This US relay team, with an NC native as anchor, set a world record at Paris Olympics

On the first day of track and field events at the 2024 Olympic Games, the U.S. mixed 1,600-meter relay team set a new world record with Charlotte native Kaylyn Brown as the anchor.

The team, consisting of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Brown, ran a 3:07.41 in the preliminary round Friday evening in Paris, smashing the previous record of 3:08.80 set by the U.S. at the 2023 World Championship.

“”That was just excitement, just seeing how we put that together,” Little said. “I always knew we were going to run fast, and we talked about how it was going to take a record to win a medal. It took a record to win our prelim, so. I was just excited. I’m just a naturally expressive kind of person.”

Brown, the 19-year-old rising sophomore at the University of Arkansas, was one of only six athletes selected for the Team USA relay pool. Her running career began at age four with the Charlotte’s Sugar Creek Jaguars and before her standout career at Mallard Creek High School.

Brown went on to win gold at the 2022 World U20 Championship in the 1,600 mixed relay and then dominate her in first year at Arkansas — becoming the NCAA 1,600 relay champion and running a personal best of 49.13.

In early June, Brown was part of NCAA history when four Arkansas’ runners claimed the top four spots in the 400 and helped clinch Arkansas’ win its ninth NCAA track and field championship.

During the U.S. Olympic team trials earlier this summer, Brown ran a 49.71 and became the first to ever generate a sub-50 time in the semifinals and bettered the previous best of 50.06 by Rochelle Stevens in 1992.

At the preliminary heat in Paris, Brown clocked at 49.45 — helping the U.S. win the event by more than three seconds.

With their time, Brown and her team will advance to the final round tomorrow afternoon and face off against Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Belgium.

Maya Waid is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Anna Laible, who contributed reporting to this article, is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. Laible hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).

This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 4:26 PM.