Shocking Elimination / The Amazing Race

There's usually one every season, with many seasons having more than one, many before mid-season. Mainly due to several travel variables outside the control of contestants: such as bad taxis, traffic incidents, the odd luck-based challenge, unlikely injuries, or in earlier seasons delayed flights.

Early high performers tend not to have a large starting advantage on the next episode due to the show's tendency to equalize the teams at the beginning of every leg.

After 35 seasons and a dozen international versions, that's a lot of examples of this trope.

United States

• Season 2:
  • Shola & Doyin, who went from the top of the pack to eliminated in 8th place when they had trouble navigating in Namibia and their van got bogged down in the sand.
• Season 3:
  • Heather & Eve looked like a serious threat, until their decision to take a cab to Pit Stop when their clue told them to walk famously eliminated them in 9th place.
  • Aaron & Arianne cruised along at the top of the pack until the big equalizer near the end of leg 4, after which their decision to put unleaded fuel in their diesel car put them in a hole they could never recover from, eventually eliminating them in 7th. In a more meta sense, they were the first team to get such focus at the beginning of the season and not make it to the end.
  • Derek & Drew, with their four leg, wins and being the only Alpha Male team on the season, were the favorites to win with four teams remaining, but their repeatedly missing the Roadblock clue in Vietnam eliminated them short of the Final 3.
• Season 4:
  • Millie & Chuck were running a solid season going into the 9th leg, and, due to Kelly & Jon getting lost and losing out on the Fast Forward to Reichen & Chip, had a huge lead heading into the Roadblock. However, due to sleep deprivation, they drove around for over an hour looking for a clue box that had been right next to the previous task. This gave Kelly & Jon time to catch up, and Jon passed Chuck on the Roadblock. Kelly & Jon beat them to the Pit Stop, and they were eliminated.
• Season 5:
  • Alison & Donny won the first leg, and were doing well in the second leg, but their decision to take a bus instead of a cab to the Roadblock, and not even the direct bus, dropped them quickly to last place and got them eliminated.
  • Bob & Joyce had been finishing near the top of the pack for the first three legs, but a ticketing agent mistakenly booked them business class tickets to Russia. There were no economy class tickets left on the flight, so they were forced to take a flight much later than all the other teams, and had no chance to catch up.
• Season 6:
  • Lena & Kristy looked like a strong team through the first two legs, and were even chosen to be in the "strong" group in the rowing task, but in the third leg they ran into the Hay Bale Roadblock, and Lena spent 8 hours on the task before Phil came out into the field to eliminate them.
  • Hayden & Aaron had been trading leg wins with Kris & Jon all season before the penultimate leg, when bad luck reared its head with a combination of bad cabs and Hayden struggling with the Luck-Based Mission lock Roadblock.
• Season 7:
  • Debbie & Bianca won the first leg, but in the third they drove two hours in the wrong direction. Though the time consuming four pounds of meat Roadblock gave them an opportunity to catch up, they were ultimately eliminated by a matter of minutes, upon which Phil commented that he had been expecting them to run in the top-3 all season.
• Family Edition:
  • The Schroder Family went from constantly finishing in the top half of the field to getting eliminated in their home city of New Orleans when Mark got lost looking for a location five miles away from where he used to work.
• Season 9:
  • Wanda & Desiree went from early favorites to eliminated in the third leg when they suffered No Sense of Direction in Germany.
• Season 10:
  • Duke & Lauren finished 2nd and 3rd on the first two legs, but got lost looking for the coal Detour in the third leg, wound up at the bird cage Detour by mistake, did the longer task because they were there, and were eliminated.
  • Peter & Sarah had won two legs and were the favorites to win at midseason, but got lost driving around Kuwait looking for the Detour, finishing the leg long after all the other teams had checked in.
  • Dustin & Kandice were the favorites to win with four teams remaining, having beaten a Fast Forward and made all the other teams paranoid about their every move. However, they Failed a Spot Check while looking for the Detour in leg 10 and got Marked for Elimination, then getting lost in the Detour in leg 11 got them eliminated.
• All-Stars (2007):
  • Rob & Amber finished in 1st on each of the first three legs, only to be eliminated in the fourth after one of the worst streaks of horrible luck and bad decisions in race history, culminating in Rob falling apart while Mirna, who they had lied to and misdirected less than an hour earlier, passed him up on the letter Roadblock.
