The race featured four U.S. medalists -- McLaughlin, Felix, Muhammad, who finished second in the hurdles, and Mu, the 19-year-old who won gold in the 800.
It wasn’t so much the win that was in doubt but the world record of 3:15.17, set at the 1988 Seoul Games in the last relay the Soviet Union ran as an Olympic team.
By the time Mu collected the baton from Muhammad for the anchor lap, the clock read 2:28 and the record was out of reach. But the win was in the bag.
The four sprinters huddled and hugged. Felix is 35, and has detailed her long struggle simply to make the Tokyo Olympics. Mu turned 19 this summer, and there’s a chance she'll need a mighty big medals case when it’s all over.
Minutes after the women won, the U.S. men also romped to the gold. The first win for the American men's sprinters came on the last event run on the Olympic oval and gave the U.S. a total of 26 — seven of them gold — with only the men's marathon remaining Sunday.
Other winners Saturday included Neeraj Chopra in the javelin, who won India’s first-ever gold medal in Olympic track and field.
Another first went to Mariya Lasitskene, who's victory in the high jump gave the Russian team its first gold of the meet. The Russians were only allowed to send 10 track and field athletes to Tokyo.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen brought 1,500-meter gold to Norway, while Sifan Hassan, who runs for the Netherlands, added the 10,000-meter gold to the gold she won in the 5,000 and bronze she won in the 1,500. She's the first to try that triple at the Olympics. (AP)