In one of the strangest sights ever seen on an Olympic race track, the U.S. women's 4x100 relay team were given a second shot at qualifying in Rio after dropping their baton in their earlier qualifying heat on Thursday.

Team USA petitioned for a re-run after Allyson Felix claimed a Brazilian sprinter elbowed her as she was making a baton pass to teammate English Gardner on the third leg.

The IAAF sided with the Americans, and just after 7pm the four athletes wandered back out onto the race track to re-take their positions.

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On your marks, get set, go... against no-one! Tianna Bartoletta lines up for the start of an unprecedented replay relay race in which Team USA ran against nobody

Ghost track! The US women's 4x100 relay team ran against no-one else this evening after they were granted the chance to rerun their heat following a baton drop

Morolake Akinosun of the USA crosses the finish line after completing a re-run of the women's 4 x 100m Relay

It was one of the most unsual sights at these Olympic Games with just the Americans taking part in a relay race held just for them

Despite the USA being the only team on the track, the final changeover was still a little iffy

It was a surreal moment at Olympic Stadium as the United States' 4x100m relay team qualified for Friday's final – with no one else on the track

Tianna Bartoletta, English Gardner, Morolake Akinosun and Felix finished the re-run in a time of 41.77sec – the fastest time overall – to bump China from the field

They were the only athletes on the track at the time, making it a truly bizarre sight.

Their only goal was to beat the time set by the the Chinese who were the slowest to qualify with 42.70.

The team retook their places in lane 2 of the track, the exact same lane they were places earlier in the day.

In the end, the team won comfortably with a time of 41.77, despite a difficult final changeover.

Morolake Akinosun of Team USA crosses the finish line after completing the teams re-run

At times, it looked more like a public practice session than an Olympic race

'I'm very relieved,' said Felix afterward. 'I just wasn't sure how a situation like that played out. I have never been in that situation before, but I am happy that we got a shot at it.'

However some have suggested their fastest-qualifying time was helped by the fact there was nobody else out on the track.

There was a truly mixed reaction from the crowd in the stands having witnessed one of the most unusual things seen at these Olympic Games.

Earlier in the day, video showed the moment that Brazilian sprinter Kauiza Venancio encroached on Team USA's lane.

Tianna Bartoletta, English Gardner, Allyson Felix and Morolake Akinosun were clearly delighted at being given the opportunity to re-run their qualifying race

There would have been no excuses this time around had there been any mistakes!

Although her feet did not cross the line, but her arms swung well into Felix's lane.

That split-second intrusion caused Felix to miss her opportunity to hand-off to Gardner, and in a last-ditch effort she threw the baton at her teammate and it fell on the ground - an immediate disqualification.

Knowing that they had a chance to protest the race if they finished, Felix picked up the baton and made Gardner continue running. The Americans finished dead last, but by finishing they were allowed to petition for a review.

After the race, Felix explained to reporters what she felt as she was making the pass.

'I just felt contact and it tripped me up,' Felix said.

The relief on the women's faces was clear to see after being given a second chance at gold

Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun made their way around the track to greet their fourth team member after completing the race

The U.S. women's 4x100 relay team were initially disqualified from running in the final after dropping the baton in their qualifying heat on Thursday

The Americans earned the right to re-run the race after Allyson Felix complained that a Brazilian sprinter elbowed her as she was handing off the baton

In the re-run they had to beat the time set by eighth-place qualifier China (42.70) in order to earn a spot in the final on Friday

After dropping the baton, Felix picked up the baton and made her teammate English Gardner carry on the race so that they could have the right to petition a review

When the baton fell, Felix was clearly angry, yelling and even pushing her teammate Gardner in frustration

This is Felix's last chance for gold at these Olympics, after losing the 400-meter race to a Bahamian runner her dove over the finish line to secure first place

Brazilian sprinter Kauiza Venancio (left) is the runner who elbowed Felix. The Brazilian team has since been disqualified

Felix explains the botched handoff in the 4x100R. #TeamUSA will re-run at 8pm Rio time. https://t.co/8MXXlqgUXR https://t.co/muPEg9NTXR — NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 18, 2016

The American women had been heavily favored to pick up gold in the 4x100 relay.

Felix was part of the four-person team that set a world and Olympic record in the 4x100 at the London games in 2012. That team ran the race in 40.82 seconds.

This is Felix's last chance for gold at the Olympics, after placing second in the 400-meter dash thanks to a Bahamian runner who made a controversial dive over the finish line to secure gold.

It was less dramatic in the men's 4x100 qualifying heats on Thursday, with the U.S. easily winning their heat and running the fastest time of all the qualifiers with a 37.65 finish.

But it will be a very different race come Friday, when Usain Bolt joins his relay team. He has helped the Jamaican team take home gold in the event in the past two Olympics.

In order to petition the IAAF, runner must finish their race, so Felix had Gardner continue the race

Gardner jets down the third leg of the race after the botched hand off

Felix was very clearly frustrated when her team finished dead last due to the tampered hand-off

The American women have been heavily favored to pick up gold in the 4x100 relay

Twitter users were shocked to see the baton drop, and rallied for the American team to be reinstated

WOMEN'S QUALIFYING 4X100 RELAY TEAMS 1. USA - 41.77 (after re-running race) 2. Jamaica - 41.79 3. Great Britain - 41.93 4. Germany - 42.18 5. Ukraine - 42.49 6. Nigeria - 42.55 7. Trinidad & Tobago - 42.62 8. Canada - 42.70 9. China - 42.70 now bumped Advertisement