Four Team USA Squads Earn Olympic Qualifiers, Advance through Heats at World Relays; Men’s 4×4 Gets DQ’d

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At the World Relays in the Bahamas, four of the Team USA squads advanced to the finals with relative ease, while the men’s 4x400m team was disqualified in the heats.

First up on the evening was the mixed 4x400m relay. Matthew Boling, Lynna Erby-Jackson, Ryan Willie, and Kendall Ellis finished the relay in first position (in their heat and overall), setting a championship record with a time of 3:11.52. In the overall results, the Netherlands and Ireland filled out the top-3. In a surprise, the team from Great Britain and Nothern Ireland did not advance to the finals. Though their time overall (3:13.52) was good enough for 5th overall, they finished third in their heat, and only the top-2 teams from each heat advanced.

Next on the schedule was the women’s 4×100. Much like the mixed 4×4, Team USA advanced through the heat in top position overall. Tamari Davis, Celera Barnes, Melissa Jefferson, and Gabby Thomas blazed to a 42.21 second victory. Groups from Great Britain and Germany rounded out the top-3.

For the men’s 4×100, Courtney Lindsey, Kyree King, Noah Lyles, and Kenny Bednarek set a world leading time of 37.49 seconds, also running the top spot on the night.

Quanera Hayes, Na’Asha Robinson, Alexa Holmes, and Bailey Lear were up next for the women in the 4x400m. They finished first in their heat, but second overall, with a time of 3:24.76. The squad from Ireland finished first overall and Great Britain in third.

The final race of the evening was the men’s 4x400m relay. Though they won their heat on time, the team received a disqualifying mark for exchanging positions before takeover. They will be able to run an Olympic qualifier in this evening’s repechage round, or earn their way in by world ranking. The 4×4 team on the evening was made up of Christopher Bailey, Bryce Deadmon, Champion Allison, and Jacory Patterson.

Full results and schedule of events is available here from World Athletics.

Coverage for this evening’s World Relays event will be broadcast on Peacock and CNBC starting at 7pm ET in the United States. To see how you can watch from your country, click here for the official listing from World Athletics.