Hastings Earns World Championship Gold as part of USA Relay Squad

Aug. 14, 2017

LONDON, England – University of South Carolina track & field alumna Natasha Hastings earned a gold medal at the 2017 IAAF World Championships., which concluded Sunday. The Gamecock legend collected the gold as part of the United States of America’s victorious 4x400m relay squad.

Hastings anchored the USA on Saturday morning as the Americans turned in the top preliminary time. The team’s mark of 3:21.66 was more than three seconds faster than the next fastest qualifier, setting up Sunday’s run for the gold. The American squad won Sunday’s final convincingly, with their time of 3:19.02 nearly six second better than silver medalist Great Britain. Poland finished with the bronze, while defending champion Jamaica was unable to finish the race.

The gold medal is the eighth for Hastings at the World Championships, including outdoor 4×4 victories in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

The world championship gold was actually the second awarded to Hastings this week in London. At the start of the competition, the USA’s 2013 4x400m relay squad was retroactively awarded a gold medal after the previous winners, Russia, were stripped of their victory after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

A three-time NCAA Champion during her Gamecock career, Hastings is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, earning the 4x400m title at the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio Games.