Madness in 4x100m relay: Americans drop the baton; Canadian men and women advance to final

Going into the women’s 4x100m heats, there was one thing for certain: that the Americans were a lock for the final and almost certainly assured a medal. After all, the 2012 team set the world record in 40.82 and were the heavy favourite to repeat in Rio.

A crucial mistake costs the #USA 4x100m women’s relay team a spot in the final. #Rio2016 https://t.co/hoeFNj9ou7 https://t.co/NANgdOAxRZ

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 18, 2016

That all came to a crashing end in the second exchange zone. Veteran Allyson Felix entered the zone with the baton and struggled to get it to the awaiting runner, English Gardner, who began her sprint. Felix realized that she would not be able to make a clean exchange, and in desperation, threw the baton at Gardner’s hand. That didn’t pan out well, as the baton bounced off of Gardner’s trailing hand, and onto the track. Both athletes came to a halt, and stared at each other in disbelief. Finally, Gardner ran back several metres to find the baton and ran it in.

Felix seems to have been clipped by the Brazilian athlete to her right as she comes into the zone, which explains why she slowed so quickly. Officials agreed, and the Brazilian team has been disqualified.

Now, the Americans will get a chance to rerun their heat, hoping to do better than the time 42.70 the Chinese team has, sitting tied with Canada for the final spot in the finals. Only eight teams are in an Olympic 4x100m final, although there are nine lanes on the Rio track. The Chinese team are in very real danger of losing their spot in the finals.

The American 4x100m relay team gets their heat re-run at 7 p.m. ET.

The Men’s 4x100m heats

#CAN men’s 4×100 relay team finishes 3rd in the heat, qualifies for the final at #Rio2016 https://t.co/hoeFNj9ou7 https://t.co/SYPlm0uX0U

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 18, 2016

Meanwhile, the Canada’s just qualified on time and took the seventh spot in the final. Farah Jacques, Crystal Emmanuel, Phylicia George and Khamica Bingham ran a season’s best of 42.70.

On the men’s side, the 4x100m team also got through to the final, running a solid third place in their heat. Akeem Haynes, Brendon Rodney, Aaron Brown and Bolade Ajomale locked up a spot with a 37.89. It’s almost certain that Andre DeGrasse will take one of those spots for the final to improve the team’s chances at winning a medal.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	JAMAICA	JAM	41.79 Q	SB	0.165
2	GREAT BRITAIN & N.I.	GBR	41.93 Q		0.133
3	UKRAINE	UKR	42.49 Q	SB	0.151
4	CANADA	CAN	42.70 q	SB	0.141
5	PR OF CHINA	CHN	42.70 q		0.165
6	NETHERLANDS	NED	42.88		0.177
7	POLAND	POL	43.33		0.146
8	GHANA	GHA	43.37		0.134

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	GERMANY	GER	42.18 Q		0.158
2	NIGERIA	NGR	42.55 Q	SB	0.144
3	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	TTO	42.62 Q	SB	0.149
4	FRANCE	FRA	43.07		0.141
5	SWITZERLAND	SUI	43.12		0.165
	KAZAKHSTAN	KAZ	DQ R 163.3a		0.161
	BRAZIL	BRA	DQ R 163.2b		0.160

*Note: the U.S. team have been awarded a rerun of their heat (heat 2) and their result has yet to be listed.

Men’s 4x100m Heats

HEAT 1

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	UNITED STATES	USA	37.65 Q	SB	0.194
2	PR OF CHINA	CHN	37.82 Q	AR	0.151
3	CANADA	CAN	37.89 Q	SB	0.152
4	TURKEY	TUR	38.30	NR	0.165
5	FRANCE	FRA	38.35	SB	0.157
6	ANTIGUA & BARBUDA	ANT	38.44	SB	0.156
7	SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS	SKN	39.81		0.151
	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	DOM	DQ R 162.7

HEAT 2

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK		REACTION TIME
1	JAPAN	JPN	37.68 Q	AR	0.144
2	JAMAICA	JAM	37.94 Q	SB	0.159
3	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	TTO	37.96 Q	SB	0.134
4	GREAT BRITAIN & N.I.	GBR	38.06 q		0.153
5	BRAZIL	BRA	38.19 q	SB	0.163
6	GERMANY	GER	38.26		0.155
7	CUBA	CUB	38.47		0.184
8	NETHERLANDS	NED	38.53		0.143