• Season 12:
  • Lorena & Jason were the only team other than Azaria & Hendekea to have won a leg. Even though they managed to survive the third leg where Lorena melted down on the milking Roadblock, they were so far behind that they never saw another team in the next leg. The U-Turn didn't help either.
  • Azaria & Hendekea won three of the first four legs, but a ticketing error caused them to be stranded in Lithuania in the sixth leg, resulting in their elimination.
• Season 13:
  • Mark & Bill finished 4th and 2nd in the first two legs, but a combination of failing to Read the Freaking Clue, taking a taxi instead of walking, and Mark struggling with the wrestling Roadblock, dropped them out of the Race.
  • Terence & Sarah had only finished below 3rd place once all season heading into the 8th leg (that being a 4th place finish), when the went for the Fast Forward against Nick & Starr. Vegetarian Terence could not eat the sheep at the Fast Forward, and they returned to the course, having wasted so much time that they could not catch up to the other teams.
  • Toni & Dallas seemed a lock for the Final 3 in the penultimate leg until Dallas made the fatal mistake of leaving their fanny pack, containing all their money and passports, in a taxi.
• Season 14:
  • Amanda & Kris had finished at the top of the pack for the first three legs before struggling with both sides of the Detour in Siberia, knocking over the wood pile, and getting lost during the window installation side. Since they were U-Turn by Margie & Luke, they had to complete both, and were eliminated.
• Season 15:
  • Zev & Justin had easily won the fourth leg, but at the Pit Stop realized that they had lost Zev's passport. They were not able to recover it, and were ejected from the game.
  • Flight Time & Big Easy started the penultimate leg over an hour-and-a-half ahead of Brian & Ericka, the leg had no equalizer, and Brian & Ericka had a Speed Bump to complete. However, what looked like a Foregone Conclusion turned on its head when Big Easy struggled to unscramble the word "Franz" because Dan reneged on a deal to work with Big Easy, taking a four hour penalty instead, and were subsequently eliminated.
• Season 16:
  • Monique & Shawne finished 2nd and 5th in the first two legs, but Shawne struggled with the lasso Roadblock, eliminating them.
  • Joe & Heidi had finished at the front of the pack for the first four legs, and their last leg should have been a Foregone Conclusion, as they started the leg in 3rd place, and there was no equalizer to close the two-hour gap between them and Jeff & Jordan. However, they were U-turned by Louie & Michael, and were unable to translate the Morse Code, forcing Phil to field eliminate them.
  • Steve & Allie had five straight top-3 finishes entering the 8th leg, but their cab driver got lost, leading them to frantically switch Detours, then doing it again when Allie was physically unable to balance the flag on her head. This dropped them so far behind they were eliminated.
• Season 17:
  • Connor & Jonathan had two top-3 finishes in three legs, and had curb-stomped the other teams by over an hour in the third leg, but dropping to the second flight in the fourth leg, and Jonathan's struggles at the Sledding Detour in Sweden eliminated them in 9th.
  • Katie & Rachel also had strong performances in the first three legs, and went through the same flight/sledding troubles as Connor & Jonathan. Though they managed to beat Connor & Jonathan to survive the fourth leg, the following leg did not have an equalizer, and they were far enough behind that they never had a chance to survive.
  • Gary & Mallory were putting together a strong Always Second Best season when they got lost driving around Oman, and were eliminated in 6th place.
• Unfinished Business:
  • Margie & Luke were eliminated in the 6th leg after Luke fell apart at a tea tasting Roadblock. This was the first time in a season and a half they had ever been in danger of elimination, and was made especially shocking by the producers breaking one of their main guidelines in that they showed Margie & Luke to be in danger at the end of the previous episode, which usually means that team is safe.
  • Zev & Justin were the favorites to win entering the penultimate leg, but they suffered a Humiliation Conga of a leg, struggling with all the tasks on their way to a 4th place finish.
• Season 19:
  • Andy & Tommy came in first on 6 legs, and were looking like they were going to get a 7th in the penultimate leg. However, they incorrectly interpreted the clue directing them to the Pit Stop. Of the other three teams, only Jeremy & Sandy figured it out, but their cab driver shared info with the drivers of the other two; Andy & Tommy weren't with the pack and so missed out.
• Season 20:
  • Joey "Fitness" & Danny had spent the first two legs in the back of the pack, but after that they jumped into the top of the standings, placing in the top 3 the next three legs, only to be eliminated the next leg when they went for the Fast Forward and lost it to Dave & Rachel.
