“Sports can be so brutal at times” Emmanuel Acho, former NFL player reacts to Alexis Holmes's baton exchange mistake at women's 4x400m relay event

Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho penned a sorrowful note for Alexis Holmes after a catastrophic end in the preliminary round of the women’s 4x400 relay race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. It resulted in the country’s disqualification at the end, even though it finished second in the race.

On August 26, the US team’s third and fourth runners, Quanera Hayes and Alexis Holmes, struggled to exchange the baton in the last leg of the four-lap race. However, after several attempts, when 23-year-old Holmes finally caught hold of the baton, she appeared to have gone beyond the legal passing, known as the blue box.

Although the US women's 4x400m relay team managed a second-place finish, they were ultimately disqualified. It was for Holmes that the country won the gold medal at the mixed 4x100m relay last week.

Holmes at mixed 4x100m relay race at Day 1 of World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

The 23-year-old gained from the Netherlands’ Femke Bol’s tragic fall at the race track. She ran her best when the Dutch athlete was just meters away from the finish line. Alexis Holmes’s 3:08.80s finish set a new world record, surpassing the team’s personal best of 3:09.34s from the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Remembering Holmes’s remarkable contribution from the mixed 4x100m relay event, Emmanuel Acho took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and penned a note:

“Sports can be so brutal at times. Alexis Holmes, who anchored a heroic gold medal in the mixed 4x4 just 1 week ago today, takes her eyes off the baton too soon and the USA Women, who were favorite to win gold, are disqualified in the women’s 4x400 meter prelim, ” the linebacker wrote.

Leaving behind the US, Great Britain, Belgium, and Italy occupied the first, second, and third spots respectively. The US, which had a record of winning seven of the last eight World Championships, would no longer proceed to the finals. It also means that the country will not win the final event at the World Championships for only the second time in the last nine years.

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Alexis Holmes apologizes to the country after women's 4x400m relay race

Alexis Holmes at Day 8 of World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

After the conclusion of the 4x400m relay race, Alexis Holmes penned down a long note apologizing to the nation for her mistake.

In her X handle, she posted:

“Tonight did not go as planned. I'm overwhelmed with remorse and disappointment thinking about my teammates, coaches and my country right now”

The athlete admitted that she could not execute the final baton pass which resulted in her team’s disqualification. Holmes added that the pass was a visual handoff and it was her job to stay in the zone to execute it properly.

The American athlete also added that she felt heartbroken for her teams that worked hard but would not be able to compete in the finals. At last, she added:

"The way these experiences feel physically in the moment are completely different from watching it back on film."