Atlanta native Gabby Thomas won her second gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 4×100 meter relay.

After losing some ground due to a shaky baton handover, the Americans managed to pull through, helped by a final flash from final runner Sha’Carri Richardson.

Richardson turned her head to survey the competition and realized she was so far ahead that she was alone. That look — which said, “Okay, I’m going without you” or “Is that all you’ve got?” — quickly became a meme on social media.

This victory continues the US team’s dominant performance at the Paris Olympics, especially in track and field. For Thomas, it is the second gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, her first coming in the women’s 200-meter final.

Richardson, Thomas, Twanisha Terry and Melissa Jefferson completed the lap of the Stade de France track in 41.78 seconds, a season’s best even after the dubious handover from Thomas to Richardson.

“When we won as the U.S. women, it was an honor for all of us,” said Richardson, who won the silver medal in the 100-meter sprint earlier this week. “I remember trusting my third leg, trusting Gabby, knowing that she was going to put the pole in my hand no matter what and that I should do my best on the track.”

Great Britain came in second place, Germany in third.

Jamaica’s team, which not long ago was considered the strongest competition for the US team, finished in sixth place. Three of their sprint superstars missed the games in Paris or canceled due to injury.

The US men fail the handoff

In the men’s race, the US national team, which had initially placed fifth, was disqualified after botching the first handoff when Atlanta native Christian Coleman handed off to Kenny Bednarek. Fred Kerley as the tail runner and Kyree King completed the team.

A day ago, the team learned that it would be without its best asset, newly crowned 100-meter champion Noah Lyles. After winning bronze in his best event, the 200-meter sprint, on Thursday, Lyles announced that he had contracted COVID-19.

Canada won gold, South Africa silver and Great Britain bronze.

The U.S. men, visibly upset and frustrated with their performance, spoke briefly with reporters after the race. “Our attitude was: Nothing risked, nothing gained,” King said. “We went out there and gave it our all, but it didn’t work out.”

When asked about the apparent missed appointment at an important handover, the men said they would not talk about individual missteps that might have cost them the race.

U.S. teams are notorious for botching relay handoffs. At the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, a disqualification of the U.S. team in the mixed-gender 4×400-meter relay nearly cost the team a medal. Ultimately, the ruling was overturned and the team took home bronze.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the women’s 4×100 meter relay team successfully overturned a disqualification after arguing that other runners had induced the baton.

NPR’s Brian Mann reported from Saint-Denis, France.

WABE’s Meimei Xu contributed reporting.