PHILADELPHIA — The United States conquered "the world" — and a world record — at the Penn Relays on Saturday.
Competing against teams from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, the American relay teams, with Marion Jones, Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson running sizzling anchor legs, swept the men's and women's 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter events.
Those relays were billed as "USA vs. the World," and the Americans, always powerful in the sprints, again showed their prowess.
Their most impressive performance came in the women's 800, where the USA team raced to a world record of 1 minute, 27.46 seconds. That shattered the previous mark of 1:28.15 set by an East German team 20 years ago.
Jones, the 1999 world champion at 100 meters, also brought the USA women's team to victory in the 400 relay in 42.33, breaking Franklin Field and Penn Relays records.
Greene, the world record-holder and two-time world champion in the 100, keyed the men's 400 relay team to stadium and meet records of 38.22, while the 800 team ran 1:19.92.
Surprisingly, the men's 800 team was overshadowed by TCU, which won the collegiate relay at 1:19.67, breaking its NCAA mark of 1:20.20 set in 1986.
Johnson, the world record-holder and Olympic gold medalist in the 200 and 400, powered the USA team to victory in the 1,600 relay at 2:56.60, the fastest in the world this year and the fastest ever at Franklin Field. The USA women, with Jearl Miles Clark anchoring, completed the sweep, winning the women's 1,600 relay at 3:25.96.
"It was awesome," Jones said of the oldest and best-attended of the nation's relay carnivals. "I was excited about running here and today did not disappoint, to be with two relay teams and finishing with a world record."
The 800 team of LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry and Jones did not find out the team's composition until shortly before the race.
"As soon as we found out who was running, we all whispered in each other's ears and said, 'Let's get that record,"' Jones said.
There was no doubt about it. After Jenkins, Colander-Richardson and Perry gave the Americans a commanding lead, Jones got the baton and blazed the final 200.
The enthusiastic crowd of 45,203, which chanted "USA! USA! USA!" every time an American team came onto the track, was the third-largest in the 106-year history of the event. The three-day total of 102,193 was the largest ever and the first over 100,000.