GABORONE, Botswana — Team USATF set a championships meet record in the mixed 4x400 and captured gold in the men's 4x100 Sunday before a noisy sellout crowd at National Stadium in the capital of Botswana to close out the 8th World Athletics Relays.
Two-time Olympic men's 4x400 gold medalist Bryce Deadmon handled lead leg duties for the mixed 4x400 and handed off virtually even with Jamaica after a 45.12 split. Paris Peoples quickly seized control of the race and gave the U.S. a solid lead going into the exchange with Jenoah Mckiver after a stellar 49.19 carry.
Mckiver blew it wide open on the third leg and split a sensational 43.50 to pass to anchor Bailey Lear in solid gold medal position. Lear staved off a strong challenge from Jamaica around the final bend and pulled away down the homestretch to split 49.66 and stop the clock at 3:07.47. It was a meet record and the third fastest time ever run, only .06 off the world record set by the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Jamaica set a national record of 3:08.24 for silver, and Great Britain's anchor outleaned Kenya to nab bronze. In the heats on Saturday, the U.S. quartet clocked 3:09.82 to win their section with the seventh fastest time ever by an American squad. Deadmon led off in 44.7 before a 49.6 split by Peoples. She handed off to Brian Faust, who had a 45.7 carry, and Lear secured the victory over Spain with a 49.9 split.
None of the four men who delivered World Championships gold for the U.S. last year were in the lineup this weekend, but a world-leading 37.77 in the first heat of the men's 4x100 Saturday set the stage for Team USATF as they toed the line in the final as the fourth-fastest quartet from the heats.
Ronnie Baker blitzed the opening curve and handed off to Max Thomas in the lead. Thomas, the second quickest 100 man in the world this year at 9.90, maintained that lead down the backstretch and had a solid exchange with Lance Lang. Lang safely conveyed the baton to Pjai Austin for the final 100, and Austin successfully held off South Africa's Akani Simbine to cross the line in first at 37.43.
It was the ninth fastest time ever by an American foursome and put them .06 ahead of an African record by South Africa. Germany grabbed the bronze in 37.76, and 2024 Olympic champions Canada were hampered by an injury to their second leg and ended up seventh in 40.06. The Canadians set a world-leading time of 37.56 in the prelims.
Courtney Lindsey, who earned gold at the World Championships last year after running third leg on the men's 4x100, teamed up with Jada Mowatt, Kyree King, and E'Lexis Hollis to take bronze in the mixed 4x100 in an American record time of 40.33. That improved the AR of 40.36 that they set in the qualifying round. Jamaica set world records in the prelims and final, becoming the first nation to crack the 40-second barrier with a 39.99 in the heats and then a 39.62 in the final for gold. Canada took the silver in 40.23.
An injury to Samirah Moody kept the U.S. women from competing in the second qualifying round of the women's 4x100. The team of Semira Killebrew, Jadyn Mays, Moody, and Karimah Davis clocked 43.33 to place fourth in the first heat on Saturday, missing out on the final but earning another opportunity in the second qualifying round. In the final, Jamaica picked up gold in 42.00 ahead of Canada's national record 42.17 for silver and Spain's 42.31 for bronze.
In addition to prize money, teams were competing to earn berths in the World Athletics Ultimate Championships later this year in Hungary, and the 2027 World Athletics Championships to be held in Beijing.