Athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games:

Jamaica had swept the medals in the 100 metres so the only question was “by how much,” not if they would win. That assumed, of course, they had no problem getting the stick around. As always, the United States was thought to have a solid team, but was not expected to beat the Jamaicans. And in heat one, they lost all chances when the final exchange between [Torri Edwards] and [Lauryn Williams] was botched and they dropped the baton. Jamaica won the second heat easily and was thought to have a virtual walkover for the final, especially with the US out. The East German world record of 41.37 from 1985 was thought to be threatened. But in the final, on the second exchange, [Kerron Stewart] took off early, and the incoming runner, [Sherone Simpson], could not get the baton to her and they were out of the race. With the Jamaicans out, the Russians scored a huge upset victory over Belgium, with Nigeria third. The final also saw Great Britain not finish because of difficulty with the baton, and Poland was disqualified for an exchange out of zone. Thus only five teams finished the final, after five teams had not finished in the heats.