From the gun, hurdler Tatyana Ledovskaya looked to have a slight lead over former high school athlete Denean Howard.
Just as she had done in the hurdles, Ledovskaya tied up a bit on the final straight, Howard put the US in first at the handoff with a 49.8 out of starting blocks.
At the end of the turn, Griffith-Joyner looked to gain a little but Bryzhina sensed the attack and accelerated away, widening the gap slightly.
She was able to close down the gap to 2 metres by the finish but it was a clear win for the Soviets in their final appearance in an Olympic relay.
As it turned out, both Nazarova and Bryzhina tied Taťána Kocembová for the third fastest relay splits in history to that point in time with 47.8.
Only four squads from 1988 to 2023, all American Olympic or world championship teams, had since beaten the East German time from a distant third place in this race.