The US women's 4x100 relay qualifying race: the moment it happened I saw it. The view was way above the track but I could see that something went wrong on the second exchange as runner Allyson Felix attempted to reach English Gardner and hand her the baton. Allyson was clearly bumped by the runner next to her,
interrupting her forward motion just enough to cause her to desperately fling the baton forward in the last moment of the hand off. And it went flying away.
Despite the commotion between the Americans, the rest of the field continued on, and the two women stood on the track stunned and distraught.
But in the middle of the collapse - that total loss - Allyson had a moment of clarity. She asked, what can we do now? And Allyson told English Gardner to pick up the baton and finish the race.
From 'Gaffe to Gold' the New York Times called it. We call it valuing failure.
Her decision to not give up in that moment greatly contributed to them winning the gold medal. Had they not finished the race, the team would not have been able to challenge the incident, which they did. The Olympic Committee
agreed to let them run again, they qualified for the main event and then won the gold medal.
"There’s always a point where you get knocked down. But I draw on what I’ve learned on the track: If you work hard, things will work out.”
- Lolo Jones, Olympic hurdler