• Season 21:
  • Amy & Daniel nearly won the first leg, only coming in second due to Amy telling a team where the clue was, then being passed up in a footrace to the Pit Stop. The next leg, however, their taxi driver got lost looking for the shop where their next clue was, dropping them from 2nd to last place and eliminating them.
  • Abbie & Ryan won two of the first six legs and had three 2nd place finishes, but fell hours behind during legs 7-9 due to missing two different connecting flights in Frankfurt. They were eventually U-Turned into elimination in leg 9, when Natalie & Nadiya, Trey & Lexi, and Jaymes & James collaborated to waste the second U-Turn slot, preventing them from saving themselves by U-Turning Josh & Brent.
  • Natalie & Nadiya were riding high having eliminated Abbie & Ryan, and with their own two leg wins looked like a lock to make the Final 3 with their collaborators. However, a local gave them bad directions to the Pit Stop in the penultimate leg, allowing Brent & Josh to pass them.
• Season 22:
  • Idries & Jamil started the second leg with an hour and a half lead over the two teams who had taken penalties in the previous leg, but Jamil's fear of water caused them to waste over two hours on the pearl diving Detour before they even thought of switching, ultimately causing them to be eliminated in 10th.
  • Jessica & John finished in the top 3 in the first three legs, only to struggle with both the Detour and the Roadblock in leg 4, and were eliminated despite still holding the Express Pass, which would have allowed them to skip either task.
  • Pam & Winnie had spent the previous three legs in the top two, and were in a comfortable 2nd place for most of the 7th leg until they collapsed at the Detour. Even more shocking, three other teams ran into either a speeding ticket or navigational issues or both, and most of the episode seemed set up for either Joey & Meghan or Max & Katie to be eliminated until the last few minutes.
• Season 23:
  • Chester & Ephraim had won the second leg, but in the third were delayed by three missed connecting flights to Portugal, and all the other teams finished the leg before they even arrived. By the time they made it, they met Phil at the airport before they could run the leg.
  • Brandon & Adam also went from 1st to last in leg 5, when they switched Detours and were then U-Turned by Leo & Jamal.
• All-Stars (2014):
  • Natalie & Nadiya were one of the stronger returning teams, but fell to bickering and infighting, and were the first eliminated.
  • Jet & Cord were running a more consistent game than they had been during Unfinished Business, but were eliminated in 5th place when their lack of attention to detail dropped them behind at the Running with the Ballz Detour. They might have survived if Leo & Jamal had stuck to the plan to U-Turn Brendon & Rachel, but the Afghanimals decided to U-Turn Jet & Cord instead. As the Cowboys were the last team to reach the U-Turn mat anyway, they were eliminated.
• Season 25:
  • Keith & Whitney did poorly in the first leg, taking a two hour penalty instead of completing the Roadblock, but then placed in the top 4 the next 3 legs. Due to struggling with the Detour, they were eliminated at 8th.
  • Kym & Alli were one of the stronger teams of the season, even winning back to back legs. However, in the ninth leg, they went for the Fast Forward, but lost it to Adam & Bethany. This put them in last and they couldn't catch up.
• Season 26:
  • Steve & Aly ran near the front of the pack for the first half of the season, but the combination of a flat tire, a Speed Bump, and struggling with Roadblocks caused them to finish last in both legs 7 and 8.
• Season 28:
  • Cameron & Darius, were an interesting case. They seemed to be a Foregone Conclusion, but caught up after 3 teams took the longer Detour. They were doing fine on the Roadblock until Darius took so long finding the clue, the other teams passed them.
  • Kurt & Brodie's dominating game took a dip after Scott & Blair were eliminated, but were still holding strong, until Kurt did too many Roadblocks causing Brodie to do the next one which dropped them so far behind the teams took the opportunity to U-Turn them.
  • Burnie & Ashley looked like locks for the Final 3, but after a series of mistakes (missing the bus, switching Detours, and walking halfway to the Pit Stop) dropped them to last costing them the race right before the end.
• Season 29:
  • Seth & Olive were early favorites to win having won the first leg, both being athletic, and having the strongest standing for the first 2 legs. However, a combination of a new twist (having a U-Turn before the Detour), struggling on both sides of the Detour, and walking to the Pit Stop got them eliminated in 9th place.
  • Becca & Floyd were almost consistently in the top 3 and even started the leg with a safe buffer in front of the other teams, but Floyd struggling on the Roadblock then falling victim to heat exhaustion ended their race in 5th place.
