BUDAPEST, Hungary – They are humans running so fast that baton exchanges in the 4×100-meter relay are track and field’s version of balance beam or triple Axel. Mistakes are not only common, but inevitable.
Unlike gymnasts and skaters, though, sprinters at this level don’t often rehearse. They train in different locations, featuring different plans, calendars, coaches, agents, agendas. When they come together, things fall apart.
And we wonder why Americans can’t make baton passes when it counts.
What happened Saturday night at the World Athletics Championships does count, however.
For just the third time since the inaugural meet in 1983, the United States swept gold medals in men’s and women’s 4×100 relays, sending Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson closer to a mainstream profile on a cluttered sports landscape. The Americans also achieved the feat in 1987 in Rome and 2007 in Osaka.
The one clumsy moment was comical, with jubilant male sprinters rushing to tackle Richardson and sending her sprawling onto the track.
No one, not even Shericka Jackson, was close enough to touch her on the track.
The Americans, with a resplendent Gabby Thomas and passing to anchor Richardson, set a championship record of 41.03 seconds. Before Thomas’ leg around the curve, Jamaica led on the strength of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s searing carry down the straight.
Jackson, coming off Friday’s near-world record in the 200 meters, could not make up a two-meter deficit. That left Jamaica with silver in 41.21, Great Britain with bronze in 41.97.
Richardson, 23, leaves Budapest with three medals: golds in the 100 and 4×100, bronze in the 200. Only four women have ever won more at a single World Championships. Not since 2011, when Allyson Felix had four and Carmelita Jeter three, had a U.S. female sprinter won as many as three world medals.
“I’m proud of myself,” Richardson said. “It feels amazing, along with these ladies, to do what it is we’ve been training to do. No matter what we put out there, we know what we need to do.”
For Thomas, it was her first global gold after two medals at the Tokyo Olympics and silver in the Budapest 200. She shouted encouragement at Richardson after gifting her the lead.
Thomas had not raced in a 4×100 since Tokyo, where the United States was second to Jamaica. She divulged she and Richardson had exchanged the baton exactly once in preparation. The two reportedly quarreled at a team training camp.
“We had one handoff, but the chemistry was there,” Thomas said. “We knew that we both had jobs, and we trusted each other. That was it. We had one handoff, and we made it work.”
First two legs – 20-year-old Tamari Davis and TeeTee Terry – were the same as in the first round, where the Davis/Terry exchange was shaky. Terry is the only holdover from the U.S. quartet that won gold in Eugene, Ore., last year.
“My job was to beat the stagger make sure I get to TeeTee, and I did,” Davis said. “I fixed our little mix-up, and it was gone.”
Fix everything, and it is plausible the world record of 40.82 set by another U.S. team at the 2012 London Olympics could be broken.
Silver for Jackson and Fraser-Pryce padded their worlds medal totals to 11 and 16, respectively. Fraser-Pryce is four away from Felix’s record 20.
At the end of the men’s 4×100, won in 37.38, Lyles held up three fingers to signal the three golds that can hang from his neck.
Italy, with Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, took silver in 37.62 and Jamaica bronze in 37.76.
Lyles, champion at 100 and 200 meters, became the sixth man to win three golds at a single World Championships. Others: Carl Lewis (1983/87); Michael Johnson (1995); Maurice Greene (1999); Tyson Gay (2007); Usain Bolt (2009, 2013, 2015).
“It’s exactly what I wanted to happen,” Lyles said. “I mean, it’s been nice to see. But when you plan for it and execute it, it’s kind of hard to be shocked.”
First three legs were run by Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley, both former world champions at 100 meters. Thus No. 3 runner Brandon Carnes was the only one on the team who hasn’t been a 100-meter world champion.
Both American teams captured their ninth all-time World 4×100 gold medals, with the women winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 2005 and 2007.
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