US outlasts Jamaica, emerges world No. 1

BERLIN – With Usain Bolt no longer running on the final day of the championships, the United States finally took over.

With gold medals from the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay teams and another from Brittney Reese in the women’s long jump, the United States edged Jamaica to become the most dominant nation of the 2009 world championships.

A second gold medal for relay runners LaShawn Merritt, Kerron Clement, Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards finally broke the tie with Jamaica, which only added one silver Sunday.

The breakthrough came in the women’s relay, where Richards and Felix were too good for an out-of-breath Jamaican team.

“It was incredible,” Richards said. “My teammates were phenomenal.”

Merritt followed it up by anchoring the US men’s team to victory.

“Championships are all about getting the medal,” said the men’s 400 champion, who won the same two golds at the Beijing Olympics last year.

In the final medal standings, the United States had 10 golds and 22 overall, with Jamaica second with seven gold and 13 overall.

“We did an awesome job,” Jamaican relay runner Novlene Williams-Mills said after collecting silver in the women’s 4x400. “It’s nice to bring Jamaica the last medal of the championships.”

Bolt won three gold medals in Berlin, cementing him as by far the biggest star of the championships after he set stunning world records to claim the 100- and 200-meter titles and also won the 4x100 relay.     (AP)