(Left to right) USA's Ryan Murphy, Nick Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske with their gold medals after winning the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay at the Paris La Defense Arena on the eighth day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. PA Images/Alamy Images

Watch: Team USA swimming mixed relay wins gold, breaks world record in tight finish

By Austen Bundy | Last updated Aug 3, 2024 4:40 PM ET

The relays always bring the drama and attention to the Olympic swimming competition, and the second mixed 4x100 medley relay delivered on that legacy.

Team USA won its first gold in the event Saturday with a tight, world record-breaking finish.

WHAT AN EFFORT.

TORRI HUSKE HOLDS ON FOR THE 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY GOLD AND WORLD RECORD! #ParisOlympics | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/bIxkbrGiN6
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024

The mixed relay features two women and two men in one relay. Each country determines which gender order it will utilize and which swimmers will do what stroke.

The Americans chose Ryan Murphy, dubbed the "Backstroke King," to lead off the relay on the backstroke leg, naturally. Then Gretchen Walsh swam the butterfly leg, Nic Fink the breaststroke leg and Torri Huske brought it home in freestyle on the final leg.

That winning combination broke the world record set by the 2021 gold medalist team from Great Britain by just .15 seconds.

In that first edition of the race in Tokyo, the U.S. missed out on the podium altogether — finishing fifth in the final.

Team China earned silver, and the Australians rounded out the podium with bronze in Saturday's final.

Austen Bundy

Austen Bundy is a journalist and sports junkie from the Washington, D. C. area

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