RIO DE JANEIRO – Allyson Felix won a women’s track record sixth Olympic gold medal, helping the United States win the 4×400-meter relay.
Felix, who also won gold in the 4×100 relay and silver in the 400 meters, ran the final leg of the race as the Americans won in 3 minutes, 19.06 seconds. Courtney Okolo ran the first leg, followed by Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis.
Jamaica took silver and Britain got bronze.
U.S. MEN WIN 4X400-METER RELAY
LaShawn Merritt anchored the U.S. 4×400-meter relay team to win an Olympic gold medal and regain control of the event at the games.
Four years after the Bahamas beat the U.S. team, the Americans finished with a time of 2 minutes 57.30 seconds. The Jamaicans brought the baton home .86 seconds later. The defending champion Bahamas took bronze in 2:58.49.
Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, and Gil Roberts set up Merritt for the win. The veteran already has two gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and eight world championship gold medals stretching as far back as 2005.
He won bronze in the 400 earlier this week in Rio.
AMERICAN WINS MEN’S 1,500-METERS
Matt Centrowitz of the United States ran from the front and held off Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria at the line to win the gold medal in the men’s 1,500 meters.
Centrowitz won the silver medal at the 2013 world championships and took fourth at the 2012 London Games.
His last lap on Saturday was 50.62 seconds.
Nick Willis of New Zealand took bronze.
The last American to win the men’s 1,500 was Mel Sheppard at the 1908 London Olympics.
Kenya favorite Asbel Kiprop fell halfway through the race and could not get back into medal contention. He finished sixth.
AMERICAN WOMAN WINS TRIATHLON
Gwen Jorgensen gave the U.S. its first Olympic triathlon gold medal Saturday, crushing the field at breezy Copacabana Beach in 1 hour, 56 minutes and 16 seconds.
Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, who won gold in London four years ago when Jorgensen was bamboozled by a flat tire, crossed 40 seconds later for the silver medal. Vicky Holland outsprinted British teammate Non Stanford to win the bronze.
Jorgensen was drafting with Spirig for the entire run after they dismounted their bikes together but after smiling at Spirig with about two kilometers left, Jorgensen made her breakaway and wouldn’t be challenged.
As she approached the blue ribbon, the former All-American track athlete and swimmer at the University of Wisconsin turned and Spirig wasn’t anywhere in site. Jorgensen flipped up her goggles, acknowledged the cheers with a wide smile and grabbed the tape above her head after crossing the finish.
Then, she broke down in tears.
The only other American to win an Olympic triathlon medal was Susan Williams, the silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Games.
Sarah True of New Hampshire, who is married to North Yarmouth, Maine, native Ben True, who won this year’s Beach to Beacon, had to withdraw from the competition when she developed a leg cramp while biking. See the video at WCSH6.
BRAZILIAN MEN GRAB GOLD IN SOCCER
After a 1-1 tie at the end of extra time, Neymar scored the winning penalty to earn Brazil’s first gold medal.
Brazil’s men took on Germany in the Olympic final, giving the host nation a chance to not only win gold in its signature sport, but avenge a 7-1 loss to the Germans two years ago in the World Cup. The atmosphere at the Maracana Stadium was electric.
“There is nothing like playing at home and having the chance of winning something that we’ve dreamed about for so long,” Brazil striker Neymar said. “We are focused only on playing well and winning this gold medal.”
The soccer championship was the headline event Saturday in the Rio Olympics. The games end on Sunday.
The soccer game will feature nearly entirely different rosters from the 2014 World Cup that marked a low point for Brazilian soccer (known as futebol here). That’s because Olympic soccer features under-23 teams while the World Cup is for the top national squad. But the match still has huge significance for Brazil, which has never won gold in soccer.
Other highlights Saturday from the Rio de Janeiro Games:
GOLD IN GOLF: Inbee Park hasn’t won all year on the LPGA. She has been recovering from ligament damage in her thumb and didn’t play in the last two majors. But on Saturday, the seven-time major winner took command of the Olympic Golf Course with a 5-under 66 and won a gold medal.
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