On the final night of the World Relays from Nassau in the Bahamas, Team USA could not be stopped. They went 4 for 4 in finals, and the men’s 4×4 squad, which had been DQ’d the night before, came out on top in their repechage round.
With Olympic qualifying out of the way for the finalists, having earned that right the night before, these races were all about bragging rights and and confidence going into Paris.
The first final of the night was the mixed 4x400m relay, and the team of Matthew Boling, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Willington Wright, and Kendall Ellis came through the finish line in a Championship Record time of 3:10.73. The Netherlands and Ireland filled out the podium, with the Irish contingent winning in a national record time. Team USA won the day by running wire-to-wire in a tight race, with Kendall Ellis holding off a surging Femke Bol off the final turn, hammering a superior final kick to earn the gold.
Next up was the women’s 4x100m, with Tamari Davis, Gabby Thomas, Celera Barnes, and Melissa Jefferson also running a Championship Record time of 41.85 seconds to give the USA its second gold medal on the night. With three clean exchanges, Barnes got the baton to Jefferson with a nice lead and she took off, unable to be caught. France finished nearly a second behind for second, and an ecstatic Great Britain squad earned the bronze medal on the evening.
The men’s 4x100m was next on the schedule. Much like their compatriots before them, the team of Courtney Lindsey, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree Kind, and Noah Lyles ate up the track just faster than the night before, and came away with the top finish in 37.40 seconds, a world leading time. Lyles called out, “Who’s gonna stop us,” after the finish following a second night in a row with a clean relay. When that happens, it is tough to consider another team could come out on top. As noted at the top, confidence going into Paris is partially the name of the game here. Andre de Grasse ran the anchor leg for the runner-up Canadian team, with Italy filling out the podium in third.
The USA’s fourth gold on the night came in the women’s 4x400m. Quanera Hayes, Gabby Thomas, Bailey Lear, and Alexis Holmes finished three seconds ahead of the silver medal team from Poland, earning the top spot on the night with a world leading 3:21.70. Thomas joined the 4×4 team after having won gold with the 4×1 squad just 20 minutes earlier. The story of this race was summed up by the commentating remark, “The USA are simply unstoppable.” Much like the mixed relay, than handoffs were close in the first exchange, but after that the USA women never looked back. After receiving the baton from Hayes, Thomas commanded through her leg, then Lear and Holmes were unchallenged through to the finish. Team Canada finished in third.
The only final of the night not to include a team from the USA was the men’s 4x400m. Letsile Tebogo and the team from Botswana ran a world leading time of 2:59.11, followed by South Africa in second and Belgium in third.
Before the finals started, the Olympic qualifying repechage rounds took place. All eyes were on the 4x400m team from the USA, as they had finished first in their heat the night before, but were disqualified for exchanging positions before takeover. With a spot in the Olympics on the line, Champion Allison, Jacory Patterson, Bryce Deadmon, and Christopher Bailey ran their best time of the season, finishing in 2:59.95, coming away with the victory in the race and an Olympic berth for Team USA in the 4x400m.
Also in the repechage rounds, Joseph Fahnbulleh ran an absolute monster anchor leg in the 4x100m to thrust Liberia into the final Olympic qualifying spot. The team from Liberia ran a national record 38.65. Receiving the baton in near last position, Fahnbulleh ran down the field and out-leaned the Swiss anchor by thousandths of a second.
Full results from the World Relays are available here from World Athletics
