Something doesn’t quite add up. Noah Lyles, fresh off his wedding break, returned to the track and led Team USA to a blazing 4x100m relay win at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in 37.78s just three days ago. Sha’Carri Richardson was right there too, helping the women’s team clinch gold in 41.70s. But just 3 days later, both their names were missing from the entry lists for the World Athletics Relays. Coincidence or is there more to the story?

On April 21, World Athletics released the confirmed entries, and the biggest names are missing from the US relay squads.

In the men’s 4×100m, the lineup includes Pjai Austin, Ronnie Baker, Brandon Carnes, Kyree King, and Courtney Lindsey. Notably, Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman are not part of the squad this time. That feels even bigger when looking back at last year’s success at the World Athletics Championships.

In 2025 at the World Champs, in the men’s 4×100m final, the USA won gold in 37.29. The team included Christian Coleman on the first leg, Fred Kerley on the second, Courtney Lindsey on the third, and Noah Lyles on the anchor leg.

After that win, Lyles said, “We all know we are the fastest. We just had to get the baton from start to finish.”

This time, only Courtney Lindsey returns to the World Relays from that winning group. But rest…nowhere.

This feels like a repeat from 2025, when Noah had skipped the World Relays and shown up straight at the Monaco Diamond League in July. The last time Lyles was seen at the World Relays was in 2024, when he helped the USA win gold in the 4x100m relay. But what’s even more surprising is that another star is absent on the women’s side.

In the women’s 4×100m relay 2026, Semira Killebrew, Jadyn Mays, Samirah Moody, and Jada Mowatt appear among the names. This is a major change compared to 2025, when the USA won world gold with Sha’Carri Richardson, Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry and Gabrielle Thomas running together in the final.

Even in the mixed 4×100m relay, the entries include Max Thomas, Elija Godwin, Paris Peoples, and E’Lexis Hollis. Also, in the 4×400m relay squads, the US entries feature Ryce Deadmon, Brian Faust, Lance Lang, and Jenoah McKiver, along with Karimah Davis and Bailey Lear on the women’s side. So while the USA still brings depth across all relay events, the big story is the absence of star names.

This comes while the memories of last year, when the USA faced a big heartbreak at the World Athletics Relays in the men’s 4×100m relay, haven’t faded. While Lyles remained absent, sure, the US ran a strong race but still fell behind South Africa, which won in 37.61, while the USA finished in 37.66.

After last year’s narrow loss and last season’s world gold moments, a younger group now steps into the spotlight, carrying the pressure for Team USA on the global stage. But will they be able to make the USA proud once again in relay history?

Amid Noah Lyles’ absence, USA relays face questions after Paris mistake

At the World Athletics Relays, the United States has been the most successful nation, winning around 27 gold medals and 38 total medals overall. No other country has matched that record. But relays have also shown how quickly things can go wrong, even with the fastest athletes.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, the men’s 4×100m relay was a clear example. The USA entered with a strong group, including Christian Coleman, Kenneth Bednarek, Fred Kerley and Courtney Lindsey in different combinations. But the race fell apart early. The baton exchange between Coleman and Bednarek was not clean, and Bednarek had to adjust his run inside the exchange zone. That mistake led to a rule violation, and the USA were disqualified from the race.

On March 18, 2026, USA Track & Field made a big deciiosn that the country will not send men’s or women’s 4×400m relay teams to the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone. The reason given includes athlete availability, cost of full team travel, and a focus on preparing for the 2027-2028 cycle.

Jay Holder, USATF Chief Content and Communications Officer said, “A lot of our A-team athletes have expressed that they are not interested in competing in this event.”

He added, “Financial costs of sending B or even C teams to Botswana is really significant. We just feel like there’s potentially a better use of resources for programming for those relay teams that we can drive those funds towards for our medal goals for 2027 and 2028…”

Now, with new entry lists showing changes in the squad and some big names missing, the question returns again. Can USA fix those small errors and turn their depth and speed into another strong relay performance? Only time will tell!