On the final day of track and field competition at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, Vernon Norwood continued his impressive performance for Team USA in the relay events.
In the men’s 4×400-meter relay final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Norwood took the baton nearly even with the eventual silver-medalist team from Botswana. During his second leg, Norwood delivered an outstanding performance, overtaking the 400-meter Olympic silver medalist and propelling Team USA into the lead with a split of 43.30 seconds. This came just a day after he gave his all in the 4×400 heats, where he clocked a 43.54 split.
Norwood’s effort was pivotal in helping Team USA secure their third consecutive men’s 4×400 gold medal, setting an Olympic-record time of 2:54.43. This achievement marked his second Olympic record of the meet, following his contribution to the mixed 4×400 team’s World and Olympic record of 3:07.41 in the heats.
This new gold medal is Norwood’s second Olympic gold, tying Mondo Duplantis for the most gold medals in LSU track and field history. It is also his second medal of the meet and his fourth career Olympic medal, surpassing Richard “Torpedo” Thompson for the most in LSU track and field history and tying Sylvia Fowles for the most in LSU history.
