Sha’Carri Richardson secured her first Olympic Gold medal after a thunderous finish in the women’s 4×100 relay on Friday.

Americans Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry braved a wet course in rainy conditions to win their team’s 12th Olympic medal in the event, doing so in a time of 41.78 seconds – their season’s best.

Thomas ran the third leg and won her second gold medal at the Games. Her first Gold was won in the 200-meter race on Tuesday.

When Thomas handed the field to Richardson, the USA was in third place.

Richardson had to catch Britain’s Daryll Neita and Germany’s Rebekka Haase and when she did, she cast a look to the right – and behind her – that said: “You’re not going to catch me.”

She sprinted eight more steps down the track, and on the ninth, she lifted her left leg, stomped it on the other side of the finish line, and let out a scream.

It was a nice end to the Olympic Games for Richardson, who had come into the Olympic Games as a favorite, but fell surprisingly to Julien Alfred from St. Lucia in the 100-meter race.

Great Britain and Germany took second and third place respectively.

American men disqualified in 4×100 relay

While the women celebrated their gold medal, the U.S. men’s team extended their drought to 20 years without a medal in the Olympic 4×100 relay. They were disqualified for an illegal overtaking after Christian Coleman collided with teammate Kenny Bednarek during the transition between the first and second legs.

Andre De Grasse made a bright statement at an otherwise disappointing Olympic Games by leading Canada to gold with a time of 37.50 seconds. It was De Grasse’s first medal in Paris, but his seventh overall. South Africa finished second and Great Britain third.

Before the race, it looked like America was going to lose the race, even without Noah Lyles, who was absent because of COVID. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. The only time the U.S. has won a medal in the last two decades was in 2012, but that was stripped for a doping violation.