In the Olympic relay, Sha’Carri Richardson saves the American women as the men advance easily and Jamaica is eliminated

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sha’Carri Richardson saved the American women from a near collapse Thursday in the Olympic 4×100-meter relay, beating the German on the final stretch to assist the Americans win their qualifying race and advance to the gold-medal race.

The U.S. men, who haven’t won a medal in the event since 2004, advanced comfortably despite a minor setback. In the strangest twist of events, it was the Jamaican men who had trouble with the baton and shall be sitting on the bench for Friday’s final.

In the women’s race, Richardson was about three steps behind after taking the baton from Gabby Thomas, who had nearly missed the ball during a rally with Twanisha Terry.

That put Richardson in a bind against Rebecca Haase, but the 100-meter silver medalist looked back at Haase at the finish line, with the U.S. winning in 41.94 seconds, 0.19 seconds ahead of the Germans.

The men’s team comfortably won in 37.47 seconds despite a clumsy opening rally, with Christian Coleman passing the ball to Fred Kerley along with his right hand while grabbing Kerley’s wrist along with his left to be certain that the stick was secure.

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Kerley, Kyree King and Courtney Lindsey cruised away with the win, and the U.S. beat South Africa by nearly half a second. The country’s top two sprinters, Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, weren’t in the lineup as they prepared for the 200-meter final Thursday night.

Jamaica, who had won all three Olympic relays when Usain Bolt was in the game, looked like a totally different team this time around. A nasty first rally left them trailing, and when 100-meet silver medalist Kishane Thompson began too fast and then needed to slow right down to receive the baton for the anchor lap, Jamaica was cooked.

Thompson finished fourth, giving Jamaica its only probability in the 4×100 relay so as to add to its sole sprint medal won in Paris.

None of the team’s top sprinters from the past decade — Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson or Elaine Thompson-Herah — were on a team that finished third of their heat.

No team entered the qualifying race with a lineup as strong as the U.S. Women’s National Team, however it all almost fell apart when Thomas got off to a quick start in the third stage and then needed to slow right down to take the baton from Terry.

Both sprinters seemed to be holding the baton as Thomas crossed the yellow line marking the end of the passing zone, meaning the pass was legal.