US Finishes Strong, Sweeps 1600 Relays

The US men's and women's teams swept the 1600-meter relays today, ending a string of frustrations for the Americans that included dropped batons in two earlier races. For the women, Sanya Richards anchored her team in a come-from-behind victory over Russia in 3:18.54, the world's fastest time since 1993. On the men's side, Jeremy Wariner crossed the line 12 strides ahead of Christopher Brown of the Bahamas, finishing in 2:55.39 to break the Olympic record by 0.35 second.

"To end it with an Olympic record after everything those guys have been through, that shows you they care about representing America," said US men's coach Bubba Thornton. "They wanted to end it with a good dose of good ol' American apple pie." (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)