The German women's relay broke the medal spell at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene and surprisingly secured bronze in the 4x100 m.
Tatjana Pinto (Wattenscheid), Alexandra Burghardt (Burghausen), Gina Lückenkemper (Berlin) and Rebekka Haase (Wetzlar) were only beaten by the USA (41.14) and Jamaica (41.18) in 42.03 seconds.
Most recently, the sprinters had also won bronze at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009.
Last runner Haase was able to fend off the attack of Nigerian Nzubechi Nwokocha on the home stretch.
"I was stunned and almost ran the entire straight with her at that pace," said teammate Lückenkemper on ZDF.
“Simply because there was so much adrenaline in the body.
Finally!"
"We are really looking forward to it"
However, the German team also benefited from the fact that the British top runner Dinah Asher-Smith was injured in the third leg, so the co-favorites only finished sixth.
"We've been trying to get there for years, today luck was on our side.
We're really looking forward to it.
It feels like a dream right now, I hope I don't wake up," said start runner Pinto.
The USA surprisingly prevailed against the Jamaican star ensemble with the individual world champions Sherry-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.
The Canadians surprisingly won the men's final in 37.48 seconds ahead of the top favorites from the USA (37.55) and Great Britain (37.83).
The German squadron was eliminated in the run-up.