USA’s Benjamin holds off Tebogo of Botswana to claim men’s 4×400 relay gold at Olympics

By Samuel Akpan in Paris

Team Botswana came so close to winning the gold medal in the men’s 4x400m as Letsile Tebogo made a move on the anchor leg, but Rai Benjamin held firm to bring the USA to victory in a new Olympic record of 2:54.43.

Botswana broke their African record to win silver in a time of 2:54.53, while Great Britain got the bronze medal in a new European record of 2:55.83.

Benjamin said: “I have a really good, high ‘track IQ’ on people and how they run and how to do a quick time, so I didn’t have to get out too hard. Let’s just save it up to come home.”

According to Persecondnews, Benjamin added this Olympic title to the one he claimed in the 400-meter hurdles a night earlier, preventing 200-meter champion Tebogo from giving Botswana another victory over the Americans.

It was Tebogo, the 21-year-old sprinting sensation, who stole the spotlight—and the gold — from the U.S. in the 200 on Thursday, relegating Kenny Bednarek to silver and Noah Lyles, who tested positive for COVID-19, to bronze.