The 2012 Oral History:

U.S. Women's 4x100 Team

Breaks World Record

By U.S. Women's 4x100 Team

at 12:30PM

Streeter Lecka/Getty

"Bring me the stick."

Published in the December 2012 issue

August 10, 2012: 8:40 p.m.

Tianna Madison, sprinter, first leg of U.S. women's 4x100 relay team:

All we'd been hearing about was how we hadn't been able to make it happen in the last two Olympics, but we knew what we were going to do. As I walked out to the blocks, the crowd was at full roar. You could see the flashes of all the cameras. But at some point, I heard nothing. I wasn't nervous. I was just excited. Okay, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is to my inside, I thought. I'm going to run away from her and run down the two on my outside — start this off right.

The gun goes off, and I start my drive phase. But I don't rush it. This was one of the few times this season I didn't rush through my drive phase. I went through all my zones, and when I came up in my acceleration, I saw that I had run down the girls to my outside. Allyson's standing still when she comes into view. She starts to run, and I think, Catch her. When I'm close enough, I yell "Stick!" and she puts her hand back. We had a clean pass, but she spiked me with her long legs. I didn't realize until two hours later.

Allyson Felix, second leg:

Tianna just killed the start. I went out hard and tried to give her a good target. As soon as I put my hand back, she punched it in there. Really flawless. All I was thinking was Don't let anyone in front of me. Make up the stagger. The third leg is when you start to see exactly where you are, because the stagger kind of breaks, and I knew that I was handing off in first position. I yelled, "Stick!" Bianca put her hand back, and we got it in there. Three or four times I yelled, "Let's go!" There's a picture of me full-on yelling at her.

Bianca Knight, third leg:

Watching Tianna and then Allyson come in, that's the anxious part. You don't want to leave too early. Then it was just I'm ready to get the stick. Allyson and I had practiced only one handoff on the day of the final, because she ran the hundred and two hundred and didn't really have any time. We went over to one corner and did the handoff. The chemistry was just crazy.

I started running for what felt like a lifetime, but it was actually quick. I think Veronica [Campbell-Brown, of Jamaica] actually got the baton before me, because they have a shorter zone. So they got it first, but they were farther back. They were trying to make her run longer. Once I got the baton, I was thinking, Keep the lead. Keep the position. Then it was Get the baton to Carmelita. If we do that, she'll do what she's supposed to do.

Carmelita Jeter, anchor:

I saw Bianca coming, and all I was thinking was Bring me the stick. I started to run, threw my hand back, and she put the baton in my hand and I lit up like a firecracker. I ran with every emotion, every drive, every ounce of confidence I had. I was moving so fast I felt like I was running on air. Coming down the stretch, I looked at the clock and saw ":34," and I thought, If it's at thirty-four seconds, we're about to the break the world record. So I tried to run faster. I was watching the clock. It was at 35. Then 36. Then 37. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I just pointed.

Madison:

It was so overwhelming that Carmelita and I ran past each other.

Felix:

I saw the clock and thought it was a mistake. Something is a bit off, I thought. This is wrong. Normally, it's not uncommon for the clock to change a little bit after we're done running. So I was kind of waiting for that adjustment, and it never happened. I saw the WR next to it and that was when — just crazy.

Knight:

We were the first women under forty-one seconds. Like, ever.

Jeter:

I knew that we broke the record. I didn't know that we shattered it, but I definitely knew we broke it. I couldn't stop screaming. I was hollering.

—As told to Matt Goulet