Rio de Janeiro : Dana Vollmer, America's self-styled "Momma on a mission", delivered again as the United States captured its 1,000th Olympic gold medal with victory in the women’s 4x100m medley relay in Rio.
Vollmer teamed up with backstroker Kathleen Baker, breaststroker Lilly King and freestyle sprinter Simone Manuel to claim victory in Saturday's race in three minutes 53.13 seconds.
Australia, aided by a strong final leg from Cate Campbell, won the silver medal in 3:55.00 while Denmark took the bronze in 3:55.01. Pernille Blume anchored the team less than an hour after winning the 50m freestyle gold to become her country's first Olympic swimming champion since 1948.
The Americans trailed Denmark after the opening leg then Russia at the halfway point before Vollmer gave them a lead they never relinquished.
The 28-year-old, who gave birth to a son last year, added gold to the silver and bronze medals she earned in Rio and the four golds she won at previous Olympics. The US Olympic Committee said the vicoty took United States to 1,000 golds over all Olympic sports.
"That's just so incredibly amazing and it really makes me think about all the generations of Olympic teams and athletes that I've watched and inspiration that I've had," Vollmer said.
"I remember watching my first team in 1996 and seeing Kerri (Strug) in gymnastics and just understanding the dedication and grit when she stood up to do that second vault.
"I just remember knowing that I wanted to do that and represent that."
Manuel won silver behind Blume in the 50m freestyle dash to finish with four medals, including another gold in the 100m free, where she became the first female African-American to win gold in an individual swimming event.
"It's really special and the fact I could do it with a relay is amazing. Just sharing that with three other women, it's the icing on top of the cake," she said.
"We couldn't have done this without the relay swimmers and the coaches. A 1,000th gold for team USA is a nice number."
King also collected her second gold in Rio after winning the individual 100m breaststroke final while Baker bagged her first after taking silver in the 100m backstroke.
Campbell posted the fastest split of any swimmer in the race to lift Australia from sixth to second, providing some consolation for her after a mixed week in the pool.
She won a gold on the opening night of competition in the 4x100m freestyle relay but failed to get on the podium in the 50m and 100m individual events when she was a hot favourite to win both.
"It's been a tough week, there's no denying that but I'm very proud of that swim," Campbell said. "I executed it exactly how I was supposed to do it two nights ago and came away with a very different result."
