No USA, No Jamaica, No Problem

Ever since they debuted in 2014, the World Athletics Relays have always been a kind of fun early-season international meet.  It's just relays, so a lot of the pressure was taken off.  They were able to try new things.  It's at the World Relays where the mixed 4x4 debuted and where the now-common athlete introductions started.

They've tinkered with the events, trying to find the right mix.  Then they made the World Relays a qualifier for the five events that are also in the World Championships and Olympics, which added an extra competitive element.  In the end, though, it was always the same story...the United States and Jamaica atop the medals table, with everyone else happy to make the final or get a qualifier or set a national record.

This year, however, the U.S. and Jamaica didn't send teams to the World Relays.  (The United States didn't enter, while Jamaica entered, then withdrew.)  Neither did Australia or Canada or a lot of Caribbean nations.  Even strong European countries like Great Britain only had limited entries.  COVID concerns and travel restrictions were the obvious reason why, but it still meant that this year's World Relays were gonna look vastly different than the four previous editions.

Would a relay meet without any of the traditional powers still be worth watching?  As it turns out, the answer was "Yes!"  Because the countries that were there knew this was their opportunity, and they seized it.

Don't get me wrong.  Watching this meet was still very odd.  It was held in an empty (and eerily quiet) stadium because of the restrictions still in place in Poland.  And, while it was nice to see some different teams in finals, it wasn't hard to notice that the teams you'd otherwise expect to medal weren't there.  The fields that we see three months from now in Tokyo will be vastly different than the ones we saw this weekend.  But that's part of what made it so exciting!

Not having the U.S. or Jamaica there gave other countries the chance to shine.  Poland was the host, so you knew they were gonna send a full team, but they were one of the few countries that did.  Kenya did, as well, and was rewarded with a bronze medal in the mixed shuttle hurdles relay as a result!  Ireland made the final in the mixed 4x400 (and won silver in the women's 4x200)!

Perhaps most significantly, scores of countries took advantage of not having the heavyweights there to clinch qualifying places at the Olympics and World Championships.  The top eight finishers qualified for the Olympics, while the top 10 qualified for next year's World Championships in Oregon.  So, this was their chance to guarantee themselves a spot without having to worry about running a good time and hoping it was enough.  That's huge.

As Ato Boldon pointed out during the broadcast, runners from Ecuador or the Dominican Republic or Botswana probably aren't qualifying for the Olympics or Worlds individually.  Going in the relay was probably their only shot.  Now they know they're definitely going.

The World Relays typically only serve as a qualifier for that year's World Championships.  They only added the Olympic qualifier to this year's event when the Olympics were postponed (which was a smart change since countries had so few opportunities to race last year).  And that was a big carrot.  Only 16 teams qualify for the Olympics and World Championships in each relay, so the stakes were huge.

When those relay teams get to Tokyo, they will see the U.S. and Jamaica and all of the other top nations, all of which had already qualified for Tokyo by making the final at the 2019 World Championships.  That probably had as much to do with their decision not to travel to Poland as anything else.  The COVID numbers and travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines were certainly factors, as well, but those are things I'm sure the top teams would've been willing to deal with had it been necessary.  Since it wasn't, that made the decision to pass that much easier.

Even if they weren't already qualified, it's not like skipping the World Relays would've cost the U.S. or Jamaica their Olympic relay spots anyway.  There are still a few time qualifiers remaining, so they would've put together a relay team at some point during the qualifying period for the sole purpose of posting a good enough time.  (For example, Canada put together a men's 4x100 that ran a 38.49 two weeks ago at LSU.)

However, there are only a few time qualifiers remaining for Oregon 22.  It's not like the world's sprint powers have to worry.  They're likely to run fast enough to qualify on time, which also might've factored into that decision.  But not every country has that luxury.  So the World Relays represented their best chance.

And, frankly, it was nice to see some other countries win for a change!  We've come to expect the U.S. and Jamaica to dominate.  Sure, there's the occasional upset or DQ, but, for the most part, either the U.S. or Jamaica would be favored to win the gold medal in pretty much every event.  Which, with a few exceptions, they usually did.  Instead, this year we got two victories each for Italy, Poland and Germany, with South Africa, the Netherlands and Cuba also winning gold medals. 

It'll be nice to have the traditional powers back and fans in the stands at the next World Athletics Relays two years from now, but their absence didn't make the 2021 edition any less enjoyable.  In fact, I'd argue that seeing some other countries win for a change may have made them more enjoyable.