The American men’s relay teams have suffered another upset due to a bad handoff, costing them a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The Canadians won the gold medal with a time of 37.48, leaving the Americans trailing with a time of 37.55.
The bad handoff occurred between the runner of the third leg, Elijah Hall, and anchor Marvin Bracy. Hall failed to pass the baton to Bracy cleanly, which resulted in Bracy having to reach low to grab the baton while wasting precious time.
This handoff failure comes after a similar occurrence at the 2022 Olympics. In that race, the US men were unable to even make it out of the preliminary heats, placing sixth in the heat and leaving them unable to move on. This was because of a slow start and a handoff mistake between the 2nd and 3rd runners.
The loss in that race was attributed to a lack of chemistry between the runners and not enough practice in passing the baton. Carl Lewis, one of the most decorated American men’s track athletes of all time, tweeted that “The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay.”
It seems as though the same mistakes were also the reason for the World Athletics Championship handoff error as well.
Hopefully, the men’s team will find a way to improve on their handoffs and win a gold medal in the future.
The bad handoff occurred between the runner of the third leg, Elijah Hall, and anchor Marvin Bracy. Hall failed to pass the baton to Bracy cleanly, which resulted in Bracy having to reach low to grab the baton while wasting precious time.
This handoff failure comes after a similar occurrence at the 2022 Olympics. In that race, the US men were unable to even make it out of the preliminary heats, placing sixth in the heat and leaving them unable to move on. This was because of a slow start and a handoff mistake between the 2nd and 3rd runners.
The loss in that race was attributed to a lack of chemistry between the runners and not enough practice in passing the baton. Carl Lewis, one of the most decorated American men’s track athletes of all time, tweeted that “The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay.”
It seems as though the same mistakes were also the reason for the World Athletics Championship handoff error as well.
Hopefully, the men’s team will find a way to improve on their handoffs and win a gold medal in the future.
