Rio de Janeiro: Defending champions the United States won the women’s Olympic 4x100 metres relay on Friday as Allyson Felix became the first woman to collect five gold medals in athletics.

The US team of Tianna Bartoletta, Felix, English Gardner and Tori Bowie clocked 41.01 seconds, the second-fastest time ever after the world record they set in London four years ago, to beat Jamaica on 41.36 and Britain on 41.77.

The Americans had taken the hard route to the final, nearly missing out on a place after Felix dropped the baton when handing over to Gardner in their heat on Thursday morning.

But they appealed successfully, arguing that Felix had been impeded by a Brazilian runner, and went through at China’s expense after being allowed to race by themselves in a solo heat in the evening.

They made no mistake on Friday, unperturbed by pre-race jeers from the crowd.

‘The journey to this point has been tumultuous. It’s special,’ Bartoletta said.

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, running the second leg after Christania Williams before handing over to Veronica Campbell-Brown and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, narrowly missed out on a Usain Bolt-style sprint treble after her victories in the 100m and 200m.

‘Wonderful experience. My first Olympics. Two golds, a silver, I can’t complain,’ she said.

The British team of Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita came third to take their country’s first medal in this event since 1984.