It’s no longer just a hiccup. It’s a full-blown curse. No matter the race, the track, or the athletes, one thing remains terrifyingly consistent. The USA track and field team cannot pass the baton. The country that boasts the fastest sprinters on the planet continues to fall at the simplest hurdle. Handing a stick from one runner to another. And it’s not just costing them medals. It’s costing them pride.
Take Tokyo 2021, for example. Fred Kerley, sprinting full tilt, tries handing the baton to Ronnie Baker. Baker grabs a handful of jersey instead. The baton somehow stays out of reach until Kerley nearly stuffs it into Baker’s palm with both hands. By then, the damage is done. Team USA stumbled to sixth and missed the final. That exchange, or lack thereof, was just the latest iteration of a painfully familiar pattern.
Fast forward to Paris, and the saga gets worse. Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek collide during their handoff in the men’s 4×100 relay. The chaos is immediate, and though the team limps to a seventh-place finish, the final dagger comes later: disqualification. The baton changed hands outside the zone. It marked the fifth consecutive Olympics where the Americans failed to win a medal in the event. For a country with such depth, it’s inexplicable. For fans, it’s exhausting.
Team USA fail to complete the woman to man handoff in their mixed 4x100m heat. #WorldRelays pic.twitter.com/yoNURBVEfT
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) May 10, 2025
And now, cut to the present day 2025 World Relays. And with it, another catastrophe. This time it was the mixed 4x100m. In their very first heat, the baton hit the ground during the transition from Jada Mowatt to Kendal Williams. Another drop. Another elimination. Another social media storm. “Team USA dropped the baton” trended once more. In the aftermath, Mowatt could only offer a half-shrug. She stated, “Somebody, somewhere has got a voodoo doll.”
Maybe it’s superstition. Maybe it’s pressure. Maybe it’s just plain bad chemistry. Whatever it is, Team USA’s baton nightmares are no longer isolated incidents. They’re a full-blown tradition of failure. And until they find a fix, the fastest team on Earth will keep running straight into disaster. And this is not something that the fans are putting up with. They took to social media to express their outrage over the curse happening.
This is a developing story…
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