LONDON — As Carmelita Jeter sprinted across the finish line in the women’s 4×100-meter relay Friday night, she turned to her left and pointed a finger at the electronic clock beside the track as if to say, “Look at what we just did.” A beat later, the board flashed Jeter’s news in bold type: NEW WR.
Jeter’s final leg capped a blistering race for the United States team, which won its first gold medal in the event in 16 years and did it in emphatic fashion. The winning time of 40.82 seconds shattered the world record of 41.37, which was set in 1985 by East Germany, whose athletes were later found to be part of a state-run doping system.