  • Matt & Redmond were consistently strong through most of the race, staying near the top of the pack in every leg and making numerous impressive recoveries. However, they fell short of the final 3 due to a fatal mistake in South Korea by opting to take the subway instead of a cab; this proved costly enough that they were completely unable to recover, even after Tara struggled on the video game Road Block.
• Season 30:
  • Eric & Daniel weren't necessarily top performers at the start, but prior to their elimination they had 3 straight top 3 finishes behind them, outpacing other strong teams like Alex & Conor and Cody & Jessica. In addition, with leg 8 following immediately after the previous leg, and Henry & Evan and Cody & Jessica U-Turned they seemed to be in a comfortable position for the leg. However struggling at the detour and the song and dance challenge ended up getting them eliminated in 6th place.
  • Lucas & Brittany, much like Eric & Daniel are an example of a team who may have been Elimination Houdini's at the start but eventually started to show improvement and had three 1st place finishes behind them heading into leg 9. However, Lucas losing his passport on their connecting flight to Bahrain pretty much sealed their fate and they were eliminated hours behind all the other teams.
  • Alex & Conor had the highest number of leg wins heading into the penultimate leg and had a comfortable buffer over Kristi & Jen heading into the final task before the Pit Stop. However, they misinterpreted one of the signs which screwed up their entire combination leading them to inputting the wrong combination enough times that Kristi & Jen passed them and Phil had to come out onto the field to eliminate them
• Season 31:
  • Art & JJ had the highest team average of the Amazing Race veterans in their original season and the advantage of competing against 5 newbie teams. In the first leg they ended up struggling from the start, ending up eliminated after Art took too long at a Roadblock when he struggled with cramps.
  • Bret & Chris went into leg 8 with a very strong start and were tied for first with Tyler & Korey. However, their decision to pick the "Needle In A Haystack" detour and not switch for several hours caused them to fall behind the other teams and eliminated them in 6th place.
  • Becca & Floyd, despite some low finishes in the first couple of legs, eventually found their footing with two leg wins and several top finishes. Despite being U-Turned in their final leg, Nicole & Victor also being U-Turned and getting lost looking for the cow Detour gave them a chance to catch up. However, failing to make sure all their eggs were intact prior to leaving for the market and only there discovering one had a crack resulted in them having to return to get more, leading to their elimination.
• Season 32:
  • Michelle & Victoria came close to winning on two legs, and looked like they had a good shot throughout. Despite starting Leg 5 in the top half and having a decent lead over the other teams however, having No Sense of Direction upon returning to Paris, even spending 6.5 hours in the car just looking for a nearby location, allowed the other teams, including Hayley & Kaylynn (who had a Speed Bump and their own struggles driving to Chantilly to contend with), to overtake and eliminate them.
• Season 34:
  • Marcus & Michael had two first place finishes and were seen as a consistent threat due to their military experience helping a lot in terms of discipline and navigation. However, struggling in the first half of the Spain Mega Leg (especially at the Roadblock) along with struggling to navigate put them behind with almost no time to recover.
• Season 35:
  • Jocelyn & Victor won the first two legs handily and looked like huge threats in the race. However a streak of bad luck through the back-to-back legs in Vietnam (especially at the rice paper Detour and the second Roadblock) cut their run short in Leg 4.
  • Morgan & Lena seemed to be safe in Slovenia due to Steve and Anna Leigh getting lost and then not realizing that the express pass was taken, leading to them attempting it. However, in spite of Phil saying that only the team that claimed the express pass was able to ride the zipline back down, Steve and Anna Leigh got to do it anyways, allowing them to catch up and send the sisters home.
• Season 36:
  • Michelle & Sean are a similar case to Cameron & Darius as they had been performing so poorly that most fans knew they would be eliminated soon. However Sunny & Bizzy had self-destructed so badly at the rebus Detour that most fans didn't expect them to make up the deficit even with both Michelle & Sean and Karishma & Kishori reading the map at the Roadblock wrong.
  • Angie & Danny had been a consistently solid team throughout the race and seemed like they would be able to make it to the finals. However, them getting separated from their camera crew, which prevented them from doing the Roadblock until the crew caught up with them ended up taking them out of the race in 6th place.

