For some of the world’s top relay stars, the road to Paris will run through island paradise this weekend as the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 serve as an Olympic qualifier in five events. This Saturday and Sunday, Team USA will run for a chance to secure a lane at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the men’s and women’s 4x100 and 4x400, and mixed 4x400 relays. Individual Olympic medalists Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, and Gabby Thomas will lead a talented team of decorated relay stars.
Thomas and Tamari Davis were half of the World Championships gold medal quartet in Budapest, with Davis handling the leadoff duties and Thomas the third leg. In the heats, Tamara Clark and Melissa Jefferson ushered the U.S. safely into the final running the final two legs. Thomas also earned Olympic silver at Tokyo on the anchor leg, while Jefferson was a gold medalist at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. Team USATF leads the 2024 world list with a 41.94, run at Gainesville, Florida, on April 13, and the 41.03 that won in Budapest puts the U.S. in good position to advance to Paris 24.
Triple gold medalist in Budapest, Noah Lyles, is the only returner from the Budapest team set to compete in the 4x100 in Nassau, having run a blistering anchor leg to secure gold. He’s joined by Tokyo 200 silver medalist Kenny Bednarek and world leader in the 200, Courtney Lindsey. 19-year-old Pjai Austin will join the lineup as the youngest member of the men’s squad set to compete in Nassau. The team has the fastest time in the qualifying window with a 37.38 that captured gold at the World Championships last summer.
The reigning Olympic champions, Team USATF will feature a very different team here, headed by Alexis Holmes, who anchored the U.S. to historic gold and a world record in the mixed 4x400 at Budapest. Relay veteran Quanera Hayes has a World Championships gold from 2017 and a pair of World Indoor golds from 2016 and 2018 to go with silver at this year's World Indoors in Scotland, where she teamed up with Holmes on the runner-up squad in the final. Jessica Wright and Na'Asha Robinson ran in the heats at Glasgow, and Kendall Ellis was a gold medalist at Tokyo after running in the prelims. Ranked sixth by time in the qualifying window with a 3:23.83 in April at Gainesville, the U.S. will be looking to chop several seconds off that mark in the Bahamas.
Bryce Deadmon has Olympic and World Championships 4x400 gold on his resume and was the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships winner in the 400 last year. 2022 World Championships gold medal anchor Champion Allison and this year's World Indoor Championships silver medal anchor Chris Bailey will be joined by Jacory Patterson, who was also on the Glasgow silver medal team. The United States has won the past three global championships in the men's 4x400 and tops the list of times in the qualifying window at 2:57.31.
Matthew Boling and Ryan Willie were part of the gold medal U.S. foursome at Budapest, and Lynna Irby-Jackson earned bronze at Tokyo, where she ran in the heats. Boling was the third leg on the victorious American squad last year and earned silver in the 4x400 at this year's World Indoor Championships. Irby-Jackson was the second leg in the Tokyo prelims. Bailey Lear handled third leg duties for the World Indoor team in Glasgow and earned silver. Team USATF has the fastest time in the qualifying window, a 3:08.80 that set the world record in Budapest. Fans based in the U.S. can watch coverage of the relays live on Peacock starting at 7:05 p.m. ET and on CNBC, NBC Sports, and Peacock starting at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. A full schedule of events and results can be found here.