TOKYO — The United States has an unfortunate history in the relay races at the Olympics, and on Friday night the mixed 4×400-meter team became part of that lore.
After winning Heat 1 in the debut of the event at the Games, the gold medal favorites were disqualified for an exchange zone foul on the first handoff, from Elijah Godwin to Lynna Irby. Irby was lined up beyond the legal exchange zone to receive the baton; the blue line for her to line up properly is about two yards before the finish line, and she was 20 meters farther down the track.
The United States appealed the decision, reportedly claiming that one of the officials lined Irby up in the wrong spot. However, it was obvious that Irby was not where she was supposed to be, and it stands to reason someone as experienced in relays as she is likely would have noticed, too.
American sprinting icon Michael Johnson, who is here as a commentator with BBC Sports, tweeted that he and others with the network noticed officials incorrectly line up two runners in the second heat, but those runners got themselves into proper position in time so they did not have a violation.
There was no decision on the appeal as of this writing. If a decision is made in USA’s favor, we may see a repeat of 2016, when the American women’s 4×100 team was disqualified after a bad exchange and dropping the baton. On appeal, it was agreed that Allyson Felix had been impeded by a Brazilian runner that bumped her, and the DQ was overturned. The…
