SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas combined for America’s 14th gold medal and their 34th overall on the track on Saturday, finishing Olympic action at the Stade de France with a 4.23-second lead in the women’s 4×400 relay.

The gold medalists in the 400-meter hurdles and the 200-meter run decided the second and third legs for the United States, leaving Alexis Holmes with a lead of 30 meters that no longer gave up any ground.

The USA finished with a time of 3 minutes and 15.27 seconds, missing the world record by just 0.1 seconds.

The 34 medals in running were the most for the United States at a non-boycotted Games since the early 20th century, when there were more competitions and fewer countries. And the 14 gold medals are the most at a non-boycotted Olympics since Bob Beamon, Tommie Smith and John Carlos led the United States to 15 victories in 1968.

Just before the women’s race, the men’s race was more exciting. Rai Benjamin, the gold medalist in the 400m hurdles, beat 200m champion Letsile Tebogo to give the USA a 0.1-second victory over Botswana – the final thriller in a nine-day competition full of thrillers.

Earlier, the United States had evened its medal tally of 32 at the Rio Games when high jumper Shelby McEwen took a surprise silver medal after losing a lengthy tiebreak to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr, who celebrated by jumping into the fortunately inactive javelin zone.

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