PARIS, France — The United States mixed 4x400-meter relay team shattered the world record in their first race at the Paris Olympics Friday, demolishing their competition in the opening heat.
Among the runners was Charlotte native Kaylyn Brown, who ran the final leg in 49.4 seconds. Her teammates included Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little and Bryce Deadmon. The U.S. broke the previous world record by over a full second, finishing the event in 3:07.41. The previous record, set at last year's world championships, was 3:08:80.
Brown's time of 49.4 was just a tick off her personal best of 49.1. The 19-year-old hopes her performance will be enough to secure a spot on the team for the finals this weekend.
"I'm just blessed," Brown told NBC. "I'm blessed to be here with these amazing people and bringing it home for them."
Team USA qualified for Saturday's afternoon final as the No. 1 qualifier. Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Belgium also advanced to the medal round. The Americans will be the favorites to win the gold after Friday's performance. France was the second-fastest squad, still 3 seconds off the U.S. pace.
Breaking records is nothing new for Brown, who got her start in track when she was just 4 years old. Brown won the silver medal at the NCAA finals, setting a world record for 19-year-olds at 49.13 seconds.
Some experts say the new record may be broken again in Saturday's final. Experts at Mondo said the track in Paris was designed to help athletes break records. The company used rubber granules that were more elastic and cohesive to produce the upper layer of the track. In other words, the innovations are meant to enable Olympians to run faster, jump higher and leap further. Kind of like the Olympic motto: “Faster, higher, stronger — together.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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