Day one. May 9. This was supposed to be Team USA’s reset button — a chance to bounce back strong at the World Relays. Instead? It turned into a relay nightmare, and the debut of the mixed 4x100m was the main stage for it. This new event brought chaos and intrigue right from the jump, with a format that goes woman–woman–man–man. It added unpredictability, excitement… and, for Team USA, disaster.

Lining up for the U.S. were Kennedy Blackmon, Jada Mowatt, Kendal Williams, and Pjai Austin. On paper? A powerhouse squad. On the track? Not quite. Things fell apart in Heat 1 during the woman-to-man handoff — specifically, the second exchange from Mowatt to Williams. The baton didn’t just fumble — it hit the rain-soaked track, and by the time Williams recovered, Team USA was out of it. They trailed by over 25 seconds and crossed the line in a stunning 1:05.77. That’s not a typo. From gold medal favorites to fourth place and disqualified — just like that.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world handled business. Italy won the heat in 41.15 seconds, France came second with 41.28, and Switzerland secured the third spot with 41.92. Team USA? Nowhere near. The result left fans confused and stunned at the World Relays. After the race, Kendal Williams stepped up and tried to explain, or at least make sense of it, as shared by Flo Track on Facebook.

“What happened… I saw it, I really can’t tell you to be honest,” Kendal Williams admitted. “I just saw the mark I was supposed to. We’re hoping everything lines up how it does in practice, but sometimes that’s not always the case. You take the good with the bad. You learn and fight another day. It’s our first time doing something like that — a lot of trial and error involved.” Trial and error, for sure — but this one was hard to swallow.

The baton fumble between Mowatt and Williams didn’t just cost them the race — it handed Team USA one of its most shocking relay exits in recent memory. The mixed 4x100m might be new, but for the Americans, the lesson was old: in relays, one bad pass is all it takes to go from favorites to finish-line heartbreak. But this wasn’t the only blow for Team USA.

Another blow for Team USA as men’s 4x400m relay falls short of world relays

May 9 turned into a nightmare for Team USA at the World Relays in Guangzhou. In the men’s 4x400m relay, the U.S. team—Jevon O’Bryant, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner, and Elija Godwin—was expected to qualify for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. But things didn’t go as planned. Lining up in Heat 4, the Americans ran a season-best time of 3:01.23, but it wasn’t enough. Only the top two teams in each heat, plus the next two fastest times overall, earned spots in Tokyo. USA finished third, just outside automatic qualification, leaving the team stunned and their championship hopes hanging in the balance.

France stole the show in that heat, winning in 3:00.30 with Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, Loïc Prévot, David Sombe, and Adrien Coulibaly. Kenya took second in 3:00.88, thanks to Zablon Ekhal Ekwam, Boniface Ontuga Mweresa, Brian Onyari Tinega, and Kevin Kipkorir.

Team USA’s splits were solid: O’Bryant ran 45.72, Lang followed with 45.57, Lightner kept it close at 45.49, and Godwin anchored with an impressive 44.45. Still, it wasn’t enough. Poland came in fourth with 3:02.69, but it’s the U.S. being left out that’s the real shocker. For a country that usually dominates the 4x400m, this was a major letdown in the World Relays.