Asia

• Season 1:
  • Ernie & Jeena seemed like an experienced, in shape team and had finished the first leg in 2nd. On the second leg, despite starting in the lead, they let their taxi go at the Roadblock and their new taxi got lost on the way to the Fast Forward allowing Sahil & Prashant to take it. Their fate was finally sealed when they had to redo the Detour after spilling the soy sauce
  • Andy & Laura had five straight top-2 finishes heading into India, where they dropped from 3rd to last due to Failing a Taxi to the Pit Stop.
• Season 3:
  • Siblings Henry & Bernie had spent most of the season in the top-3, and never finished lower than 4th until they missed their connecting flight into India, and were eliminated in 5th place.
• Season 4:
  • Jess & Lani were the clear frontrunners going into the penultimate leg, having won three straight legs, only to fall victim to No Sense of Direction in South Korea and fall behind the other teams, after which they were subsequently eliminated in 4th.
• Season 5:
  • Brandon & Alpheaus started off winning the 1st leg & had a huge lead in the 2nd, but inserting the wrong location for their GPS managed to get them eliminated in 9th.
  • Treasuri & Louisa, who won 4 legs & had the best finishing average of the season after the 2nd leg, only to fall victim to being Yielded & U-Turn at the same leg ^note which, if they didn't have to face the U-Turn, they would actually finish first at the Detour causing them to be eliminated in 4th.

China Rush

• Season 1:
  • Sean & Amy had finished in 2nd for four of the first 5 legs, but were eliminated in leg 6 when they dropped their bags too far from the Pit Stop. When being sent back to get them, they were passed by the other teams and eliminated.
  • Sarah & Molly went from 1st to eliminated when they took a four-hour penalty at the golfing Roadblock in leg 10.
• Season 2:
  • Summer & Eachen started out strong, but withdrew due to a member of Summer's family whose cancer was getting worse.
• Season 3:
  • Xiao Bing & Xiao Bang seemed like early favorites to win with several top-4 finishes, until leg 6 when, despite leading for most of the leg, they got penalized for not leaving their bag in the designated area at the Detour. During that 30 minutes, every all the other teams checked in and eliminating them with 5 minutes left in their penalty.
  • Khai Shing & Khai Sheng put together a streak of five top-3 finishes heading into their final leg. When their taxi got lost, they decided to take their taxi to their destination despite the clue telling them to take the ferry. After learning they would have to take 4 ferries to correct this mistake (which would take at least 60 minutes), they decided taking a penalty would be less costly. They got a 1-hour penalty, and all the other teams checked in with less than 2 minutes remaining on it.

China

• Season 4:
  • Fan Bing Bing and Xie Yi Ling started off winning the first leg, and placed in the Top 3 for the next 2 episodes, until Leg 4, where they are eliminated in 7th due to a bad Detour choice and being Yielded.

Australia

• Season 1:
  • Ryot & Liberty initially started off as frontrunners of the season, placing third in the first leg, and maintaining that lead for the first part of the next. Unfortunately, a delayed flight caused them to lose their lead over the other teams, and they were unlucky again with the Ox side of the detour forcing them to switch tasks. Ryot struggled with the order of the coins in the Roadblock in Vietnam, when their were no coins left to compare with back at the temple. This resulted in their elimination in leg 2.
  • Matt & Tom were one of the stronger teams of the season and had won back to back legs before being eliminated in 4th place after Matt struggled on the sewing Roadblock in a leg where Sam & Renae already had to deal with a possible 30-minute penalty
• Season 2: One of those rare seasons where the first five eliminations all qualify:
  • Adam & Dane ran a rather lackluster first leg, but seemed to be doing much better in leg 2, initially completing the last challenge in 4th. Unfortunately they were overcharged for their taxi rides and ran out of money, so in desperation they started selling possessions to raise money for transport to the pitstop. they received a penalty for this which allowed every other team to check in ahead of this. Much was expected from them pre-race as they were an alpha male team, and the first season's course had heavily favored such teams.
  • The next three teams eliminated (Sue & Teresa, Kym & Donna, and then Ross & Tarryn) combined for seven top 4 finishes in the first three legs, and all looked like threats to make the Final 3 prior to their eliminations.
    • Sue & Teresa were initially at the head of the pack in leg 3 and normally excelled at mental challenges, but the latter was experiencing fatigue.
    • Kym & Donna got lost in Dubai, ran of of money and they were delayed by their car breaking down. So they didn't reach the pit stop and quit the race.
    • Ross & Tarryn were penalized for four hours when the former could not finish the Turkish symbols roadblock. While this was a non-elimination leg, the next leg proved unwinnable by design despite them doing well in each subsequent task. No equalizer (causing them to start 4 hours behind everyone) and a late intersection chained them to the other penalized team on top of being marked for elimination.

