By Elias Esquivel, University of Oregon SOJC Track Bureau
On a night with four finals and Allyson Felix coming out of retirement to run the 4×400 relay heats after only a week, Day Nine of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 was capped off with the fan favorite 4×100-meter relays. It’s safe to say nothing went as expected, as is the nature of track and field.
THE WOMEN
The familiar air horns emanating from the Jamaican fans were blaring through Hayward Field moments before the beginning of the women’s 4×100-meter relay final on Saturday night at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
After all, the Jamaicans had swept the 100m with relative ease. There was plenty for their fans to be excited about — Jamaica had the fastest set of sprinters in the world with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson. They were clear favorites and whispers began that the world record could be threatened.
Those whispers ended rather quickly.
On the second leg, the United States’ Abby Steiner, the NCAA 200m champion, ran a blistering split, clocking in at 9.86 seconds. It was just enough to create separation among the field; all Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry had to do was hold on.
As Prandini handed the baton to Terry, Hayward Field reached a fever pitch. Jackson, who became the second-fastest woman in history across 200m just days before, was in hot pursuit.
Perhaps the fans in attendance provided an extra boost for Terry. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first world championships held in the United States. Or, maybe, it was some of the cliche Hayward Magic at full display. Whatever the case, Terry fended off Jackson as the stadium erupted, despite running her anchor leg .22 slower.
The air horns may have been loud and proud prior to the race, but at its conclusion they were replaced by a boisterous home-crowd releasing an effervescent chorus of U-S-A.
Melissa Jefferson, Steiner, Prandini and Terry won gold in 41.14 seconds, setting a new world-lead and edging the Jamaicans by .04. Germany finished with bronze in 42.03. It was the United States’ eighth gold medal in the event. They have won five of the last nine world championships.
“You can have the four fastest women, but if you don’t have chemistry and the baton doesn’t move through the exchange zones, then what are you doing?” said Terry. “Chemistry was an important part and trusting one another that everybody will do their part.”
The United States never trailed in the race. Jefferson, who finished eighth in the women’s 100, exploded out the blocks, reaching the exchange zone first. On the backstretch, Steiner created a .34 gap on Thompson-Herah, the bronze medalist in the 100. Fraser-Pryce, the 100 world champion, gained some meters on Prandini on the curve, while Germany’s Gina Lückenkemper moved her team from fifth to third.
In the end, Jackson couldn’t make up the .26 deficit on the last leg.
“I really wanted to get it through in the first place,” said Jackson. “Unfortunately, we came (up) with a silver medal.”
The U.S. women were all business. The tone was set by Jefferson before the gun ever went off.
As she was introduced, there were no waves to the crowd or a smile for the cameras.
“The 100 didn’t really go as I wanted it to,” said Jefferson. “Knowing that I had another chance to walk away from this world championships with something — that was the main thing I told myself.”
It marked the first gold medal on the global stage for Prandini, a former Duck and veteran of the group. She says they heard all the chatter leading up to the race.
“Social media, the predictions, all that stuff is just people talking,” said Prandini. “Everyone has their opinions of who they think is gonna win, but we were confident that we could do it.”
THE MEN
Unlike the U.S. women’s team, the U.S. men’s team was highly favored to win gold. They enjoyed a thunderous welcome, while the air horns for Jamaica were noticeably quieter. The women’s upset had set the stage for yet another U.S. sweep, and the home crowd was aching for it to happen.
They must have forgotten this is the men’s team. It’s never quite that simple with them.
The United States’ Christian Coleman reached the exchange zone first out the blocks. On his handoff to Noah Lyles, the 200m world champion and American record holder, glimpses of past collapses began to peak through on the shaky handoff.
Lyles’ handoff to Elijah Hall was solid, but Hall’s exchange with anchor Marvin Bracy-Wiliams brought all those unpleasant memories for the United States to the forefront. Despite leading, a sloppy exchange that left Hall tumbling to the ground was enough to help Canada’s Andre De Grasse surpass Bracy-Williams on the homestretch and secure gold in 37.48, a new world lead.
“Of course we wanted gold,” said Lyles. “This is a really good team, but we didn’t get to show the best of our ability.”
The United States won its 11th medal overall in the event in 37.55 and Great Britain finished with bronze in 37.83.
For Canada, it marked their first gold medal in the relay since 1997.
“We spoke about this moment so many times, waiting for the gold medal,” said De Grasse, who dropped out of the 200m after not feeling himself due to a bout with Covid recently. “It feels good to get it done, and we are hoping for more in the future.”
The finish wasn’t quite as ugly for the United States as it was in Tokyo, where they failed to advance past the semifinal due to similar exchange issues. However, it seemed like this was the year where they would finally put to rest the stretch of underwhelming performances.
After all, the team hired a new relays coach, Mike Marsh, and Lyles said this year they had practiced the hand-offs more than any other year, and that the team was comfortable.
Even though 100m champion Fred Kerley was replaced due to injury, Lyles did say on June 14, “I’ve been saying this for years: when I’m on the relay, we ain’t losing. Point blank. And we might break the record, just saying.”
Big talk, and not quite the result they wanted.
