Returning to the track 71/2 hours after they left, the team of Bartoletta, Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun finished in a time of 41.77 seconds to bump China out of the last spot in the final.
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The U.S. women’s 4×100 relay dropped the baton on the second exchange on Thursday in the qualifying heats, knocking them out of the final.
She picked the baton up and told Gardner to keep running-even though they finished 10 seconds after the other teams in the heat, the fact that the us logged a finishing time allowed them to protest, and have the opportunity for a re-run.
The USA dropped the baton on the second exchange on Thursday morning in the qualifying heats, knocking them out of the final.
Brazil was disqualified for obstruction and global track-and-field governing body worldwide Association of Athletics Federations upheld the Americans’ appeal.
“I just felt contact and it tripped me up”, Felix explained to reporters. In a historical appeal though, the US was able to secure a retrial and the Brazilian team has been disqualified, USA Today reports. Beating that time would also lead to a second time trial between the teams for China and Canada, which both qualified for the final with times of 42.70, the International Association of Athletics Federations said in a statement.
“I didn’t want to bump anyone out of a slot but then again we were impeded”.
The women will re-run the race by themselves on the track. So far this season, the best recorded time for the Americans is 42.61.
The baton fell to the ground in lane 4; at Felix’s request, Gardner eventually picked it up and the USA ran the final two legs, crossing the finish line in just under 2 minutes in last place. “One time a photographer was leaning over a lane to get a picture and a Saddle Brook kid tried to avoid him and went down”.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce anchored the Jamaicans to victory in the first heat in 41.79, opening the door for Elaine Thompson to sweep the sprint medals at the Rio Olympics.
According to ESPN, the USA will not have any competitors on the track during the re-run, and the International Association of Athletics Federations said they’ll need to run faster than 42.70 seconds to bump China from the final.
For a few short moments, the US women’s 4×100 relay team was a little like Bolt: They were the only ones everyone was looking at.
Brazil was disqualified but did not make the final.
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“Before we came out our coach said it was just like a practice with the whole world watching”, a relieved Gardner said after the one-off.
