Shoes Lost, Athletes Floored, and Belgium Left Standing: The Chaotic Debut of the Mixed 4x400m Relay

Well, That Escalated Quickly

If World Athletics wanted a dramatic debut for the mixed 4x400m relay at the Indoor Championships, they certainly got one. Belgium stormed to gold in Torun, Poland, clocking a blistering 3:15.60, but the real story was the absolute carnage unfolding behind them.

Flying shoes. Athletes sprawled across the track. A disqualification. Commentators reduced to single-word exclamations. Welcome to the inaugural mixed 4x400m relay at the World Indoor Athletics Championships, everybody.

What on Earth Happened?

The chaos kicked off during the very first baton exchange. Jamaica's Delano Kennedy thrust his arm directly in front of American Jevon O'Bryant, triggering a collision that sent USA's Sara Reifenrath tumbling to the track. She lost a shoe in the process and, with it, any realistic shot at a medal. The Netherlands' Myrte Van Der Schoot was also caught up in the mess. Two pre-race favourites effectively wiped out before the second leg had properly begun.

Jamaica were subsequently disqualified for an illegal baton exchange, having initially crossed the line third in 3:17.13. It was the sort of sequence that makes you wonder whether cramming eight teams into tight indoor lanes for a baton relay was ever going to end tidily.

Belgium's Golden Masterclass

While the field behind them resembled a particularly aggressive episode of Total Wipeout, Belgium ran a beautifully composed race. The squad of Jonathan Sacoor, Ilana Hanssens, Julien Watrin, and Helena Ponette executed their plan with clinical precision.

Sacoor set the tone with a 46.16 opening leg, before Watrin delivered a scorching 46.11 on leg three. Ponette anchored in 51.15 to bring it home comfortably. Their winning time of 3:15.60 was the fastest indoor time ever recorded for the event, shaving 0.03 seconds off the previous best set by the Netherlands.

Notably, Belgium managed this without Alexander Doom, who was rested ahead of the men's 4x400m final on Sunday. Depth like that is genuinely impressive.

"We knew it was going to be a very tough race... we had a plan, stuck to it and it went well." - Jonathan Sacoor

The Medal Reshuffle

Spain claimed silver in 3:16.96, anchored superbly by Blanca Hervas with a 51.06 final leg. Poland were the beneficiaries of Jamaica's disqualification, promoted to bronze with a time of 3:17.44. Their anchor, Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, delivered a gutsy 50.94 split without initially realising a medal was coming her way.

"At the finish, I was really sad. When I was coming off the track, I heard support... I burst into tears." - Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, on learning of her promotion to bronze

The Netherlands, so heavily fancied beforehand, limped home fourth in 3:20.14. The USA finished fifth in 3:21.35, a result that tells you everything about the impact of that first-leg collision.

Does This Event Have a Future Indoors?

Here is the uncomfortable question. Indoor 200-metre tracks are tight. Adding baton exchanges for eight teams in those conditions is, to put it diplomatically, ambitious. The mixed 4x400m relay was only added as an official indoor discipline from March 2025, making this its very first outing at championship level.

One outing. One almighty pile-up. There are already murmurs about whether the event's future at indoor championships needs reviewing. You can appreciate the appeal of adding exciting relay formats to the programme, but not if athletes are getting knocked off their feet before they have even started running.

The Verdict

Belgium were brilliant, and their gold was richly deserved. This was their seventh indoor world championship gold in history. But the event itself left more questions than answers. If it returns indoors, something needs to change, whether that is fewer teams, staggered exchanges, or wider lanes. Otherwise, we will be watching the same chaos unfold every two years, which might make for entertaining viewing but is hardly fair on the athletes involved.

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