Twanisha Terry, Abby Steiner, Melissa Jefferson and Jenna Prandini of Team United States celebrate after winning gold in the women’s 4x100m relay on day 9 of the Oregon22 World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field on July 23, 2022 in Eugene. (Photo by Hannah Peters / Getty Images for World Athletics) Getty Images for World Athletics
In a race that made it to the final steps, Team USA was able to fight for gold in the women’s 4x100m relay on Saturday night at the World Athletics Championships.
The team, made up of Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, former Oregon Ducks star Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry took gold with a time of 41.14 seconds as a world leader.
Jamaica, with a team of Kemba Nelson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, were 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 US a small lead after the opening stretch, finishing in 11.35 seconds. Steiner finished his section in 9.86 seconds to give the Americans a greater advantage, ahead of Thompson-Herah, who ran 10.10.
The Jamaican Fraser-Pryce cut some time, finishing her section in 9.97 and beating Prandini’s 10.05. And while Jackson overtook Terry for the final stretch, it was just enough to give Team USA the victory by just 0.04 seconds.
Jamaica won the event in 2019, when the United States finished fourth.
– Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng
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