U.S. Relay Team Reinstated At Olympics After Being Disqualified For Improper Baton Pass

The U.S. relay team has been reinstated at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after initially being barred over a faulty baton exchange.

After race officials concluded that Elija Godwin and Lynna Irby made an improper baton pass, the team was disqualified from Friday’s 4×400-meter mixed relay. Irby allegedly placed herself outside the takeoff zone to receive the rod. However, USA Track & Field appealed the ruling, claiming that Irby was in the wrong position only because she was lined up there by a race official. After a thorough review of the pass, the team had been restored.

“Mistakes happen. We are human. We do make mistakes,” Godwin stated at the time of the disqualification.

The reinstatement arrived just hours after the team was removed from the race. This decision clears the way for the team to compete in Saturday’s 4×400-meter mixed relay and gives relay vet Allyson Felix the chance to secure her record-setting 10th Olympic medal.

The U.S. track team has always been vulnerable to baton transfers. Between 1995 and 2016, the men’s track and field team had nine improper baton exchanges, one of which resulted in disqualification at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The team was not reinstated that year, despite an appeal on similar grounds.