By John David Mercer, USA TODAY Sports
Carmelita Jeter crosses the line after anchoring the USA to a gold medal and world record in the 4x100 relay Friday at Olympic Stadium.
LONDON - The USA's women's 4x100 relay smashed a 27-year-old world record Friday at Olympic Stadium.
Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter led from the start and blew away the field, including Jamaica, to win in 40.82 seconds.
The previous record was 41.37, set by East Germany in 1985.
As Jeter crossed the line, she flashed a huge smile and pointed at the clock, that was flashing the time.
"I knew that right away," Jeter said about the world record. "I knew that we were moving. I knew we were running very well and I was very excited."
Madison knew it would be fast, just not that fast.
"I knew that the Olympic record was coming down," she said. "I just knew that if we had clean baton passes that we would definitely challenge the world record. Smash it like we did? I had no idea. But I knew it was in us."
Jamaica's foursome was 100 gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart. And it's not as if the Jamaicans were slow: They ran a national record 41.41.
The USA entered the night with only one medal in the event since its last victory, 1996. In the previous two Games, 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing, the USA could not get the baton safely around the track.
The passes were fast, efficient and golden Friday.
First Coast News