The defending gold medalists in the womens 4x100-meter relay suffered a bit of drama in their heat Thursday afternoon at the 2016 Rio Olympics.Brazils third-leg sprinter interfered with Team USAs Allyson Felix, causing Felix to fumble the handoff with English Gardner. Team USA was granted a second chance, this time to run against the clock for a bid in the final. They did it, but, boy, was that odd.In other news, Team USAs Jenn Suhr goes for a gold-medal defense in the pole vault and Nikki Hamblin, made famous by her with Abbey DAgostino in the 5,000 meters, will run against incredibly accomplished distance runners.Oh, and the mens 4x100-meter relay will feature Usain Bolt and Co. as he vies for a ninth gold medal, ending his career a perfect nine-of-nine.Team USAs Jenn Suhr Vaults for Her DefenseJenn Suhr, the defending pole vault gold medalist and native of Rochester, New York, earned her way into Friday nights final by easily clearing 4.60 meters.All week, the 2012 gold medalist has been dealing with a respiratory infection, though it hasnt entirely hampered her ability to clear these preliminary heights."I thought I came in pretty hard, but I know that I was off in terms of my head, and my perception was off,"Suhr said, via the Democrat and Chronicle. "Physically, I feel like I can vault higher than that, but mentally Im not."Greeces Ekaterini Stefanidi and Germanys Lisa Ryzih will challenge Suhr for the gold medal, as well as world champion Yarisley Silva of Cuba. American Sandi Morris qualified for the final as well and will contend for a medal.The finals start at 7:30 p.m. ET.Nikki Hamblin Will Run in the 5,000-Meter FinalThe womens 5,000 meters doesnt typically move the Olympic ratings scale. Its a race earmarked for east African domination.But during the Round 1 heats, Team USAs Abbey DAgostino and New Zealands Nikki Hamblin took a spill. DAgostino helped Hamblin up, and the two of them finished the race. Both were granted clearance into the final, though DAgostino suffered a torn ACL in the accident and will miss the event.DAgostino said, via NBCNewYork.com:Although my actions were instinctual at that moment, the only way I can and have rationalized it is that God prepared my heart to respond that way. This whole time here, he's made clear to me that my experience in Rio was going to be about more than my race performanceand as soon as Nikki got up I knew that was it.Should Hamblin win, that would be perhaps the shocker of the Games, but its unlikely she can eclipse the worlds best runner at this distance, Ethiopias Almaz Ayana. Add to that Kenyas Mercy Cherono and Vivian Cheruiyot, and youre likely looking at the three medalists right there.Team USA will throw Shelby Houlihan into this tigers cage come 8:40 p.m. ET.Team USA Reaches the Final, Brazil DQdSo this race became one of the more interesting ones thanks to what happened in the preliminary heats.On the third exchange, Team USAs Felix botched the second exchange with Gardner. Brazils second-leg runner crossed over into Team USAs lane and interfered with the exchange. Brazil would be disqualified.I got bumped coming into the exchange zone, Felix told USA Today. It just completely threw me off balance. I tried to pull it together to get it to English. Maybe if I had one more step I couldve, but I was falling as I was going to her.That set up Team USAs appeal, which was granted, but it had to run by itself against the clock to supplant Chinas 42.70. In so doing, Team USA made Friday nights final with the fastest time, a 41.77.Meanwhile, Jamaica easily qualified with a time of 41.79 seconds, followed sort of closely by Great Britains 41.93 and Germanys 42.18.The loser in all of this' China. It went from being in, but based on that appeal, had to watch the Americans run against the clock and muscle their way into the final.It should be a fascinating final, one that starts at 9:15 p.m. ET.Jamaica Looks to Earn Ninth Gold Medal for Usain BoltNo such drama took place in the mens 4x100-meter heats.The American teamMike Rodgers, Christian Coleman, Tyson Gay and Jarrion Lawsoneasily qualified for the final.Their main goal will be to somehow supplant Jamaica, a team anchored by Bolt, who attempts to win a third straight Olympic gold medal in this event and lock down that triple-triple: three gold medals in his three events for three consecutive Olympic Games.Nobody expects Jamaica to lose, but as we saw with the American women in their qualifying heat, anything can happen. A botched exchange is the difference between bronze and nothing, silver and gold.After Bolt secured his two gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, we await to see what theatrics he and his brethren bring to the track for one final night.Bolt was noticeablyand admittedlytired at the end of the 200 Thursday night. Will that affect the relay' It depends. Bolt might need a lead in order to ensure his teams reign atop the podium.
Click here to read full news..
