4 × 100 metres Relay, Men

Jamaica had “won” the last three gold medals, anchored by Usain Bolt, although the 2008 title was later voided when Nesta Carter had a positive doping re-test. Jamaica was still strong but without Bolt and Asafa Powell, they were no longer favored. The United States had the fastest set of sprinters, but in the last few decades they had shown a propensity to botch baton exchanges at major championships. Great Britain and Japan were also expected to challenge for medals, with Japan not having the best sprinters, but their exchanges were nonpareil.

There were two opening heats, with Jamaica winning heat one, followed by automatic qualifiers Great Britain and Japan, as expected. The United States lined up in heat two, but on the second exchange Fred Kerley was to pass to Ronnie Baker, but the exchange was done so poorly that the USA was left with a huge deficit, and anchor Cravon Gillespie could not recover, as the US finished sixth and was shockingly out of the final. Sprint legend Carl Lewis described it as a “clown show.” Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

The final was thus left with no clear favorite. Japan stunningly dropped the baton on the first exchange and was out. The race came down to a battle between Italy and Great Britain, who were close throughout. On the anchor leg Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake led until the final metres when Italy’s Filippo Tortu surged ahead to give the Italians the gold, as Great Britain took silver. Canada filled out the podium, as 200 metre champion Andre De Grasse stormed the final 100 to get bronze.

In March 2022, Great Britain, the original silver medalists, were disqualified after one of their runners, Chijindu Ujah, was revealed to have had a positive drug test for a SARMS derivative. In June 2023 the IOC announced medal re-allocations, advancing Canada to the silver medal and China to the bronze medal. The Canadian team members received their silver medals at a ceremony at the 2023 Canadian trials for the World Championships.