Why did America put Ryan Bailey on anchor?

They were putting together the fastest relay the USA could. Not what the fan's want to watch. And it worked. US Record.

Bailey was the youngest guy and has a horrible start, so he needed the flying start so leg 1 was out. He also can not run a turn so leg 3 was out.

He also has one of the best top ends as his strength so weather he was faster than Gatlin on the anchor or not. He was faster at Anchor than he would have been on the second leg.

He is also the tallest athlete by far, so it is easier for him to receive the baton instead of hand it off since the three other sprinters are relatively short in comparison, so just making Bailey involved in as little of hand offs as possibly is the best way to go.

Maybe he runs the fastest flying 100. The flying hundred and the standing start hundred are different. I dunno though.

Stop rubbing it in. We know Ryan Bailey F U C K E D up the USA. Stop hating on John Smith and HSI.

i suspect the US wanted to have the lead and perhaps hope Blake or Bolt would screw up receiving the pass. Blake ran his leg perfectly from receiving the pass to running the curve and blew by Gay. Bailey had no chance but ran great.

Here are the splits

Nesta Carter 10.1 Trell Kimmons 10.2

Michael Frater 8.9 Justin Gatlin 8.9

Yohan Blake 9.0 Tyson Gay 9.0

Usain Bolt 8.8 Ryan Bailey 8.9

Why are you so obsessed with this. Jamaica were and will be better than USA in sprinting.

Bolt would have beaten anyone, he's weakness is start, from flying start no one can beat bolt...

Bolt beat Bailey but he didn't destroy him. Bailey held his own. You have to be in it to have a chance and the U.S. wanted to be relevant by the anchor leg...and they were.

Bolt beat Bailey but he didn't destroy him. Bailey held his own. You have to be in it to have a chance and the U.S. wanted to be relevant by the anchor leg...and they were.

Bad question! RB did a great job and so did the relay. Congrats to the 4x100 for an American record.

The real question is why Angelo Taylor on the end of the 4x4!

If you assume he is slower than Gatlin on a relay leg, then you are saying that you wanted to see Gatlin get the stick behind Bolt and just try to keep up.

L.A. guys won 17 of the 49 medals USATF brought home. Don't expect L.A. guys like Ryan Bailey to win all the medals. It's up to the entire Team USA to pitch in.

it would not matter who we put on the anchor we dont have anyone who can hang with bolt the way he was running at the olympics, not tyson g, not gatlin, not bailey, not anyone else.

It was the right choice. The only thing that could've improved our chances would be to have Dix on the team. Gay loves to receive from Dix. The pair has the best handoff in the sport.

Dix and Demps> Timmons and Bailey

I think it was just a matter of giving the least experienced guy 1 handoff instead of 2. Gay ran the curve in Monaco so they were always going to put him on leg 3.

I dont think your opening or final splits were correct. USA passed first in the first exchange. Jamaica won by two tenths. I would say the middle two were almost equal, based on the eye test and no watches. Id say USA by a tenth in first leg, USA gave it back in second or third leg, and bolt beat bailey by two tenths. It was the best runners and order for USA, considering Dix wasnt up to 100% yet. Great job USA!

Keeping it close as long as possible increased the chances of a Jamaican baton error. I thought the US ran a terrific race.

The US tied the AR. Rearranging the runners however you like or putting anyone else from the squad in the final still wouldn't have made them faster than Jamaica this year.

USA actually tied the previous world record, I think they broke the AR in the prelims. Just give credit where credit is due, both teams ran exceptional relays and the better team won that night. The USA CAN beat Jamaica 2 out of 5 times if all passes are made. Jamaica is not that much better. Just my opinion

Is no one going to point out that Gay didn't get out very well before receiving the baton from Gatlin? I'm not sure we don't break 37 if he doesn't get out better, but I still think Bolt would've beaten Bailey who looked to have run a good leg.