Team USA athletes sure know how to win those relays. They do very well. They’ve been on quite a roll, winning four of five relay titles in Budapest and three of five in Paris. But there’s been a new and ambitious change in the USA relay scene now. USA Track and Field has undergone a coaching change as they handed the relay keys to a new head coach recently. Well, this sure opens doors to whole new winning possibilities! But, amid this, the former relay mastermind has now dropped what looks like a possible cryptic message. And it has left the fans wondering.

On February 26th, Mechelle Freeman, the former Team USA women’s relay head coach, bid an emotional goodbye to the track and field landscape with her announcement. She had officially retired, bringing to a close her glorious decade-long journey with Team USA. Well, it was quite a bummer. “My time as the USATF Head Women’s Relays Coach has come to an end. Thank you to my family and to those who believed in me. Thank you, Lord for choosing me to show the world how to WIN against it all. To the athletes, keep making history and much love,” she wrote in her parting message. But today, her words sound different.

On March 30, Mechelle Freeman added a tweet on X that may have appeared cryptic to the fans. She wrote, “Imagine building a home from the ground up, and when it’s finished and everything proves to work so nicely, someone else moves in and takes it over. Yeah, Enjoy. 😏” Well, fans couldn’t help but draw parallels here.  One of them commented, “Speak up Mechelle, we are listening.” 

The timing of this post may have left the fans thinking. Freeman’s message comes days after USA Track and Field announced Darryll Woodson as the new relay head coach on March 28th, who’d be leading Team USA through to the LA Games. The announcement revealed, “Darryl Woodson is the ideal coach to lead our new model under the direction of our co-General Managers, Wallace Spearmon and Michael Nussa, and we are excited to begin execution and deliver.” Well, Woodson is a veteran! He’d been an assistant relay coach on the team earlier in both Tokyo and Paris. 

On the other hand, Mechelle Freeman has been a veteran, too. She has piloted Team USA to some of their most commendable relay wins. And her track record? Since 2015 at the World Championships and the Olympics, she has mentored the relay team to 8 medals in the 4x100m relay, including 3 Olympic medals. 12 medals in the 4x400m relay, including 5 Olympic medals (also includes the mixed relay). And 3 medals in the indoor 4x400m relays. Also, we aren’t forgetting the world record in the mixed 4x400m at the Paris Olympics.

No one will ever forget the relay where Team USA women trashed the Jamaican Big 3 at Oregon in 2022. She had such an enviable CV, and her ability to guide the team to wins in such high-stakes events was flawless. So yes, she leaves quite a great legacy behind at USA Track and Field. But here’s how fans are reacting to what appears to be her cryptic post.

Track and field fans pour in with speculations

Well, back when Mechelle Freeman announced her retirement, fans were dismayed. With the World Indoors just months away, they were nervous, but some also felt this was the end of an era. But today, here’s how the fans were reacting. They seemed to have mixed reactions, for sure.

One of the fans highlighted the very nature of the sport itself. They wrote, “Welcome to Track and Field! This is how it sustains itself.” Well, it looks like the fan may be hinting towards the variable nature of the sport. Favorites keep changing, athletes come and go, and so do coaches.

However, a few fans seemed to have come up with reality checks. One of them wrote, “Usatf was a well oiled machine before this coach got there and it will continue to be without her. In any job, you are replaceable.”  The latter part of this seems true not just for this sport but for all sports, doesn’t it? Athletes and coaches have eras. And the time for a big farewell always comes.

Well, while a few chimed in with words, some others could only react via emojis to Mechelle Freeman’s messages. One of them simply added the heartbreak emojis “💔💔💔.” Well, Freeman has had a legendary run with USATF. And thus, it’s natural for fans to miss her on the coaching benches. But a few fans still seemed hopeful that this may not be the end. A track and field fan commented, “I mean if you’re the original architect they gon need you again when it’s time for them repairs.”

What do you think? Will this be the case? Let us know in the comments below!