Team USA Sprinter Kendall Ellis Felt ‘Blindsided’ By Late Scratch Before 4x400M Relay

The U.S. women's 4x400 relay team won the gold medal in dominant fashion Saturday. But Kendall Ellis — the reigning U.S. 400-meter champion and a relay specialist — wasn't included. Just four minutes before the race began, Ellis found out she was scratched from the team.

"I feel very proud of the team that was put out there. I think they ran incredible," Ellis told ESPN. "I also feel disappointed and lied to and embarrassed. I feel like I was blindsided because I was told one thing this morning and, for hours, thought I was running in the final. It seems everyone know besides me."

Ellis won the individual 400-meter event at the Olympic Trials. However, she failed to reach the final in Paris after she finished fourth in the semifinal. So the 28-year-old was hoping to redeem herself in the 4x400 relay, but she never got the chance.

Instead, Team USA went with Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes. They smoked the competition and set a new American record.

Ellis is happy for them, but she isn't happy with the way Team USA went about things.

Kendall Ellis Was Removed From 4x400 Relay Team

Ellis said she woke up Saturday to a text from relay coach Mechelle Freeman telling her she would not be running in the final. So she then asked Freeman for an in-person meeting with an athlete liaison present at a hotel near Olympic Village. Freeman expressed concerns with Ellis’ form, which led Ellis to pitch Freeman on why she should reconsider the decision to remove her from the relay team.

"At the end of the conversation, [Freeman] said, 'You seem ready. I'm going to put you on this relay in the third leg,'" Ellis recalled. "She told me to pick up my uniform for the finals. I said, 'OK' and got to the stadium at 6:15 under the impression I was running."

But that's not what happened. Ellis found out about the late scratch as she was completing her warm-ups.

"We had a good conversation, a good meeting," she said. "I'm an incredible relay runner. It was disappointing to not be on the relay, but I'm angry about the way it was done. I don't feel supported or valued as a member of the team or as a 400-meter runner, and I don't feel respected."

Kendall Ellis was a late scratch from the Team USA women's 4x400 relay team.

(Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Elllis won gold in the 4x400-meter relay and a bronze medal in the mixed 4x400-meter relay in Tokyo in 2021.