In the discipline’s Olympic debut, former Texas A&M student-athlete Bryce Deadmon, Class of 2019, secured the bronze medal for the mixed 4×400-meter Saturday morning.
Along with teammates Elijah Godwin, Lynna Irby and Taylor Manson on the United States team, Deadmon had a tumultuous road to the finals. The quartet was initially disqualified after a supposed “faulty start,” but an appeal and subsequent review showed that the error was the result of a race official’s mistake.
After being reinstated, the team won first place in the first heat with the summer’s third-fastest qualifying time, then placed third in the finals behind Poland and the Dominican Republic.
With Saturday’s results being finalized in the record books, Deadmon officially became the first Aggie to win a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He is also the first man from A&M to win a medal while representing the United States since Randy Barnes, Class of 1987, won the gold in shot put at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
Other Aggies continue to compete for the top spot on the podium in their respective events over the next week, including Fred Kirley in the men’s 100-meter semifinal on Aug. 1 and Athing Mu in the women’s 800-meter final on Aug. 3.
