In a race that came down to the final steps, Team USA was able to battle for the gold in the women’s 4×100-meter relay on Saturday evening in the World Athletics Championships.
The team, consisting of Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, former Oregon Duck star Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry took the gold in a world-leading time of 41.14 seconds.
Jamaica, consisting of former Oregon Duck Kemba Nelson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, was in second place with a time of 41.18.
Germany (Tatjana Pinto, Alexandra Burghardt, Gina Lückenkemper and Rebekka Haase, were in third place in 42.03.
Jefferson gave the United States a small lead after the opening stretch, finishing in 11.35 seconds. Steiner finished her section in 9.86 seconds to give the Americans a bigger lead, ahead of Thompson-Herah who ran 10.10.
Jamaice cut a little bit of time, finishing her section in 9.97 to beat Prandini’s 10.05. And while Jackson outpaced Terry for the final stretch, it was just enough to give Team USA the win by just 0.04 seconds.
Jamaica won the event in 2019, when the United States finished fourth.
— Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng
