A Handy Distance Between Gold and Silver

The French swimmers had promised to "smash" the Americans in the 4 × 100-m freestyle relay, but the U.S. men took the gold with a last-millisecond comeback by anchor Jason Lezak. The team--Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Lezak--smashed the world record by nearly 4 seconds. How it unfolded:

Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Leg 4
U.S. 47.51 1:34.53 2:22.18 3:08.24
France 47.91 1:34.96 2:21.59 3:08.32

0.08 sec. At Lezak's speed, that equals 6.8 in. (17.3cm)

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