  • Then came Sticky & Sam getting eliminated in 7th, despite having two leg wins, the season's best finishing average, and being the favorites to win. They were eliminated due to struggling on both halves of the double leg, getting lost on the way to the crocodile farm and incurring an unaired voting u-turn (largely in part, because the other teams believed they still had an express pass).
  • Joseph & Grace started their last leg in 2nd place but were eliminated in 4th due to having very bad luck with taxis in Beijing. The first van charged them almost all their leg money (roughly a measly 700 yen), they than had to walk all night to the 2nd challenge site as a result of their next cab taking them to the wrong location. Their 3rd cab took them to the wrong section of the Great Wall (all the way to inner Mongolia) and Grant came out to their location to tell them they were out of the race.

• Australia v New Zealand:
  • Emily & Jono spent the first three legs fighting for 1st place, but Jono's dehydration issues, combined with a poor decision to switch Detours, eliminated them, even over Daniel & Ryan, who had driven an hour out of the way.
  • Murray & John had spent the first five legs never finishing below 2nd, until a series of mistakes in Russia, caused by John refusing to listen to Murray, eliminated them in 6th.
• Season 4:
  • Hayley & Mikayla: On Leg 6 in Mongolia, they are unable to find a clue box in the luck based sand dune searching challenge. This sets them back by 4 hours, on top of another 2 hour penalty for not getting a box with further delays from a bad traffic jam. Despite completing every other task in the leg well, the aforementioned delays from factors outside of their control were enough to see them eliminated. They still manage to stay positive at the end though.
  • Tom & Tyler had won all but two legs heading into the penultimate leg, and were seen as the likeliest team to make it to the finale and possibly win it all. However, being the only team to be U-Turned after Jerome & Jasmin voted for them ^note The original plan was to vote for Tim & Rod so that they will be tied in votes with the Footy Mates, thus also being U-turned. On the flight to Bangkok however, the Deadlies decided to change their vote put them in a bad spot, and despite catching up, it wasn't enough as they were eliminated in 4th place.
• Season 5:
  • Alex & Jack: Finished second on their the very first leg, but immediately quit the race in the subsequent leg, citing mental health issues.
  • Shane & Deb managed to finish in the Top 2 in three out of four legs, winning Leg 3. However, they crashed out on Leg 5 due to Shane injuring his knee on the Roadblock challenge, forcing the couple to withdraw the next day.
  • MJ & Chelsea are a threatening stowaway team, where in 10 legs they won 3. In their last leg they were initially coming first; until the combinations of a traffic jam, a turn based road block, struggling in the Small Cows Detour and being U-Turned by Jaskirat & Anurag caused them to fall behind. With help from the Originals alliance Skye Blue and Jake overtook them. Finally getting incorrect directions from a motorist allowed them to be narrowly edged out by a trailing Chris & Aleisha (despite the latter being sabotaged), ending their journey in 6th.
• Season 6:
  • Jake & Holly: On the third episode, they managed to arrive at the pit stop first. Unfortunately, they had to sit through a 30-minute penalty for not finishing a challenge. The seventeen teams then went on to check in during that short amount of time, making the couple go from first to last, finishing in 18th place.
  • Kathy & Chace: After being cleared of COVID-19 and returning to the competition on the tenth episode, they went from finishing in the top three in their first two episodes. When they returned, they quickly gained a lead over all the other teams besides Angel & Frankie. Unfortunately, an hours of operation board equalizer before the final task, meant they had to wait for all other teams to catch up. This combined with having to do a speedbump, five competing teams being in isolation following the Turkey leg, and a mismatch of scales from vendors caused them to check in last by under a minute, and narrowly get eliminated.
  • Flick & Gabby: The team managed to finish in the top 3 seven times (even coming first in one of the legs), and have been relatively consistent throughout the season. Unfortunately, they met their match at the Beat Detour in Belize, where they took four attempts to get it right and play in unison. Ultimately, in a race to the finish, Pako & Mori and Angel & Frankie managed to check in just ahead of them by (with the latter within 25 seconds), which resulted in Flick & Gabby being eliminated.
  • Pako and Mori: They finished in the top 4 in almost every leg and were basically a shoo-in for the finale with Tiffany and Cynthia and Kelly and Georgia^note both teams which had sat out legs due to COVID-19 still racing...however, Mori's fear of heights got the better of him at Optus Stadium, they decided to take a 15 minute penalty and were eliminated with less than 20 seconds left on the clock.
• Season 7 (Celebrity Edition):
• Grant and Chezzi: Grant's performance on other reality shows, such as Dancing with the Stars, set him up to seemingly excel on the Race. However, the Indian heat got to both him and his partner in the second leg, causing them to be medically removed from the competition.

