United States grab Olympic gold in men’s 4x400m relay

Denied a third-straight Olympic gold in the 4×400-meter relay four years ago in London, the USA men got their revenge Saturday night in Rio.

Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts and Merritt, the only member of the quartet to have won relay gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, combined for a finishing time of 2:57.30.

Clemons becomes the ninth KU track & field Olympic Gold medalist and the school’s first male gold-medal victor since Al Oerter won the discus in Mexico City in 1968.

Merrrit was a busy man in Rio. The gold medal gives the United States a total of 31 track and field medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the highest total since the Americans won 31 in both 1952 and 1956. In London, Manteo Mitchell memorably continued to run even after breaking his leg in the opening round. The 4x100m relay team finished third, but was disqualified because of an illegal baton exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin.