Hope Mills Native Quanera Hayes Helps Send USA to Finals of 4×400 Relay
Quanera Hayes – a Hope Mills native, and Gray’s Creek High School graduate – is making the most of her second Olympic Games appearance. Hayes ran the leadoff spot of…
Shamier Little, Quanera Hayes and Kaylyn Brown react after competing in the Women’s 4 x 400m Relay Friday in Paris. Hayes is a Gray’s Creek graduate and Hope Mills native.
Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty ImagesQuanera Hayes - a Hope Mills native, and Gray's Creek High School graduate - is making the most of her second Olympic Games appearance.
Hayes ran the leadoff spot of the United States women's 4x400 relay team's opening round heat, that Team USA ended up finishing in first.
The Americans ran a season-best 3:21.44 in the qualifying heat Friday in Paris. That was over three seconds better than Great Britain, the second-highest qualifier.
Hayes led off with a 51.27 in her leg, handing off to Shamier Little with the Americans in second place. Little ran a 49.22 to put the United States into the lead, and there was no looking back from there.
Aaliyah Butler and Kaylyn Brown ran 50.41 and 50.54 to close out the heat.
The Americans will race for their eighth consecutive Gold Medal in the women's 4x400 on Saturday. The race can be seen during NBC's coverage at approximately 3:14 p.m. EDT, or streamed live on NBCOlympics.com.
Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty ImagesQuanera Hayes, a Gray's Creek High School graduate, will be a member of Team USA in the Paris Olympics.
Having run in the qualifiers, Hayes will now be medal-eligible should the Americans win one.
Hayes notably had previously made the US Olympic Team for the rescheduled 2021 Tokyo Games, after a stunning upset in the women’s 400m final at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2001. She is a 2010 Gray’s Creek graduate, and Hope Mills native.
Hayes finished seventh in the 400 in 2021, so this will be her first shot at an Olympic medal. If she does win it, she'll be the second athlete from our region to win one in Paris. Sammy Sullivan, a Jack Britt graduate and Army Captain, won Bronze with the United States women's rugby team.
If this was the last time we've seen Simone Biles in the Olympic Games, leaving with yet another medal around her neck was quite the way to go out. (See full gallery below.)
Biles, who is 27 years old now, won four medals in the Paris games, three Gold and one Silver. The Silver medal came in her final event, the individual floor exercise. It's an event she has owned - quite literally - but she was slightly off her game in the final.
Still, she now has 11 medals in her Olympic history. That's the most ever for a United States gymnast, and tied for second for all women ever. She was expected to have a 12th medal with her balance beam routine Monday, but a fall dropped her into fifth place there.
Simone Biles in 2028 Games?
Biles has been coy about whether this is the end of her time as an Olympian. The 2028 Olympic Games are in Los Angeles, but at 27, she's already the oldest to ever win the all-around Gold.
"Never say never," Biles said in an interview with USA Today. "The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old."
For now, we can celebrate being able to witness greatness as long as we did. Biles was too young to compete in the 2012 Olympics, but we got to see her in 2016 in Rio, and in 2021 in Beijing, before Paris.
And with 11 medals now in her trophy case, she's solidified her case as the Greatest of All Time.
Parisienne Projections
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesA photograph of gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrating on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final is projected as part of Parisienne Projections on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10
Photo by Elsa/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Balance Beam Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Floor Exercise Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States poses with her four Paris 2024 Olympic medals following the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Floor Exercise Final on Monday.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States looks on during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States reacts after finishing her routine on the uneven bars during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes in the floor exercise during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesJordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Simone Biles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee of Team United States celebrate winning the gold medal during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes on the Vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States reacts after competing in the floor exercise during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesGold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States (C), Silver medalist Rebeca Andrade of Team Brazil (L) and Bronze medalist Sunisa Lee of Team United States (R) look on from the podium during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final medal ceremony on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States reacts after competing in the floor exercise during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 8
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes on the balance beam during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes in the floor exercise during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. This digital composite Image was captured using a robotic camera positioned above the field of play.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 2
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesSimone Biles of Team United States competes on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Qualification on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 4
Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty ImagesGold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France.
Parisienne Projections
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesA photograph of gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrating on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final is projected as part of Parisienne Projections on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France.
