LONDON, Aug 12: The flying women of the United States had a huge win in the 4x400m relay — a day after shattering the 4x100m world record — and Russia’s world champion Mariya Savinova held off South Africa’s Caster Semenya in the 800m on an action-packed penultimate day at the Olympics.
Allyson Felix gave her 4x400 relay team of DeeDee Trotter, Francena McCorory and Sanya Richards-Ross a big lead halfway to win her third of the London Games after the 200 and 4x100 relay. Richards-Ross added this medal to her 400m gold.
It was America’s fifth straight victory in the relay, and a fourth win for their women’s runners in London.
Earlier, Semenya managed a silver in her Olympic debut in the 800m race three years after being forced to undergo gender tests.
She was last for most of the race and sped up with 250 meters to go, but could not pass Savinova. Russia also took the bronzewith Ekaterina Poistogova.
“I’ve been waiting all year for this,” said Semenya, 21, who also won silver at last year’s world championships but was barred from the track for almost a year, and had to undergo gender tests.
“The last four years have not been easy. I’m already thinking about Rio (2016 Olympic Games) and I hope I’ll be there.”
Savinova made the decisive break coming round the bend to win her fifth successive major title in a season’s-best 1 minute, 56.19 seconds, beating Semenya by 1.04 seconds.
In what turned out to be a good night for Russia, Anna Chicherova took the gold medal in women’s high jump while Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott became the youngest ever javelin champion, at 19, with a throw of 84.58 metres.
David Boudia gave the United States their first diving gold medal since 2000 when he clinched victory with his last dive in the men’s 10m platform.
Boudia stunned Chinese divers Qiu Bo and Lin Yue as he became the first American winner since the great Greg Louganis in 1988.
Qiu won silver and Britain’s Tom Daley took bronze after leading going into the final dive in front of a raucous home crowd that included football star David Beckham and two of his sons.
In the ring, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk claimed the men’s heavyweight crown while classy light-welterweight Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo won Cuba’s first boxing gold in eight years and Britain’s Luke Campbell took the bantamweight title.
Middleweight Ryota Murata won Japan’s first boxing gold in 48 years and China Zou Shiming retained his light flyweight title.
In team sports, Norway took a gold in women’s team handball while Brazil’s women beat the United States to gold in the volleyball.
But there was no surprise in the women’s basketball where the US claimed a fifth straight gold by thrashing France 86-50, extending a 41-game winning streak which stretches back to 1992.—Agencies