition at the National Stadium, the US struggles loomed larger than its successes.

"They wanted to go out of the Olympic Games with a bang and make a statement," said Bolden. "I think overall our team had been a little down until we had a meeting with them and told them they had eight medals more than any team since 1992.

"When I mentioned that to them, you could see the lightbulbs go off. They were excited about that."

Fueled by earlier failures in the Games and the knowledge that the US women had been more successful than perceived, the relay team pulled off a dramatic victory. After fading to bronze down the stretch in the 400 meters, Sanya Richards anchored the American team and won gold with a come-from-behind effort.

The US trailed Russia for more than 300 meters. But in a reversal of what happened in her 400 run, Richards pulled ahead with a strong move, defeating Russia by 0.28 seconds and guaranteeing the US its fourth straight Olympic win in the event. The time of 3 minutes 18.54 seconds was the fastest in the world since 1993.

"It's so different to be the one that's chasing as opposed to the one that's chased," said Richards, who ran the final leg in 48.93, just a fraction slower than Allyson Felix's 48.55 second leg. "I just went out there and had fun. I knew I'd have to pull out a supreme effort to help our team win.

"I came to China to win gold. It's no secret that I was really disappointed to get the bronze here. I'm happy I got a chance to come back out and get a chance at gold.

"Coach [Clyde] Hart said, 'You have one move in the relay. So, make it when you feel fresh. Make it when you're ready.' So, at about 120, I went for it."

The gold brought the women's medal total to nine, including three golds, which matched their total in 1996 and exceeded their total in 2000 (2) and 2004 (2). The nine medals equals the third-highest Olympic medal total in history for a US women's team. The women won 16 in the boycott-affected 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 10 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when the fall of communism weakened Eastern European teams.

Like the women, the men found a measure of redemption with gold in the 4 x 400 relay. But they had a considerably easier time reaching the top step of the podium. Having swept the medals in the 400, the US men were heavy favorites. All they needed to worry about was getting the baton around the track.

Olympic 400 champion LaShawn Merritt ran the first leg in 44.35 for a slight lead. Angelo Taylor, David Neville, and anchor Jeremy Wariner were able to easily keep the US ahead as they finished in an Olympic-record 2:55.39. Wariner, however, didn't want to hear anything about redemption.

"Coming into the relay, we all came together and wanted to run as a team," said Wariner, who along with his teammates wore special red relay uniforms (the attire debut was delayed because no American team made the 4x100 final). "A lot of things happened in this Olympics that we weren't expecting. We use that to build on. This was a great way to finish the Olympics. It could have been a world record with a close race, but we all ran comfortable out there.

Added Merritt: "I wanted to run well for the US. We ended it with an Olympic record. But I came into the Games with something I wanted to do. I did what I came to do. It's the Olympic Games. You have to show up. If you don't show up all year, this is the time to show up."

Before the track competition started, men's coach Bubba Thornton called his squad the "dream team" and said he hoped fans left the Bird's Nest humming the national anthem. But the four gold medals the US won represented the lowest haul by the American men in Olympic history.

It was not until the last day that the US finally looked like the dominant team fans expected to see.