Chicago’s Shamier Little strikes gold in the 4×400 relay — the last race on the track of the Paris Olympics

PARIS — Chicago’s Shamier Little has ended these Summer Games just like she started them: with an Olympic medal and a record-setting run.

Little won gold Saturday with the U.S. women’s 4×400 relay team, which crossed the finish line in 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds to break a North American record. The Americans’ time was just 0.1 seconds off the world and Olympic record set by the Soviet Union in 1988.

The women cut such a punishing pace that the second-place Dutch team finished 4.23 seconds behind.

After the win, Little became emotional as she took a victory lap with teammates Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes.

“It was just everything,” Little said. “It was seeing my family, it was soaking up the moment and all the hard work that I put in.”

Little, 29, led off the relay, a reflection of the quick, consistent times she put down in her three earlier races in Paris. The decision to put her first was still somewhat unexpected given she had run the second leg in her other relays here and she never had led off at a senior international competition.

Still, she posted the fastest lap in the first leg, finishing in 49.48 seconds.

“I’m comfortable running first. I ran first all through college,” she said. “When I was told I was first, I was like, ‘OK, I’m back to my roots.’ I was excited about it.”

Her opening leg bolstered the team’s confidence as it continued to build on her lead, said Holmes, who anchored the relay.

“With relays you never want to celebrate too early because anything can happen,” Holmes said. “But once I saw Sham run, I was like, ‘We’re good,’ because she did what she had to do.”

Little will leave Paris with a gold and silver medal, as well as a world and North American record.

A week ago, she won a silver medal with the mixed relay team, providing blistering legs in both the qualifying and final races. The American squad set a world record during its preliminary heat, which Little told reporters was as good as gold.

It was a dream ending for the Lindblom Math and Science Academy graduate , who had begun to question whether she ever would realize her Olympic dream after failing to make the team as a hurdler. When she finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. trials in June, it looked like she would miss out on yet another Summer Games.

However, she was named to the U.S. relay pool a few weeks before the Paris Games and she vowed to make the most of her opportunity.

And she did.