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Italy ends 73 year drought with gold in men's 4x100m relay

Posted at 8:06 AM, Aug 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-06 10:24:10-04

FULL RESULTS

For the first time since 1948, the Italian men's 4x100m relay team crossed an Olympic finish line first. 

Lorenzo PattaEseosa DesaluMarcell Jacobs and Filippo Tortu finished in 37.50, edging out the British team by one one-hundredth of a second. The medal is the fourth total gold in track and field for Italy at these Olympics, marking the most golds the nation has ever won in the discipline. 

Chijindu UjahZharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Great Britain won the silver while Aaron BrownJerome BlakeBrendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse finished in 37.70 to take bronze. 

Teams from Jamaica and Japan were expected to reach the podium after going 1-2 in Rio, but the home team dropped the baton on its first exchange and the 2016 champions finished fifth. 

The reigning world champion United States men's 4x100m relay team didn't race in the final after failing to advance beyond Thursday's preliminary heatsTrayvon BromellFred KerleyRonnie Baker and Cravon Gillespie finished sixth in the second of two heats in 38.10, falling two hundredths of a second short of the final.