Seven Olympic sports have added mixed events. The new events pose interesting tactical and strategic challenges. “On Saturday, the race’s unique configuration meant that Lydia Jacoby, the gold medalist in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, wound up swimming the second leg for the U.S. against Adam Peaty of Britain, the men’s world-record holder. Caeleb Dressel, the men’s 100-meter freestyle champion, later anchored the Americans by trying to swim down three women but was too far behind and was slowed by rough water that churned in front of him. The U.S. finished fifth, three seconds behind Britain, whose relay team set a world record.”
And the mixed 4 x100m relay ended up being one of the more unpredictable of the Games:
“An enormous crash took out Germany and nearly eliminated Jamaica. By the time Vernon Norwood took the baton from Kaylin Whitney, the United States saddled in fourth place. Norwood motored around the back stretch, and by the time he came off the far turn, he was moving into second place. Poland ended up winning the race, and Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic edged Norwood by one-hundredth of a second to take the silver. The United States ended up with bronze.”