The Mixed Relay – mixed reactions
Relays are always exciting. Our sport is an individual sport, with the exception of relays where athletes team up to run for their club, college or country. The relatively new medley relay is even more exciting because of the different speeds for men and women. Internal relays raise the level of excitement/potential disaster. At the World Cup, six teams raced around tight turns trying to trade the baton in a confined space. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that it’s an accident waiting to happen.
Initially, the running order was at the discretion of the teams, but at the World Championships in Toruń it was established as male, female, male, female. The rules for dropped bats have been changed, giving teams more opportunity to recover from a mishap during a baton change. To the disappointment of BBC commentators, the new rules did not allow the baton to be thrown from athlete to athlete. The event was a straight final with 6 teams.
The first change, which came at the end of the second period when all teams were more or less lined up with confused officials trying to get them in the right order in the limited space at the switch point, was always going to be tricky. Jamaica’s Delano Kennedy approaches the transition zone in the first zone. Unfortunately, her teammate Shana Kay Anderson (right) was on the 2nd line. As Kennedy pulled away, American runner-up Sarah Reifenrath was forced out of the action and was clipped by another athlete and fell violently. Reifenrath bravely picked himself up and set off, but the USA had lost nearly 3 seconds and were effectively out of the race.
Belgium finished first, Spain second and Jamaica third. Jamaica was then disqualified for causing the American trip, which moved Poland from fourth to third. The home crowd loved the upgrade. The right way out, but it didn’t help the Americans, who almost certainly would have been in the medals but only for the fall.
Helena Ponet, the Belgian anchor leg, commented: “I was very nervous watching what was happening during the baton exchange. In the end, I was very happy to get the baton first and finish the race in the same way. We are all very happy with this gold.”
Stop Press. RunBlogRun understands that a complaint has been made that no member of the Borle family was in the Belgium team. Pretty sure the rules say all Belgian relays must include Borlee.
