For a nation that has long prided itself on relay dominance, the 2025 World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou delivered nothing short of humiliation for Team USA. A single gold medal. That’s all the Americans had to show for a meet they once ruled with confidence and depth. What was supposed to be a statement of resurgence turned into a cautionary tale of chaos, missed exchanges, and underwhelming performances. This wasn’t a stumble. It was a collapse.
The baton exchange once again proved to be Team USA’s Achilles’ heel. Despite entering as clear favorites, the American squads repeatedly fumbled their way out of contention. From high-profile miscommunications to timing errors in the exchange zone, the pattern of failure followed them like a shadow. The final result? A historically low medal count, as even emerging nations like Canada seized the moment to eclipse the U.S. and rewrite the relay script entirely.
NBC Sports director Travis Miller took to X, posting, “After winning 4 out of 5 finals in 2024, just one #WorldRelays gold medal for Team USA in 2025.” A moment of truth for Team USA came on May 10 as they stormed into the mixed 4x100m World Relays with all the confidence of sprinting titans. Olympic champs, gold medalists, the whole nine yards.
After winning 4 out of 5 finals in 2024, just one #WorldRelays gold medal for Team USA in 2025. pic.twitter.com/80UEcvf2KJ
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) May 11, 2025
The quartet, including Jada Mowatt, Kendal Williams, and the powerhouse duo of Kenny Bednarek and Twanisha Terry from Paris 2024, had it all locked up. But in a cruel twist, disaster struck. A slick, rain-soaked track saw the baton drop during the second exchange. An instant 25-second setback and disqualification. And we can’t sugarcoat it because it was indeed an ugly start.
That result set the tone for a rough Day 2 for Team USA. The mixed 4x100m team did not qualify (DNQ) for the final, while the women’s 4x100m team finished 4th and out of medal contention. The men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m squads salvaged some pride, earning second-place finishes. Only the mixed 4x400m team came through with a gold.
The men’s 4x400m team did win their heat to qualify for the 2025 World Championships, but overall, the results were a far cry from the dominance the U.S. showcased just a year ago. Once untouchable in this event, the U.S. has turned Olympic sprint relays into a high-stakes disaster show. Last year in Paris, the curse reared its ugly head once again. Harder and more humiliating than ever.
The latest setback only adds fuel to the fire. It’s been eight months since Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek’s fumbled exchange sent Team USA packing from the men’s 4x100m in Paris. Now, in 2025, history repeats itself in Guangzhou.
Team USA’s World Relays hopes take a major hit
A relay team packed with sprinting elite saw their campaign unravel most dramatically during Heat 1 of the mixed 4x100m. The trouble came during the critical second handoff from Jada Mowatt to Kendal Williams, where the baton didn’t just slip, it crashed to the rain-slicked track. That brief moment spelled disaster. By the time Williams retrieved it, Team USA was more than 25 seconds behind.
They eventually crossed the line in a jaw-dropping 1:05.77. From title favorites to disqualified in the blink of an eye. It was a fall no one saw coming. The collapse was especially painful considering Team USA’s legacy at the World Athletics Relays, where they’ve often reigned supreme in medal counts. But this time, they were nowhere in sight as other nations stepped up.
Italy took the heat in 41.15 seconds, followed closely by France at 41.28 and Switzerland at 41.92, clinching the three qualifying spots. Post-race, Kendal Williams addressed the mishap in a statement shared by FloTrack on Facebook, trying to provide a perspective on a race that left the world stunned. On May 9, the men’s 4x400m squad of Jevon O’Bryant, Lance Lang, Kennedy Lightner, and Elija Godwin ran a season-best 3:01.23 in Heat 4, yet still failed to qualify for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
In a cruel twist, the team finished third in their heat, just missing the automatic qualification and falling short of the time-based cutoff. It simply wasn’t enough. Poland clocked in at 3:02.69, but it was the absence of the U.S. in the finals that delivered the biggest shock. For a country synonymous with relay success, this was nothing short of a nightmare showing.
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