US wins women’s 4×100 meter relay in world record time

The US set a new world record in the women's 4x100m relay on Friday as the United States pulled away in the medals table.

The quartet of Tianna Madison, , 200-meter champion Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter finished in 40.82 seconds, cut almost half a second off the old mark set by the German Democratic Republic in 1985, the Associated Press reported.

"It's an honor to be part of this team. Who would have thought that we would have had a world record tonight? It's amazing. Our names are going down in history," Felix said.

"As I’m running, I’m looking at the clock and seeing this time that’s like 37, 38, 39. In my heart, I said, ‘We just did it!’ I definitely knew we ran well," Reuters quoted  Jeter, who anchored the relay, as saying. 

"When I crossed the finish line, I had so many emotions because we haven’t been able to get the gold medal back to the US."

Jamaica won the silver medal Friday in a national record of 41.41 seconds, while Ukraine won the bronze.

Xinhua pointed out that it was only the second world record to fall on the track in these Games: Davida Rudisha broke the men's 800m record on Thursday.

The win boosted the US medal total to 94, 41 of them gold. The US overtook China in the medal tally Thursday.

China now has 37 gold, 25 silver and 19 bronze medals.

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