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PARIS — The United States blazed to the gold medal in the Olympic women’s 4×400 meters relay on Saturday, clocking the second-quickest time in history and stretching the country’s remarkable victory streak in the event to eight in a row.

Fielding a star-studded foursome featuring Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas, the Americans clocked 3:15.27, narrowly missing the world record set by the former Soviet Union in 1988.

A week after Femke Bol led the Dutch to victory in the mixed 4×400 relay with a remarkable anchor leg, the gap was too great for her to make up and the Netherlands had to settle for silver in 3:19.50. Britain claimed bronze in 3:19.72.

Jamaica was in third spot after the opening leg, but Andrenette Knight dropped the baton after bumping Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke on the second leg.

Shamier Little put the U.S. in front before handing off to McLaughlin-Levrone, who ran a sizzling 47.71 split to make it clear that every other country was simply competing for silver.

The Americans had about a 40-meter lead when Thomas handed off to Alexis Holmes to lead her team home.

100-METER HURDLES

American Masai Russell produced a stunning run to win the Olympic 100 meters hurdles title, edging out France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tokyo champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.

Russell clocked 12.33 seconds as French President Emmanuel Macron watched Samba-Mayela (12.34) deliver France’s first track medal of the Paris Games with silver. Puerto Rico’s Camacho-Quinn (12.36) took bronze.

Russell said she had barely slept the night before, but she got the finish of her dreams as she dug deep and leaned over the line before wrapping the American flag over her shoulders.

“I was tossing and turning because I kept dreaming about my name coming up number one. When it actually came up, I was like, ‘stop playing me, stop playing me’,” she told reporters.

“I just proceeded to shut out the noise, focused on what I could control. And I was literally – I don’t want to say a shock, but it was truly a dream come true.”

Russell exploded out of the blocks and barely held on as Samba-Mayela gained ground with every step and Camacho-Quinn gave everything she had to make up for a poor start.

There was a confusing moment as the results board initially showed Samba-Mayela’s name first – and then Camacho-Quinn’s at the top of the standings – before settling on Russell.

“It wasn’t about knowing if I could or couldn’t (win),” Russell said. “It was just about remaining focused on what I could do – and honestly, just get over those hurdles and get to the line first.”

The Parisian crowd had hoped for gold but was still elated with silver and Macron, who watched France’s first gold of Games in men’s rugby sevens, applauded Samba-Mayela’s effort.

“I was lifted by all these people and all the pleasure of sport,” she said.

Camacho-Quinn delivered Puerto Rico’s first medal of the Games but was frustrated with her performance.

“I knew from the beginning I was a little hesitant when the gun went off,” she said.

“But the race is over, so there’s nothing I can do about it. I should’ve done better.”

1,500 METERS

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her third straight Olympic 1,500 meters gold, surging ahead of the pack to finish more than a second ahead of the field.

Kipyegon cemented her status as one of the all-time great middle-distance runners, becoming the first athlete to claim three successive Olympic 1,500m titles.

Her winning time of 3:51.29 broke the Olympic record, and she collapsed to the track, hands on her head in disbelief, after crossing the finish line.

Australia’s Jessica Hull took silver and Britain’s Georgia Bell bronze as both found the strength to pass Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji on the home straight. Hull clocked 3:52.56 and Bell crossed in 3:52.61, a national record and four seconds quicker than her previous best time.

Kipyegon, who broke her own world record a month ago, spent much of the race in second place on the shoulder of Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, but powered to the front with a lap to go and built an untouchable lead.

Tsegay, world champion over 10,000m, faded suddenly and finished last.

JAVELIN

Haruka Kitaguchi crushed the women’s javelin, taking the top of the podium with her first throw of 65.80 meters to give Japan its first gold medal in the event.

South Africa’s Jo-Ane van Dyk and Czechia’s Nikola Ogrodnikova took silver and bronze, respectively, with their best throws of 63.93 and 63.68.

Last year, Kitaguchi needed her final throw to take the world gold in Budapest, but she left little suspense at the Stade de France as she opened with her best throw of the season.

Ogrodnikova briefly had control of second place with her third throw, but van Dyk overtook her immediately.

Rio 2016 winner Sara Kolak (63.40) of Croatia clapped her hands with frustration after her final attempt, as she finished fourth.

With the gold already wrapped up, Kitaguchi bounced nervously at the end of the runway and kept a poker face as she launched a final bonus effort.

The emotion came quickly thereafter, as she burst into tears and hugged her team with the Japan flag draped over her before ringing the victory bell.

–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media