For the first time since 1948, the Italian men's 4x100m relay team crossed an Olympic finish line first.
Lorenzo Patta, Eseosa Desalu, Marcell Jacobs and Filippo Tortu finished in 37.50, edging out the British team by one one-hundredth of a second. The medal is the fourth total gold in track and field for Italy at these Olympics, marking the most golds the nation has ever won in the discipline.
Chijindu Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Great Britain won the silver while Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse finished in 37.70 to take bronze.
Teams from Jamaica and Japan were expected to reach the podium after going 1-2 in Rio, but the home team dropped the baton on its first exchange and the 2016 champions finished fifth.
The reigning world champion United States men's 4x100m relay team didn't race in the final after failing to advance beyond Thursday's preliminary heats. Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker and Cravon Gillespie finished sixth in the second of two heats in 38.10, falling two hundredths of a second short of the final.
