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TOKYO – Two track and field athletes from North Carolina A&T’s men’s 4x400-meter relay NCAA indoor and outdoor national championship teams competed Friday (Aug. 6) morning in Japan on the United States Olympic 4x400 team.
N.C. A&T’s Trevor Stewart and Randolph Ross Jr., along with Texas A&M’s Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood won the first men’s 4x400 heat of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by running a 2:57.77. It is the fastest time run by a U.S. team this year.
It is a little faster than the 2:59.21 the Aggies’ 4x400 team posted at the Division I NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 29. Despite not running in the finals, all heat runners received Gold Medals.
During the Aggies’ indoor and outdoor seasons, Stewart ran the anchor leg. However, he had a different role on Friday.
It was not a problem. Stewart ran the fastest lead-off leg by any athlete from the heats of the men’s 4x400 on Friday as he completed his leg in 44.7 seconds. Ross Jr.’s second-leg split ended in 44.5. With a slight lead, Stewart handed the baton off to Ross Jr.
Ross Jr. began to put distance between the U.S. and the rest of the competition. Deadmon increased the U.S. lead before handing the race over to Norwood, a two-time world champion in the 4x400.
Deadmon, the third collegiate athlete on the team, cruised to the finish line as the U.S. finished ahead of Botswana (2:58.33). The U.S. captured Gold in the last running event of the Olympics, the men’s 4x400m relay with a time of 2:55.70.
