World Athletics knows money is an expensive motivator, therefore they lean on qualification. At this year’s World Relays, countries can qualify teams for the 2027 World Championships by finishing in the top 12. This is a great solution for 99% of the nations of the world, but for better or worse, the United States simply doesn’t need to venture down this path in an event like the men’s 4 x 400m.

Against the recommendation of distance runners everywhere, World Athletics decided to eliminate the 4 x 800m, DMR, and 4 x 1500m (…that one’s okay to cut, actually…) to instead lean into the mixed-gender relays. Those squads will have the chance to qualify for the World Ultimate Championships in Gaborone, too, but with unmatched depth, the US can afford to send a B or even C team—which is exactly what Team USA is doing.

The U.S. opting out of most races at World Relays doesn’t seem like something that will change, short of the event itself changing significantly.

World Athletics could alleviate top U.S. athletes’ concerns about excessive travel by exclusively holding the meet in North America—which runs counter to the organization’s mission of hosting more high-quality meets in emerging markets and across every populated continent.

World Athletics could force Team USA’s hand and make participation in World Relays a requisite to field relay squads at major global competition—again, that doesn’t feel particularly egalitarian, given the resources required to attend the meet, which many smaller federations lack.

Or World Athletics could make the juice worth the squeeze for the Rai Benjamins of the world by drastically increasing the financial incentive—while money talks, we’d imagine WA’s accountant can too, and they’d say “no way, man, we cannot afford that.”

It just goes to show how difficult growing the sport can be, when there are conflicting interests who—acting perfectly rationally—will rarely align on priorities. It’s not as simple as toggling a giant lever in the direction of “MAKE TRACK BETTER!”

All that said, it’s easy to empathize with Botswana’s frustration. They won’t be able to face off against their rivals on home soil in front of what will presumably be an incredible crowd. At the same time, where were Letsile Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori, and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi during the 2025 World Relays in Guangzhou? They were in China the week before racing in the Diamond League, but chose not to compete… because of money!

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