History ShockingElimination / TheAmazingRace

** 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. Made even moore egregious when interviews with them revealed that the crew never caught up to them and they had to wait for about an hour before production decided to give them a new crew.

** 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.

** 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. However, bad luck in Penang with both the tasks and navigation put their race to an end in the penultimate leg.

After 34 seasons and a dozen international versions, that's a lot of examples of this trope.

** Jocelyn & Victor won the first two legs handily and looked like huge threats in the race. However a combination of bad luck with their flight going to Vietnam being delayed and struggling with the tasks in the double leg cut their run short in Leg 4.

* Jocelyn & Victor won the first two legs handily and looked like huge threats in the race. However a combination of bad luck with their flight going to Vietnam being delayed and struggling with the tasks in the double leg cut their run short in Leg 4.

** 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.

* 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 34:
* Abby and Will. Although they never placed higher than 3rd on any leg, this season aired almost back-to-back with Australia season 6, which allowed many teams to continue racing after waiting out their COVID-19 isolation period. Meanwhile, Abby and Will got eliminated for catching COVID.

After 33 seasons and a dozen international versions, that's a lot of examples of this trope.

** 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.

** 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, to crashing out of the competition in 7th place on just their third appearance, when five competing couples were in isolation following the Turkey leg.
** 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. Ultimately, in a race to the finish, Angel & Frankie managed to check in ahead of them by 25 seconds, which resulted in Flick & Gabby being eliminated.

** [=MJ=] & Chelesa 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, being U-Turned by Jaskirat & Anurag. 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.

** 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, to crashing out of the competition in 7th Place on just their third appearance, when five competing couples were in isolation following the Turkey leg.
** 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. Ultimately, in a race to the finish, Angel & Frankie managed to check in ahead of them by 25 seconds, which resulted in Flick & Gabby being eliminated.