Allyson Felix drops baton during hand off to teammate (USA Today Sports)
The U.S. women’s track-and-field team has won an appeal in order to compete in the 4×100 meter race. Allyson Felix was wrapping up the second leg of the heat Thursday when she dropped her baton. The team went on to finish the race and filed an appeal immediately afterward.
Felix was about to pass the baton to her teammate English Gardner when she said she “felt contact.” A Brazilian runner bumped the American. As Felix lost her balance she tossed the baton to Gardner but it bounced off Gardner’s hand.
“It just knocked me off,” Felix explained about what happened to her momentum to NBC. “I was tripping but, I don’t know. I trying to just still get it off but I couldn’t.”
Knowing the team would appeal the heat, she told Gardner to pick up the baton and finish the race.
“I just know that if something is protestable you have to finish so we just tried to finish it out.”
Felix explains the botched handoff in the 4x100R. #TeamUSA will re-run at 8pm Rio time. https://t.co/8MXXlqgUXR https://t.co/muPEg9NTXR
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 18, 2016
According to NPR, officials reviewed video showing the Brazilian runner at the edge of her lane. She swung her left elbow out, hitting Felix in the arm she was caring the baton in.
Brazil was disqualified for obstruction and international track-and-field governing body International Association of Athletics Federations upheld the Americans’ appeal.
Tonight, they will run a solo time trial in order to beat the time set by eighth-place qualifier China. If they come in at their best record time of 42.61 seconds, they’ll beat China’s 42.70 seconds time.
China appealed Team USA’s reinstatement, but it was denied.
The bump to Felix, which initially cost the American’s the chance to compete in the 4×100 meter race, makes it the second time this week Felix lost out on her chance at a medal. But she’ll have the chance to earn one tonight if America qualifies.
The first time came when Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller dove in the last seconds of the women’s 400 meter final. She took the gold medal and Felix earned silver.
