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Canada clinched the men’s Olympic 4x100m relay gold for the second time on Friday, capitalizing on a costly mistake by the favored United States team, which was disqualified due to a botched baton exchange.
Andre de Grasse, a standout in the Tokyo Olympics, anchored the Canadian team to victory, crossing the finish line in 37.50 seconds. This win marks Canada’s second gold in the event, the first being in 1996.
South Africa, with Akani Simbine running a powerful final leg, secured the silver medal with a new African record time of 37.57 seconds. Great Britain, bolstered by Zharnel Hughes’ strong performance, took home the bronze in 37.61 seconds.
The race began well for Canada with Aaron Brown setting a solid pace. Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney maintained the momentum with precise baton handoffs, a skill finely tuned under the guidance of Glenroy Gilbert, a member of Canada’s 1996 gold-winning team. Despite starting in the outside lane, Canada kept close to the front-runners, overtaking Japan and Italy in the final leg. Italy had earlier featured Tokyo 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs.
De Grasse, joined by Simbine—who has frequently just missed the podium in individual sprints—and Hughes, managed to outpace their competitors in the critical final moments, securing a narrow victory.
De Grasse shared his elation with reporters, celebrating the shared victory with his longtime teammates. Aaron Brown highlighted the team’s resilience and unity, emphasizing their collective strength even when individual performances faltered.
On the other hand, the U.S. team faced another disappointment, continuing a trend of relay mishaps. Despite a strong start by Christian Coleman, the first baton exchange with Kenny Bednarek went awry, eliminating their chances early in the race. Coleman reflected on the incident as part of the inherent risks of the sport, noting the team’s preparation but acknowledging the unpredictability of relay events.
The U.S. team’s failure adds to a series of similar setbacks in the 4x100m relay, where they haven’t secured a gold since 2000 and have only managed a single silver medal since then. Repeated mistakes have led to multiple disqualifications and dropped batons over the years, prompting critique from Carl Lewis, a legendary American sprinter. Lewis called for a complete overhaul of the relay program, criticizing the U.S. track and field administration for its repeated failures in this event.
The British team, while securing bronze, also carried a bittersweet note as Hughes and third-leg runner Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake had previously been stripped of a silver medal in Tokyo following a doping violation by teammate CJ Ujah.
