The Paris Olympics will be largely determined by the results of the World Athletics Relays competition. This event, which is set to take place live on NBC Sports and Peacock from the Bahamas, will see the top 14 nations in each relay category compete for a spot in the Games. The qualifiers do not necessarily have to use the same runners at the Olympics as they did at the World Relays, giving teams some flexibility in their lineup choices.
On Saturday, the top two nations from each first-round heat for every relay will qualify for Paris and progress to Sunday’s finals. The results of these races will determine the lane draws for the Olympics. Additionally, on Sunday there will be a repechage round for nations that did not advance to the finals, with the top two nations from each repechage heat also qualifying for Paris.
The U.S. team for this competition features several notable athletes including Olympic medalists Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas, who will be competing in both men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m respectively.
Among those competing in this event are reigning Olympic women’s and men’s 400m champions Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardiner of Bahamas respectively. They are joined by other notable athletes such as Usain Bolt of Jamaica who is looking to make his return to competitive athletics after retiring from professional sports in 2019.
