Norwood helps USA relay team win gold

Morgan City High graduate Vernon Norwood, who brought home two medals from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, now has a gold medal from the World Athletics Championships.

Norwood is a member of the Team USA men's 4X400 team that cruised to victory Sunday in Budapest.

The team of Norwood, Quincy Hall, Justin Robinson and Rai Benjamin finished in 2:57.31, giving Team USA its fifth consecutive title in the 4x400. The gold medal was one of 12 earned by Team USA.

Hall put the Americans comfortably ahead in the first leg of the final before handing off to Norwood.

Norwood, the veteran of the group at 31, did his job, maintaining the lead before giving the baton to Robinson.

Anchor Benjamin, who holds the second-fastest time ever in the 400-meter hurdles, raced to the tape, finishing 1.4 seconds ahead of the runner-up French team.

“These guys knocked it out of the park in the first and second leg," Benjamin told Brian Pinelli of the Team USA website. "The crowd went crazy and I thought I was getting run down, so I put on a little more gas."

Norwood told Pinelli about the team's strategy.

“Raj and I talked about it all week," Norwood said. "I told him, I’m going to try and make it as easy for him as we can. Quincy and I are going to put in the hard work to make it easier for Justin and Raj.

“We dominated the first two legs to get us out in the open, get it clear because there has been a lot of chaos with the relays. We just wanted clean exchanges and dominate the race.”

400 open

Norwood ran fourth in Thursday's men's 400 meters final.

Norwood posted a time of 44.39 seconds, 0.17 second off the pace set by winner Antonio Watson of Jamaica (44.22) in a field of eight athletes.

Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, who won the Aug. 20 semifinal heat where Norwood finished second, was second in the finals with a 44.31. Hall was third at 44.37.

Norwood's time was 0.13 off his personal best of 44.26, set in the semifinal heat Sunday.

Norwood lived in the New Orleans area until his family came to Morgan City after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He graduated from Morgan City High in 2011.

Norwood became a hometown hero when, at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he was part of two USA medalist relay teams: the men's 4x400 relay team that won the gold medal, and the mixed 4x400 team that won a bronze medal.

The track at Morgan City High's stadium was renamed in Norwood's honor.