Britain beats Americans in sprint relay

ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The United States won two of the three Olympic track relays conducted Saturday night, but Britain pulled off a surprise in the other.

The British team of Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis finished the 4x100 in 38.07 seconds. Americans Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin, Coby Miller and Maurice Greene were .01 of a second behind.

Greene ran the anchor leg and looked as if he had caught Lewis-Francis at the wire. But the photo showed Lewis-Francis was barely across the line first.

It was the first victory in the race for Britain since the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

The United States won both the 4x400 relays.

The women's team of DeeDee Trotter, Monique Henderson, Sanya Richards and Monique Hennagan finished a second ahead of Russia in 3:19.01. The men's team of Jeremy Wariner, Otis Harris, Derrick Brew and Darold Williamson won by almost five seconds over Australia.

Other winners Saturday night were Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj (5,000), Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia (800), Kelly Holmes of Britain (1,500), Yelena Slesarenko of Russia (high jump), Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway (javelin).