After podium sweeps of the flat 400m and 400m Hurdles, Team USA was the overwhelming favourite to add yet another 4x400m title to their vast collection. They hardly disappointed, clocking 2:55.39, the second fastest time in history.

400m champion LaShawn Merritt gave the quartet a one second lead after his opening 44.35 run; after that it was smooth – and very swift – sailing. He handed off to Angelo Taylor, the 400m Hurdles champion, who produced a 43.70 second leg. But he had some unexpected company in rising Belgian star Jonathan Borlee, who kept his squad in the hunt with a blistering 43.62 leg, to remain within a second of the Americans.

The American parade of medallists continued with David Neville. The 400m bronze medallist added a half second to the margin after his 44.16 leg, giving Jeremy Wariner a lead of nearly a second and a half for the last leg. But two-time World champion Wariner, who ran to the silver here, clearly had his sights set on the world mark of 2:54.29, set by an American squad at the 1993 World championships in Stuttgart.

With another phenomenal performance, Wariner covered the final lap in a sensation 43.18, finishing just 0.10 seconds shy of the World mark, but well under the previous Olympic record of 2:55.74 set by the American gold medal squad in Barcelona 16 years ago.

“We wanted to come here and do something special,” said Merritt, who handed off to his Olympic village teammate Taylor. “I had three great men here to follow me.”

Added Taylor, “We’re wonderful. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

“The way these guys ran before I got the stick was amazing,” said Wariner, who also collected 4x400m gold in Athens four years ago. “It was a great race by all four.”

Behind them, The Bahamas produced a solid run. Moving past Belgium on the final leg, Chris Brown anchored the Island nation to a 2:58.03 performance. Russia, with an inspired 43.56 anchor leg by Denis Alexeev – one of five sub-44 splits in the race – moved from fourth into third to take the bronze with a national record 2:56.08.

Further back, Martyn Rooney, propelled by a 43.73, moved Great Britain from sixth to fourth, in 2:58.81, with Belgium fifth in 2:59.37, also a national record.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Since its inception as an Olympic event in 1912, The United States has just about owned the men’s 4x400m relay. There’s little indication that that will change in Beijing.

Aiming for the seventh straight gold in the event, the first round responsibilities from the planet’s deepest pool of one-lap talent fell upon David Neville, Kerron Clement, Reggie Witherspoon and Angelo Taylor. Neville was competing less than 24 hours after taking the bronze in the 400m, while Clement and Taylor returned to the track after taking silver and gold, respectively, in the 400m Hurdles four days ago.

Neville carried a slight lead for the U.S. at the first exchange, one which Clement extended with a solid, if somewhat conservative 45.12 lap. Witherspoon’s fresh legs produced the quickest U.S. split, 44.62, to put the race out of reach. Running comfortably and cruising to the finish line, Taylor crossed the line in 2:59.98.

“We needed to be nice and smooth,” said Taylor, who took the 400m hurdles gold for the second time. “We are ready. We think it’s possible to go for the World record. We definitely want to break it.” The World record of 2:54.29 was set at the 1993 World championships in Stuttgart.

Behind them Russia, Belgium and Australia battled it out for the two remaining automatic spots. Denis Alekseyev ran down Belgian anchor Kevin Borlee to give Russia the runner spot in 3:00.14 to Belgium’s 3:00.67, national records for both.

Australia’s Clinton Hill and Poland’s Rafal Wieruszewski were next across the line, clocking 3:00.68 and 3:00.74 respectively, to easily advance to tomorrow’s final by time.

Heat two was marginally faster and in reality considerably more competitive. Jamaican lead-off Michael Blackwood was the first to hand off, passing the baton to Allodin Fothergill. But he was quickly reeled in and overtaken by Briton Robert Tobin (45.32) who gave Great Britain a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Both Tobin and third leg, Michael Bingham (44.56), successfully fended off Jamaican challenges before Martyn Rooney put it away with his 44.42 closing leg, winning comfortably in 2:59.33.

Bahamian anchor Andrae Miller beat back Jamaican anchor Ricardo Chambers with the two Carribean nations, taking the remaining two spots for the final, clocking 2:59.88 and 3:00.09, respectively.

Fireworks on par with those that lit up the opening ceremonies are expected in the final tomorrow, with LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner, the gold and silver medallists in yesterday’s 400m, returning to the track for the U.S. squad.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF