AFTER a week illuminated by a bolt of lightning called Usain, it was fitting that nine days of athletics at the Bird’s Nest should have ended with a finale that was quick and thrilling. America’s finest ended a difficult week in the style of champions, winning both 4x400m relays in some style. They departed the arena with two more gold medals and their dignity.

Britain’s track team has had an even more difficult Olympics than their American counterparts but for them, there was no reprieve. Nobody expected a gold medal in either race but both teams expected to be in the chase for one of the lesser medals. They never were. Martyn Rooney delivered an excellent anchor leg for the men yet could succeeded only in turning a hopeless situation into a fine fourth.

For Britain’s women, the writing was on the wall after Christine Ohuruogu’s opening leg and it spelt disappointment. The individual 400m champion was just fifth of the eight starters when she handed over to Kelly Sotherton and that left the heptathlete chasing rivals that were as fast and faster than her. It took a decent final leg from Nicola Sanders to get Britain up to a still disappointing fifth.

For graceful and beautifully judged one-lap racing, the US men’s team was a joy to behold. They flew so fast, they could take extra care in their handing over of the baton and still Jeremy Wariner had a significant advantage when he set out on the final leg. Surprisingly beaten by his teammate LaShawn Merritt in the final of the 400m, Wariner wasn’t about to lose last night and he scorched round in 43.18sec.

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His run ensured the team set a new Olympic record and second-placed Bahamas were a distant runner-up but they were not displeased. “We’re taking a silver egg out of the Bird’s Nest and bringing it back to the Bahamas,” said Chris Brown, who ran his team’s anchor leg.

After losing the individual 400m to Ohuruogu five days ago, the American Sanya Richards didn’t sleep well that night. Last evening Richards found redemption. She set out last for the US and when she received the baton from teammate Monique Henderson, she was five yards behind the powerful Russian Anastasia Kapachinskaya. The Russian maintained her advantage through the first 250m and seemed strong. But Richards was biding her time.

“It is easier to be the hound rather than the rabbit, to be the chaser and not the chased,” she said. She quickened her stride with 150m to go, drew alongside her rival early in the finishing straight and then forged ahead to claim the gold.