“And look at Nene. Benjamin’s driving for the line. What a finish. They’re all closing. The American might be caught. Botswana by a whisker.” U.S. domination is broken, and history is made for Botswana, as they’re crowned the new 4x400m relay champions! Letsile Tebogo had been DQed from the 100m and then finished 4th in the 200, but he sure was not letting a gold medal slide away from him in the 4x400m, especially after that terrific performance in the heats. Clocking 2:57.68 in the heats, Lee Bhekempilo Eppie, Leungo Scotch, Tebogo, and Bayapo Ndori made sure that they entered the finals as the fastest team. And now, they have had a final so good that even the rain gods decided to watch.

It was raining heavily in Tokyo today when it was time for the 4x400m relay; the people watching at home would know how the raindrops were more visible on camera than the athletes. After qualifying by beating Kenya in their re-race, the U.S. changed its team for the finals today; They drafted Vernon Norwood in, the athlete who had never lost a global 4x400m relay final. Jacory Patterson was brought in too, as well as the 400m hurdles world champion Rai Benjamin, who was made the anchor. And Khaleb McRae was handed the role to lead the third leg.

But when the race ended, the results flashed, 2:57.76-Botswana. 2:57.83- USA. South Africa was third in 2:57.83. Yes, the USA lost the World 4×400 mens relay crown they had never relinquished since the 2019 Worlds. And only once since the 2005 Worlds. But how?

Norwood gave the best start that he could, but his lane was flooded. Even the commentator pointed out the amount of water accumulated. About 3 inches deep. But despite the challenge, when Jacory Patterson took on the baton, he did not disappoint.  The 400m Diamond League Champion took the lead within seconds of receiving the baton, and challenging him was Letsile Tebogo right behind. Patterson ran the fastest split for the U.S. in the race, clocking a time of 44.22s. Even though Tebogo was right on his shoulder (44.05), he couldn’t give Botswana the league.

The U.S. clung to its lead as anchor Benjamin started his leg, only relinquishing it in the final few meters when Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi surged to the finish line in first. A season best for the U.S. team that could only guarantee them the silver. On the other hand, Botswana became the first ever African country to win the gold in a 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Championships. After the race, they celebrated in front of the crowd with high-knees. And why wouldn’t they, they ran such a beautiful race.

Lee Bhekempilo Eppie set the pace on the opening leg with 45.16, before Letsile Tebogo clocked the fastest leg of the entire race. Bayapo Ndori kept the momentum on third with 44.41, and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi made sure the gold is his today with a 44.14 on the anchor. Tebogo’s performance is also so good because he is fighting an injury and had not run a 4x400m relay this season before coming to Tokyo. For the USA, Vernon battled the rain in 44.60, while Patterson and McRae (44.61) gave their best. Rai Benjamin was not slow either with her 44.40s in the anchor, but this time the 4x400m just did not belong to the USA.

Rai Benjamin was not looking to run the relay

In the mixed zone, Rai was asked about how he felt about the race, to which he said, “Uh, I was feeling good till that last 100. I think that’s when everything just kind of set in on me. Uh, like I said, like crazy 24 hours. I didn’t really find out. We’re running until this morning, actually. Um, so in my head, I was pretty much done, you know. So I had a pretty late night and uh I if you could imagine and uh got the call this morning and in in my head I was like damn like I can’t leave these guys out here like that and uh I I got to I got to show up for these guys.” The USA faced trouble in the 4×400m heats without top runners Norwood, Patterson, and Benjamin. Christopher Bailey, Demarius Smith, Bryce Deadmon, and Jenoah McKiver ran instead. Bailey handed off 5th to Smith, who gained ground, but Zambia’s baton change impeded the Americans.

The team fell to seventh, and by the final exchange with McKiver, they were last, finishing 6th in 3:01.06, just ahead of France (3:01.64) and Zambia (3:01.71). USATF appealed for obstruction; Zambia was disqualified. Later, World Athletics ruled that the USA and Kenya had been impeded, granting a re-run for a place in the final. Benjamin also spoke out against the online criticism for the USA and said, “These guys work hard to be here, you know, so just to see them shake back and like a lot of people didn’t see what was going on behind the scenes on our end…we weren’t really told… 1:00 we’re running…Yeah, I can’t thank those guys enough. Like, if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here right now.” Sure, they ran a poor race in the heats.

But it was Christopher Bailey, Demarius Smith, Bryce Deadmon, and Jenoah McKiver who only clocked 2:58.48 in the rerun, the fourth fastest time of all relays, making sure of the qualification. “I was done. Like, I was like pretty much done. I’m not going to lie. In my head, we got Yeah, we got we were we were out and uh you know, as you can imagine, like that to me, like that kind of spelled the end of a world championship,” Rai Benjamin said. He fought a DQ scare to win the 400m hurdle World Championships final, clocking 46.52. And once he learned the US team was out after the finals, he was pretty much done. How was your initial reaction to that moment?