The women’s 4x400m relay provided a new low in the history of Jamaican misery at the Olympics in Paris. At the beginning of the current Paris Olympics, Andrenette Knight, Ashley Williams, Charokee Young, and Stephenie Ann McPherson of Jamaica automatically qualified for the women’s 4×400-meter relay final. They qualified with the fourth-fastest time after winning heat two with a time of 3:24.92. But their Olympic adventure came to an unpleasant end!
Jamaica started the race in third place after the first leg, but their hopes were shattered by Andrenette Knight’s baton drop during a collision with Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland during the second leg. Tensions were high and the teams were closely grouped when the accident happened. The baton dropped close to Adeleke, greatly confusing the situation and delaying Jamaica’s progress.
Jamaica was declared a did-not-finish (DNF) as a result of this error. Following the race, it was observed that the Jamaican ladies were giving each other hugs and crying over the heartbreaking loss of their baton drop. In the meantime, Team USA was celebrating their record-breaking performance and basking in a historic victory!
With an astounding second leg split of 47.70 seconds, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lit up the Women’s 4x400m relay final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, turning the competition into a display of sheer speed. After that, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes took off where McLaughlin-Levrone left off, setting an American record with a time of 3:15.27, which came just short of the world record.
With a time of 3:19.50, the Netherlands, led by Femke Bol, earned a well-deserved silver medal, while Great Britain took home the bronze with 3:19.72. Ireland came in fourth place, but Team USA’s incredible performance was what made the headlines. With this triumph, Team USA’s gold medal count increased to two. McLaughlin-Levrone took home two gold medals, while Thomas celebrated winning an incredible three medals. This was a race to remember—talk about a victorious lap! In light of the sorrow experienced by Jamaica’s foursome, this merely contributes to the mounting catalogue of calamities befalling the island’s track and field athletes in Paris!
Jamaica’s fortunes: field against track
At the Olympics in Paris, Jamaica’s track and field fortunes have drastically declined due to a string of unheard-of failures. Shericka Jackson, the island nation’s star, was expected to win both the 100 and 200 meters, but she withdrew from both events because of a leg injury she suffered in a pre-Olympic competition. The sadness didn’t stop there, as Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Elaine Thompson-Herah—the top Jamaican sprinters from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021—were all sidelined by injuries, creating a big hole.
The women’s 100-meter and 200-meter finals, where Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and Gabby Thomas of the United States, respectively, excelled, made the absence of Jamaica’s sprint queens quite noticeable. The very competitive Jamaican women’s 4×100-meter relay team came in fifth place with a time of 42.29 seconds, missing out on a medal for the first time in the team’s 16-year history.
For the first time in 48 years in the women’s 200 meters and 36 years in the women’s 100 meters, no Jamaican athlete made it to the Olympic podium. This was a sharp contrast to their normal dominance and highlighted a larger trend of failure. Even more depressing were the men’s track events!
Botched handoffs were a major reason in Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay team’s failure to go to the finals, missing out by just 0.06 seconds. This was a historic first—after 20 years—to miss the finals. In the 100 meters, Oblique Seville, who was battling a groin ailment, came dangerously close to winning a medal, and Kishane Thompson, who took home the silver, was narrowly defeated by Noah Lyles. Bryan Level’s failure to go to the final in the 200 meters was the first time in 20 years that a Jamaican man has participated in this event’s final.
The field events provided the sole bright spot: Wayne Pinnock won silver in the long jump, Shanieka Ricketts brought home silver in the triple jump, Rojé Stona won gold in the discus, and Rajindra Campbell took home bronze in the shot put. All the same, Jamaica’s track and field competitors had a difficult year, as seen by their inability to qualify for the men’s 4×400-meter relay—a first since 1948.
With a time of 2:59.87, the team missed out on a spot in the final, adding to Jamaica’s list of track and field setbacks during the Olympics in Paris. What do you think about Jamaica’s most recent failure in the women’s 4×400-meter relay? Comment below with your ideas!