Canada

• Season 1:
  • Kristen & Darren, who had two top-2 finishes and an Express Pass in hand, which they decided not to use even when they were fighting to avoid last at the Detour. Along with choosing a longer Detour ^note Making a boat and paddle to get the clue over completing 3 tasks inland, this decision would get them eliminated.
  • Hal & Joanne had not finished below 3rd place in first four legs, but were eliminated in the fifth after quitting a Luck-Based Mission task to find a stuffed moose in a truck full of lentils, getting a two-hour penalty, then got U-Turned and struggled with the Detour.
  • Jet & Dave were the favorites to win and even won three straight legs at one point, but in the penultimate leg, they got a cab driver who was only on her fourth day on the job, dropping them to the back of the pack, and then Dave struggled with the busker Roadblock, putting them out in 4th place.
• Season 2:
  • Cormac & Nicole had not to finish below 4th place in the first four legs, and looked like they were once again going to finish in the top half of the field before Nicole struggled on the Biathlon Roadblock, eliminating them in 8th place.
  • 6th place Pierre & Michel were not necessarily top performers, but they had been performing well over the previous two legs, and had a huge lead going into the Mentos art Roadblock, and there were still two U-Turn's and a Speed Bump for other teams to complete. Michel took 8 hours to do the Roadblock, and all the other teams passed them.
• Season 3:
  • Due to being one of the most physically fit teams on the season, Max & Elias were expected to cruise through the first half of the game. Instead, they went out first when Elias and his dyslexia struggled with the sportscasting Roadblock at TSN in Toronto.
  • Bar two 9th place finishes, Brian & Cynthia looked like one of the biggest threats on the show with several 2nd and 3rd place finishes, until culture shock, bad taxis, and several failed spot checks got them eliminated in 6th place
• Season 4:
  • Stéphane & Antoine were putting up the second most impressive progress of the season (after Jillian & Emmett) placing 3rd and 2nd in the first 2 legs. After hitting Vietnam, their lead collapsed after Stéphane both had trouble herding his ducks, and accidentally herded ducks for the other team. Their fate was sealed when they took a penalty after everyone else was done.
• Season 5:
  • Adam & Andrea were one of the stronger competitors so far and even had two 1st place victories. Sadly, however, they were victims of the Double U-Turn thanks to Korey & Ivana, and could not catch up ending their race in 5th place.
• Season 6:
  • Todd & Anna finished the top 3 in the first three legs, but a series of using their Express Pass in the third leg, getting lost on their way to the durian task, and getting U-Turned put them far enough behind that even Adam struggling tremendously on the Roadblock couldn't save them from finishing the race in 8th place.
  • Leanne & Mar had two leg wins under their belts, were almost consistently in the top half of the standings, and even had an advantage on a choreography based course. Unfortunately, a bad case of claustrophobia caused them to quit the zombie paintball task and get eliminated in 6th place.
  • Barring a couple of bad legs, Nancy & Melissa has been running an Always Second Best season, and the leg before their elimination had them join a group of a few teams that came in 1st on a leg where they had to complete a Speed Bump. They were also looking strong throughout Leg 9, but due to taking a bad cab that went in the wrong direction in the home stretch of the Mexico City leg however, they ended up losing the final sprint to Courtney & Adam and were subsequently eliminated.
• Season 7:
  • Jet & Dave, being the sole returning team (and one with a decent win-rate) for the season, had experience and strength on their side, and after making short work of both Roadblocks, looked like they'd once again be serious threats. However, getting lost in Kamloops after the 2nd Roadblock proved to be their downfall, and they dropped from 2nd to last on the very first leg.
  • Aarthy & Thinesh had been one of the more consistent teams of the season, with three leg wins (including their penultimate one) and almost always being in the top half of each leg. The following leg however, a string of bad luck (struggling at the Royal Ontario Museum task and starting the Thunder Bay portion last, losing the Face-Off, and difficulties at the cheese detour) eliminated them in 5th Place.
  • Dave & Irina had the best winning average of the season, with four 1st place finishes and only once dropping below the top three. Despite earning the ire of pretty much every team that season, their strength and cunning made them almost sure locks for the Final Three. In the penultimate leg however, choosing the much slower apple-sorting Detour and getting lost in finding the lyrics for the final task ended up ending their race just before the finale.
• Season 9:
  • Much like Max & Elias, Gail & Gisele were expected to ease through the first half off their physical prowess. They instead went home first due to Gisele making a series of critical errors on an uncharacteristically mental-based first leg.
  • Gracie & Lily looked like promising contenders, only to hit a Trauma Conga Line their last leg with Gracie choking on the scuba task, getting lost, being Passed, and Justin & Jermaine finding the sand dollar on the first sandcastle out of hundreds.
  • Derek & Jaspal seemed like threats to go far, having finished in the top 3 each of the first five legs, including one leg win. However in leg 6 they fell to the back of the pack due to their struggles at the wine-sniffing task, and then in leg 7, their struggles at the Swing detour and losing the poker Face-Off sent them home in 6th.

