The quartet of Emma Coburn, Sydney McLaughlin, Brenda Martinez, and Jenny Simpson broke the distance medley relay world record with a time of 10:40.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Coburn got things started in the 1200m with a 3:18.40 split. High school Olympian McLaughlin split 52.32 on the 400m, putting the U.S. team slightly ahead of the New Balance Europe team. Martinez pulled away from the European squad with a 2:01.92 800m split, setting things up for Olympic bronze medalist Simpson.
Simpson ran a solo effort of 4:27.66 in the 1600m to break the world record by two seconds.
"All of us were in Rio and had long seasons," Coburn told NBC. "It's a lot to ask to be in your peak form at this point."
"It was amazing," McLaughlin said. "I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough race but if we all did our part we would be able to get it done."
The previous indoor record of 10:42.57 was set in 2015 by Sarah Brown, Mahagony Jones, Megan Krumpoch, and Martinez.
Coburn got things started in the 1200m with a 3:18.40 split. High school Olympian McLaughlin split 52.32 on the 400m, putting the U.S. team slightly ahead of the New Balance Europe team. Martinez pulled away from the European squad with a 2:01.92 800m split, setting things up for Olympic bronze medalist Simpson.
Simpson ran a solo effort of 4:27.66 in the 1600m to break the world record by two seconds.
10:40.31 -- THEY DID IT! NEW WORLD RECORD IN DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY! @GoSydGo @emmajcoburn @trackjenny @bmartrun pic.twitter.com/SIM3Vcxkxz
— MileSplit US (@milesplit) January 28, 2017
"All of us were in Rio and had long seasons," Coburn told NBC. "It's a lot to ask to be in your peak form at this point."
"It was amazing," McLaughlin said. "I knew coming in that it was going to be a tough race but if we all did our part we would be able to get it done."
The previous indoor record of 10:42.57 was set in 2015 by Sarah Brown, Mahagony Jones, Megan Krumpoch, and Martinez.