TEAM USA didn’t need to be at its best to bag the Ultimate title but did more than enough to win relatively comfortably in 3:08.32, the No. 7 all-time mark.
The talk beforehand had been of a tilt at the 3:07.41 WR set by a U.S. quartet of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown in the ’24 Olympic heats and Chris Bailey kept them in contention for a superlative with a 44.73 opener, compared to Norwood’s 44.47 first leg in the Paris prelims.
Bailey handed over well ahead of Dutch rising star and ’25 Euro U23 winner Jonas Phijffers, but ’26 World Indoor bronze medalist Lieke Klaver quickly closed the gap on Alexis Holmes. Holmes was seeking redemption after finishing only 8th in her individual 400 heat — and the U.S. was effectively neck-and-neck with the Oranje at the second changeover.
Holmes reflected after her gutsy run against the veteran of so many Dutch relay successes, “I just mentally had to reset from yesterday. I’ve had a little bit of a rough year, but I’ve got this far and I just wanted to make the most of the opportunity and do the best that I could for my teammates.”
Despite Holmes clocking 49.51, the U.S. were starting to drift off WR-pace. Little had run 49.32 in Paris, and memories were still redolent of the Netherlands’ upset win in the ’24 OG 4×4 final.
However, without Femke Bol-Broeders to look forward to on the anchor leg, the Dutch could not maintain their momentum.
Jacory Patterson, a disappointing 6th in the individual 400 in Budapest just a week after clocking a 43.78 PR at the DL Final in Brussels, followed in the footsteps of Holmes and was another who turned things around in barely 24 hours.
The one-time UPS truck loader until just over a year ago pulled away from Keenan Blake down the home straight with a solid lap in 44.61 to give Aaliyah Butler a 3-meter lead.
Butler never faltered and, possibly reminded of how the U.S. had been beaten to the line by the Netherlands in Paris, later joked, “Losing wasn’t an option.”
Clocking 49.47, Butler crossed the line 10m clear of the fast-finishing Charlotte Henrich, who brought Great Britain past the Netherlands and through to 2nd.
Worth a mention, farther back on the last leg Henriette Jæger and Stacey-Ann Williams both went sub-49 for their stints bringing Norway and Jamaica home in 5th and 6th place. The pair clocked 48.81 and a flying 48.72, the two fastest laps.
UC MIXED 4 x 400 RESULTS
(September 13)
1. United States 3:08.32 (x, 7 W; x, 4 A)
(Chris Bailey 44.73, Alexis Holmes 49.51, Jacory Patterson 44.61, Aaliyah Butler 49.47)
2. Great Britain 3:09.40
(Ben Jefferies 45.53, Yemi Mary John 49.95, Toby Harries 44.40, Charlotte Henrich 49.52)
3. Netherlands 3:09.57
(Jonas Phijffers 44.95, Lieke Klaver 49.37, Keenan Blake 44.91, Myrte Van Der Schoot 50.34);
4. Belgium 3:10.85
(Jonathan Sacoor 45.51, Helena Ponette 49.97, Daniel Segers 43.95, Camille Laus 51.42)
5. Norway 3:11.31
(Karsten Warholm 46.09, Amalie Hammild Iuel 50.85, Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen 45.56, Henriette Jæger 48.81)
6. Jamaica 3:11.46
(Zandrion Barnes 45.56, Shanakaye Anderson 52.20, Assinie Wilson 44.98, Stacey-Ann Williams 48.72)
7. Italy 3:11.56
(Edoardo Scotti 45.10, Anna Polinari 50.99, Lorenzo Benati 44.78, Alessandra Bonora 50.69)
8. Hungary 3:16.73
(Patrik Enyingi 45.88, Lili Hanna Brucker 52.92, Attila Molnár 43.90, Emmanuel Sophia Akuchi 54.03)
9. Kenya 3:18.42
(Boniface Mweresa 45.79, Mercy Chebet 52.80, Kelvin Tonui 45.19, Lanoline Aoko 54.64).
