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Taking it up here, Exile, boss, as that other thread has become terribly crowded. 
Not really, in my view. While the USA women, like any other 4x100-meter relay team, can fall to pressure, I don’t think they do so as easily as we sometimes think.
The only recent Olympic Games 4x100-meter relay in which the USA women messed up the baton change IN THE FINAL and as a result did not finish the race was in Athens 2004.
In 1996 in Atlanta the USA won convincingly. In Beijing 2008 the US women did not reach the final.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics there was, in my opinion, no pressure as such from the Jamaicans. The USA women could only get the bronze in that relay final because of poor baton exchanges between USA members Torri Edwards and Nanceen Perry, and an equally poor exchange between Perry and Marion Jones. This, in my opinion, was a result of a lack of practice.
To be fair, however, despite the excellent first leg that Chryste Gaines ran for the USA (Sydney Olympics), the Bahamas women, who had been running together as a unit since 1996 (1995 if one omits Chandra Sturrup) was quite simply a better team overall and deserved the gold they got. There is no question that Chandra Sturrup outran Torri Edwards on the backstretch!
Likewise, I am not certain that any pressure from the Jamaicans caused that 2004 mishap between the US second leg runner Marion Jones and curve runner Lauryn Williams. I say this because the USA women had, just days earlier in a practice run, repeated the world leading time they had ran weeks (or was it months?) before! I cannot remember the time they ran, but it was much faster than that which Jamaica had coming into that relay final. It was also much faster than the 41.73 seconds national record that the Jamaicans ran to win the gold in that final.
There is no doubt in my mind that the USA women could have won that 2004 relay, despite the inroads that backstretch runner Sherone Simpson had made into Marion Jones’ lead. First leg runner Angela Williams had simply ran a more impressive opening leg than our Tayna Lawrence, and this helped to put the USA women into the lead by the first baton exchange. In 2004 Lauryn was a much better curve runner than Aleen Bailey.
In London 2012, I doubt very much if the USA will be scared, despite Jamaica’s performance in the women’s 100-meter dash.
Originally posted by Exile
The only recent Olympic Games 4x100-meter relay in which the USA women messed up the baton change IN THE FINAL and as a result did not finish the race was in Athens 2004.
In 1996 in Atlanta the USA won convincingly. In Beijing 2008 the US women did not reach the final.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics there was, in my opinion, no pressure as such from the Jamaicans. The USA women could only get the bronze in that relay final because of poor baton exchanges between USA members Torri Edwards and Nanceen Perry, and an equally poor exchange between Perry and Marion Jones. This, in my opinion, was a result of a lack of practice.
To be fair, however, despite the excellent first leg that Chryste Gaines ran for the USA (Sydney Olympics), the Bahamas women, who had been running together as a unit since 1996 (1995 if one omits Chandra Sturrup) was quite simply a better team overall and deserved the gold they got. There is no question that Chandra Sturrup outran Torri Edwards on the backstretch!
Likewise, I am not certain that any pressure from the Jamaicans caused that 2004 mishap between the US second leg runner Marion Jones and curve runner Lauryn Williams. I say this because the USA women had, just days earlier in a practice run, repeated the world leading time they had ran weeks (or was it months?) before! I cannot remember the time they ran, but it was much faster than that which Jamaica had coming into that relay final. It was also much faster than the 41.73 seconds national record that the Jamaicans ran to win the gold in that final.
There is no doubt in my mind that the USA women could have won that 2004 relay, despite the inroads that backstretch runner Sherone Simpson had made into Marion Jones’ lead. First leg runner Angela Williams had simply ran a more impressive opening leg than our Tayna Lawrence, and this helped to put the USA women into the lead by the first baton exchange. In 2004 Lauryn was a much better curve runner than Aleen Bailey.
In London 2012, I doubt very much if the USA will be scared, despite Jamaica’s performance in the women’s 100-meter dash.