Vietnam

• Season 1 (2012 Edition):
  • Thanh Thủy & Minh Thoa put up two good finishes in the first two legs (including winning one of them). But fell so far behind in Leg 3 that not even using their Express Pass saved them from being the first team out
  • Thanh Tuấn & Mỹ Trâm had placed exceptionally well in the first 4 legs never falling below 4th until a hard day left them in 8th place
  • Chí Bình & Hồng Long had one of the best finishing averages of the final 4 and looked like the biggest threat to Baggio & Thành Phúc, but quitting a task left them with a 90 minute penalty that cost them the race.
• Celebrity Edition 2 (2014 Edition):
  • Miko Lan Trinh & Hoàng Nam had been in the top 4 on the first 2 legs, but fell behind after they received two penalties. One for failing to complete the weight guessing challenge. And another for losing their clue getting them out in 8th place.
  • Long Điền & Kim Dung looked like locks for the final 3 with consistently good placements never falling lower than 4th until they fell apart on Leg 7 accumulating 2 hours worth of penalties getting them eliminated.
  • Kiwi Ngô Mai Trang & Đỗ Hoàng Dương had put up 5 back to back leg wins prior to the penultimate leg, but multiple cab failures caused them to fall behind and be eliminated.

Latin America

• Season 2:
  • Roger & Omar had been in the top of the pack for the first 3 legs until Leg 4 when they broke a race rule saying they can't contact people outside production crew giving them a 4 hour penalty putting them in last.
  • Edison & Edison had the highest finishing average and the most legs won going into Leg 8. But a 30 minute penalty for taking a taxi dropped them from 5th to last eliminating them.
• Season 4:
  • Ana Paula & Renata had won 6 legs and had the best finishing average of the season until a 2 hour penalty put them into last on a non-elimination leg and they never caught up costing them the race.
• Season 5:
  • Manfred & Pierre placed in the top 3 for 8 straight legs and seemed like they would ease their way to the final 3. Until they couldn't complete the task at the lasso stadium and were eliminated on the field

Philippines

• Season 1:
  • Boom & Cheng were looking to be the second most dominant team after Marc & Kat with consistent podium finishes and never finishing in the bottom half. In the final 6, they were doing well despite Fausto & Dayal being talked out of their Intersection deal, until they got a horrendous cab driver who intentionally drove longer to get a higher fee. Even after switching cabs, the deficit caused was so bad that even Sheena & Gee being Yielded mid-task didn't save them.

Suomi

• Season 1:
  • Bakari & Samuel had the most wins in the season, and combined with them being young and in-shape, were seen as the race's frontrunners alongside Janne & Robin. However, bad luck in Penang with both the tasks (especially the blowpipe roadblock) and navigation put their race to an end in the penultimate leg even with Kaisa & Mari having a Speed Bump to contend with.

---