Sha’Carri Richardson conjured a dazzling last leg to power the United States to victory in the Olympic women’s 4x100m relay on Friday.
Richardson turned on the afterburners to overhaul Britain, Germany and France in the home straight as the US quartet took gold in 41.78sec.
Britain took silver in 41.85sec while Germany finished with bronze after crossing in 41.97sec, just edging out host nation France.
The victory represented a redemption of sorts for Richardson, who had been heavily favoured to win the individual 100m crown earlier in the Games only to be upset by St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred.
In driving rain at the Stade de France, the US had looked to be struggling to get into the medal positions after Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry and 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas combined to leave Richardson in fourth place as she collected the baton on the last leg.
But the fiery 24-year-old Texan would not be denied, accelerating through the gears to sweep past Britain’s Darryl Neita, Germany’s Rebekka Haase and France’s Chloe Galet.
Richardson could even afford a cheeky glance to her right as she passed her rivals before taking the tape.
