Drama as Kishane Thomson Fails to Run After Botched Baton Exchange for Team Jamaica at World Relays

Jamaica's 4x100m men's team dropped the baton at the 2025 World Relays Championships.

Drama as Kishane Thomson Fails to Run After Botched Baton Exchange for Team Jamaica at World Relays

Joel Omotto 16:23 - 10.05.2025

Jamaica’s 4x100m team exited the World Relays at the heats following a poor baton exchange that saw Olympics 100m silver medalist fail to run.

Dramatic scenes were witnessed at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday when Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team exited the heats in embarrassing fashion.

With a stellar cast that had veteran Yohan Blake and Olympics 100m silver medalist Kishane Thompson, the battle lines had been drawn with the likes of South Africa, who had red-hot Akani Simbine and teen sensation Bayanda Walaza in their ranks.

However, when the race took off, South Africa lived up to the billing while Jamaica had a nightmare experience.

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The Jamaicans started with Rohan Watson on the first leg before he passed the baton Julian Forte but it is here where drama ensued.

Forte delayed passing the baton to Blake, who was already on his bike, and after fumbling to get hold of it, it dropped and that is how their race ended.

Jamaica Left Cursing their Costly Mistake

Blake was left red faced after the incident while Thompson, who was on the anchor leg, was left ruing the mistake as he did not run.

That is how the Jamaicans failed to make it to the final, missing a chance to fight for a medal, but they have a chance to qualify for the World Championships through the repechage on Sunday.

It was the second dramatic incident where the baton had dropped in Guangzhou on Saturday after Team USA had done the same in the 4x100m mixed relays race.

With the Jamaicans fumbling, Walaza and Simbine led South Africa to victory in the race with Germany stealing second place from Kenya with a photo finish to qualify directly for the 2025 World Championships.