Stick-to-itiveness pays off for U.S. relay

LONDON -- When she is on the track, Carmelita Jeter  is all business. So when, as she crossed the finish line Friday night, her outstretched left hand -- baton in hand -- pointing out toward the red-and-black digital clock just in front of her, you knew it was something special. An instant later, the clock flashed: "New WR."

Jeter's anchor leg put the exclamation point on a spectacular race, the U.S. 4x100 women's relay team winning its first gold medal in 16 years. The clock stopped at 40.82 seconds.

It was the first time any women's relay team would run under 41, and it put an immediate and emphatic end to years of drama over dropped batons and other mishaps involving U.S. women's sprint relay teams. The U.S. men's 4x100 team gets its chance at redemption Saturday night.

"It feels surreal," Tianna Madison who ran the first leg Friday night, said, adding a moment later, "We really came together and made it happen."

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