Why Did Jamaica Drop out of the Women's 4x400 Relay Final? Here's What Happened During the Race
There was an unfortunate incident during the second leg of the race.
Published Aug. 12 2024, 12:18 p.m. ET
Jamaica's Andrenette Knight runs with the baton in the women's 4x400m relay heat of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Aug. 9, 2024.
It's been a case of bad luck for Jamaica's track and field team at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Several top sprinters sustained injuries while in Paris, and the women's relay team dropped out of the 4x400 final.
But why did the relay quartet — composed of Stacey Ann Williams, Andrenette Knight, Shiann Salmon, Stephenie Ann McPherson — quit the race? The Aug. 10 relay was a devastating end for the team, who had been expected to pick up a medal for the event. Here's what to know.
Jamaica's team reacts after they did not finish the women's 4x400m relay final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Aug. 10, 2024.
Why did Jamaica drop out of the women's 4x400 relay final?
During the second leg of the race, while Jamaica's Andrenette Knight was in second position, Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke accidentally made contact with Knight while trying to get past her. Knight then dropped her baton.
But per IAAF Rule 170, "dropping the baton shall not result in disqualification," and the baton can be "recovered by the athlete who dropped it," as long as the athlete doesn't drop it during the handover. So, since Knight dropped the baton during the race, why didn't she just retrieve it and carry on with the relay? Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, it seems.
According to Essentially Sports, if Knight had stopped to get her baton, her chances of getting back to second place would have been slim to none. She would've been completely overtaken by the other runners, who had already bunched up behind her during the race.
The accident effectively ended the team's hope for a medal, and because they didn't finish the race, the team ended up with a did-not-finish (DNF).
"I don't know what happened; I watched the replay three times before I realized what happened, but it was like World Relays all over again," said teammate Stephenie Ann McPherson, referring to when one of their teammates dropped the baton during the third leg at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March 2024.
"So, of course, we are disappointed," an emotional McPherson added. "We all trained really hard for this."