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RIO DE JANEIRO -- In the shadow of mighty Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix achieved something unprecedented in womens track and field Friday by winning her fifth Olympic gold medal.And together with the rest of the 4x100-meter relay team, she brought the United States closer to its biggest medal haul in decades. The tally could have been higher, too, had the U.S. mens 4x100 team not been disqualified after finishing third in the subsequent final.The womens team was smooth, despite the rocky path to the final. Running the second leg in the relay, Felix kept the U.S. up there with the mighty Jamaicans, before English Gardner and Tori Bowie brought the baton, tightly clenched in their hands, home for gold.Felix had been bumped in the preliminary heats and lost the baton, but the U.S. team protested and got a second chance -- a solo re-run that allowed them to qualify on times.The drawback was they were given the worst lane of all, Lane 1, which has the tightest corners.It didnt bother them. The U.S. women brought it home in 41.02 seconds, and lead-off runner Tianna Bartoletta was already waiting for Bowie for a wild embrace and to celebrate the second-fastest time in history behind the world record that Felix and Co. set to winning gold at London in 2012. For Bartoletta, it was the second gold in Rio, after winning the long jump too.As so often, Felixs celebrations were mostly muted but her smile told it all. She had been through injury, the inability to defend her 200-meter title because she didnt qualify at the U.S. trials and, almost, a DQ in the relay heats.Adversity sometimes makes you stronger, she said. Weve each had a rocky road to get here and we came together to win the gold.She entered the games as one of just six women to have won four golds in track and field.At the same time, silver for Jamaica allowed Veronica Campbell-Brown to win a medal at a fifth Olympics dating back to the 2000 Sydney Games.It was not all perfection for the Americans though. In the pole vault Sandi Morris missed her third attempt at 4.90 meters by the smallest margin, allowing Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece to win with 4.85 on a countback.Bolt, of course, was unmatchable again, as he gained his ninth gold medal over three Olympics by anchoring the Jamaican 4x100 relay home. In one of the biggest surprises of the track program, Japan took silver -- and had been leading before Bolt got the baton. Japanese anchorman Aska Cambridge held off the Americans, who were later disqualified for an exchange outside the zone in what has almost become a U.S. tradition by now. The U.S. team lodged a protest, hoping to get the medal back.Still, the U.S. added to their haul. They now have 27 medals with two days to go, including 10 gold. The Kenyan team is next with 10 medals overall including five gold, and Jamaica has six gold among nine medals overall. The U.S. team had 29 overall at the London Games four years ago, and 40 at the boycott-marred 1984 Los Angeles Games.The U.S. team has been on such a run, that Bowie takes it in stride.I glanced. I mean, I realize were leading the medal count. I mean, considering how big our country is Im not too surprised, she said with a laugh.On Friday, the Kenyans were counting on a medal in the 5,000 meters -- they got gold and silver. There was an upset as Vivian Cheruiyot powered past slumping favorite Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia and set an Olympic record of 14 minutes, 26.17 seconds.The 32-year-old Cheruiyot adds the Olympic title to two world championships in the 5,000 and one in the 10,000. She took silver in the 5,000 at the London Games four years ago.It initially appeared that Ayana would go for a second world record, after already setting a new mark in the 10,000 on the opening morning of the track program last week. But the efforts of the Olympic week appeared to catch up with her as she slumped late in the Saturday night race.Ayana set off strongly and seemed to take the lead for good after one third of the race. But fatigue caught up with her and Cheruiyot and compatriot Hellen Obiri, who won silver, saw their chance. Saints Jerseys China . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. New Orleans Saints Shirts . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/ . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Saints Jerseys 2020 . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. New Orleans Saints Gear . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player.LONDON -- Follow that, Pep. Jupp Heynckes is leaving Bayern Munich having set the bar for Pep Guardiola as high as the Wembley Stadium arch. In Englands national stadium Saturday, on the penultimate step of Heynckes farewell tour, the coach delivered Bayerns fifth European Cup with a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund. That comes after the Bundesliga trophy was already collected in a record-breaking league season, and Heynckes can sign out next Saturday by completing the treble in the German Cup final before stepping down. "FC Bayern will have to prove that they can continue to achieve these things but it is quite possible ... that a new era might have begun under the aegis of Bayern Munich," Heynckes said through a translator. An era of dominance, perhaps, to match the Bayern team that won a hat trick of European Cups between 1974 and 1976. Success in the first all-German Champions League final came a year after the tearful defeat on home soil to Chelsea. On a night of redemption, Arjen Robben, who missed a penalty in extra time in last years game, pounced with the winner in the 89th minute in London. "You dont want the stamp of a loser," Robben said. And it was Heynckes who picked up Bayern from its lowest ebb last May. "We didnt resign ourselves to our fate," Heynckes said. "No, we upped the ante and tried even harder. You have seen the result." Although Bayerns players were overwhelmed for much of the first half, they imposed their authority on their tiring rivals after the break. After Ilkay Gundogans penalty kick cancelled out Mario Mandzukics opener on the hour for Bayern, the energy in Heynckes side proved decisive as Robben ensured the European Cup would be returning to Bavaria for the first time since 2001. "We have been changing things, improving things, adapting things," Heynckes said. "We have team spirit, an ability to work together, which I have never experienced in the championship before, because we have 22, 23 top-class professionals ... all of whom played their weight. "Not one of them fell by the wayside. When you have such high calibre players thats pretty incredible. Thats the hallmark of our success: the ability to work together -- the collective." Heynckes wont be part of it for much longer. He leaves under bblurred circumstances, having distanced himself from the clubs claims that he planned to retire when Guardiolas services were secured in January for next season.dddddddddddd. But on Saturday, Heynckes said he had no regrets about handing over the reins, insisting that he had planned to stay just one more season after the Chelsea setback last May. Guardiola is ending a one-year sabbatical from football after turning Barcelona into the dominant team in Europe. Bayern shattered Barcelonas aura of invincibility, however, beating the Spanish team 7-0 on aggregate in the Champions League semifinals. And Heynckes sent out the message to Guardiola that everything at the club is primed for further success. "My successor will of course be able to take over a perfectly functioning team," Heynckes said. "We know Mario Goetze will be joining us and I dont think (striker Robert) Lewandowski will be hanging about too much either (at Dortmund)." Heynckes pointed to how the investment before the season in several players -- including defenders Dante and Javi Martinez, and striker Mario Mandzukic who all started tonight -- had paid off. "The players have been a bulls-eye success," Heynckes said. The 68-year-old German never mentioned his Spanish successor by name despite repeated questions referring to him after the final. But he was clear in outlining the challenge facing Guardiola at Bayern. "You have to lead a team, a group, and you have to be very sensitive, very tactful with very high-calibre footballers," Heynckes said. "Today with the environment, the media, the expectations, it is incredibly difficult." Saturdays win means Guardiolas first shot at a trophy with Bayern will be the UEFA SuperCup in August against Europa League winner Chelsea -- and a likely chance to renew his rivalry with Jose Mourinho. The outgoing Real Madrid coach is expected to return to Chelsea next month. But whats next for Heynckes? Former Bayern midfielder Michael Ballack thinks Heynckes still has much to offer in football -- and he will be in even greater demand after replicating his 1998 Champions League triumph with Real Madrid. "The Bundesliga is an option or Real Madrid, but it must be a special club otherwise it makes no sense," Ballack said at Wembley. ' ' '