At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, the US women’s 4×400-meter relay team endured a stunning disqualification after anchor Alexis Holmes received the baton outside the legal zone. Track and field star Quanera Hayes made several desperate attempts before the pass was finally completed, but the error cost the team both the race and its reputation for reliability in the longer relay. For a program that had captured seven of the previous eight world titles in the event, it was a sobering reminder that even the most secure American stronghold was not immune to baton trouble.   

Two years later, Paris delivered a much brighter memory. In the 2025 Olympic final of the women’s 4×100 relay, Sha’Carri Richardson powered past Germany and Great Britain on the anchor leg to secure gold for Team USA. The quartet of Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Twanisha Terry, and Melissa Jefferson stopped the clock at 41.78, a mark that not only held off Europe’s best but also added to the Americans’ historic tally of 12 Olympic titles in the event. Yet even in triumph, the race was not free from tension. Thomas’s exchange with Richardson wavered on the brink of mishap, leaving questions about whether old problems were again emerging.

Those doubts resurfaced this season when a short clip shared by track enthusiast Travis Miller showed Tamara Clark and Jacious Sears practicing baton exchanges ahead of the World Championships. The rehearsal again exposed inconsistencies, with the baton transfer appearing labored and poorly timed. It was enough to prompt former coach Mechelle Lewis Freeman to weigh in publicly. L Freeman has spoken directly to the matter, emphasizing both science and precision in an area too often left to instinct. “Putting tape on the track sounds simple, until you realize it takes a formula to put it in the right place. That’s the science of the baton speed. From there you coach the execution. That’s the art…” she explained. Her perspective underscores why the United States, despite its unmatched depth of talent, has remained vulnerable in races decided by marks, timing, and mechanics.

Freeman further outlined how systemic limitations affect American teams. “At the elite level every sec counts. It’s about maximizing. Not guessing. Especially with little to no practice time,” she said. Unlike other nations, where the same runners are selected year after year, the United States often rotates its relay squads based on trials results. As Freeman noted, “The other countries have the same people making the team year over year. They get more time to run together. The USA have different athletes making the team each year so the relay changes more. Our selection process limits our practice time with the exact athletes.”

This cycle of inconsistency was visible again in 2025 at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, when the mixed 4×100 team faltered in the second exchange between Jada Mowatt and Kendal Williams. The failed pass ended their medal chances and revived memories of Tokyo’s contested mixed relay, where an appeal was required to keep the Americans in the final. While the women’s 4×400 squad steadied itself in China, the broader pattern has been one of uneven results and recurring tension at critical junctures.

Freeman’s remarks describe a clear formula: “It’s a formula I had been working on to perfect, considering the incoming runner’s max velocity by the time they hit the zone and the outgoing runner’s time to accelerate to the chosen meet-up point in the zone. (20 meters for example). That’s the art of the execution: accurate mark reading, consistent/aggressive acceleration pattern, and sound pass mechanics. Those three things.” For the United States track and field team, a nation that has too often allowed baton passes to define championship outcomes, the return of a structured approach may determine whether Paris marked a turning point or a temporary reprieve. Amid this, the United States men’s relay team once again faltered in Paris, reigniting criticism from track legend Carl Lewis over decades of failed baton exchanges. 

Carl Lewis blasted the system as the USA men’s relay woes stretch into the third decade

The men’s 4x100m relay at the Paris Games concluded in an all too familiar fashion for the United States. Once again, the baton proved more formidable than the opposition, and the disqualification that followed stretched a two-decade pattern of missed opportunities. What should have been an occasion to restore prestige instead offered another chapter in a recurring chronicle of mishaps by the track and field team.

The decisive moment arrived in the opening exchange, where Christian Coleman and Kenney Bednarek lost precision in the transfer. The hesitation forced their connection beyond the designated zone, leading to immediate disqualification. Coleman later remarked, “This is part of the sport. This is a risk versus reward type of thing and it’s something that just happens.” His words reflected the resignation of an athlete accustomed to both triumph and turbulence; yet, the setback resonated more broadly as another failure to harness immense individual talent.

For track legend Carl Lewis, the frustration could not be contained. Writing in stark terms, he declared, “It is time to blow up the system. This continues to be completely unacceptable.” His criticism underscored the long-standing concerns that USA Track and Field had neglected the discipline of relay running, relying on raw speed while overlooking the mechanics of cohesion. With Canada, South Africa, and Great Britain stepping onto the podium, the United States remained mired in a narrative that has now persisted for twenty years, one that even the presence of champions could not rewrite.