The Amazing Race eliminated dating couple Aly Dudek and Steven Langton during the 26th season's special two-hour seventh episode Friday night on CBS.

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Aly Dudek, a 24-year-old Olympic athlete from Milwaukee, WI, and Steven Langton, a 31-year-old Olympic athlete from Boston, MA, were ousted from the race around the world after they survived a non-elimination leg but then arrived at the eighth Pit Stop in last place.

"We had a pretty good feeling that that was our fate," Steve said following his team's ouster.

"We should've won the whole thing. Every one of those teams still here knows that. They all wanted to get rid of us, but we actually took ourselves out. We just made it so much easier for all of them. Ugh, you're welcome," Aly said.

The seventh leg of the Race began with blind daters Laura Pierson and Tyler Adams enjoying their "Date Night" reward and then blind daters Hayley Keel and Blair Townsend departing the sixth Pit Stop in first place at 12:35AM. Aly and Steve left in second place at 12:41AM, and they were followed by dating couple Michael Dombrowski and Rochelle Nevedal at 12:45AM.

Behind Mike and Rochelle were dating couple Matt Cucolo and Ashley Gordon at 12:55AM, blind daters Jenny Wu and Jelani Roy at 12:56AM, and finally Laura and Tyler at 12:58AM.

The teams' first set of clues instructed them to fly for 10 hours to Windhoek, Namibia and then sign up for another flight on one of six bush planes.

All the teams got on the same long flight, and then Aly and Steve got on the first bush plane.

Jenny and Jelani got on the second bush flight, Matt and Ashley got the third, Laura and Tyler hopped on the fourth flight, Mike and Rochelle snagged the fifth, and then Hayley and Blair got stuck on the sixth bush flight. Hayley told the cameras they fell behind the pack because Blair wanted the comfortable seats on the flight.

The teams then had to drive themselves to Bushmen Village and pick up a salt lick along the way.

Mike and Rochelle had trouble starting their car but Mike just wasn't using the right key.

Aly and Steve arrived at the village in first place. They were then followed by Jelani and Jenny, Matt and Ashley, Laura and Tyler, Hayley and Blair, and Mike and Rochelle.

Hayley and Blair and Laura and Tyler got to the task without picking up their salt licks so they had to go back before starting the Roadblock task.

For the Roadblock, the participating Racers were required to help the bushmen build a traditional sand hut from scratch using sticks and dry grass.

Aly opted to take on the Roadblock task for her team, as did Jelani, Matt, Tyler, Blair, and Rochelle.

Although they were a little bit behind at the start of this task, Tyler built his hut quickly and efficiently. Laura and Tyler therefore headed out in first place, and they were soon followed by Matt and Ashley, Jenny and Jelani, Aly and Steve, Hayley and Blair, and Mike and Rochelle.

The teams then drove themselves to Ranger Headquarters and searched for the head ranger, who would hand them their next clue.

Laura and Tyler arrived at the headquarters in first place followed by Matt and Ashley, Jelani and Jenny, Aly and Steve, Hayley and Blair, and finally Mike and Rochelle.

It then became time for the teams to complete one of two possible Detour tasks: "Track" or "Pack."

"Track" required the teams to use telemetric technology in order to locate an elephant. 

"Pack" required the teams to prepare a meal of wildebeest meet, drive it into the wilderness and then serve hungry wild dogs.

Laura and Tyler, Jelani and Jenny, Matt and Ashley, and Mike and Rochelle all wanted to feed the dogs. Aly and Steve would've liked to try "Pack" as well but they were told too many teams were doing it.

As a result, Aly and Steve had to attempt "Track" along with Hayley and Blair. It ended up being a much more time-consuming task than "Pack." Aly and Steve were actually convinced they were in last place after completing the challenge.

Still maintaining their lead, Laura and Tyler finished the Detour in first place. However, Matt and Ashley were extremely close, finishing in second place. They were then followed by Jenny and Jelani, Mike and Rochelle, Aly and Steve, and Hayley and Blair.

The teams then learned they must drive themselves to their next Pit stop at Spitzkoppe Came.

Matt and Ashley were in the lead but stopped when the other cars did behind them to see what was going on. It ended up being nothing and the other Racers were just messing around with them, so they regretted stepping out of their car. They later asked for directions.

Meanwhile, Aly was telling Steve he was driving too close to the left side of the road. She proved herself to be correct as Steve ran over something in the road and got a flat tire. Aly was annoyed and frustrated. Mike and Rochelle also appeared to get lost.

It came down to a foot race between Matt and Ashley and Laura and Tyler for the win, but Matt and Ashley stepped on the Pit Stop mat and met The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan in first place. As a prize for finishing the leg before any of the other teams, Matt and Ashley won $5,000 each.

Laura and Tyler then arrived at the Pit Stop in second place followed by Hayley and Blair in third, Jenny and Jelani in fourth, and Mike and Rochelle in fifth place.

Aly and Steve arrived at the Pit Stop in sixth -- and last -- place. However, Phil revealed it was a non-elimination leg so they had to complete an additional Speed Bump task in the next leg. Aly and Steve were thrilled to get another chance.

All the teams subsequently watched the sun go down and camped overnight in tents.

The following day, Matt and Ashley departed the seventh Pit Stop in first place at 6:47AM. They were then followed by Laura and Tyler at 6:48AM, Hayley and Blair at 7:08AM, Jenny and Jelani at 7:35AM, Mike and Rochelle at 7:54AM, and finally Aly and Steve at 8:12AM.

The teams were instructed to head to the town of Swakopmund, go to a bookstore, pick up the local paper, and then look through the text for their next clue. The teams were also warned a Double U-Turn was looking ahead in this leg.

It seemed like most of the teams agreed they wanted to U-Turn Jenny and Jelani. That was Matt and Ashley's plan because of personal reasons, but everyone else knew the pair still had an Express Pass in play, so they wanted to flush that out. Jenny and Jelani therefore knew they had a big target on their backs.

Once the teams retrieved a newspaper, they had to find a local to translate the German into English for them. The teams quickly discovered they were to drive 6.8 kilometers to a skydiving place. Everyone was pretty excited at the idea of skydiving.

On the way to the next Roadblock task, Jenny and Jelani had a flat tire they needed to deal with.

For the Roadblock at the skydiving place, the Racers had to try to track down a package dropped from a plane 1,000 feet above them in the air. The task required them to keep their eye on the package because it was dropped about a mile away from them.

Laura and Tyler got to the Roadblock task in first place. They were soon followed by Matt and Ashley, Hayley and Blair, Mike and Rochelle, Jelani and Jenny, and then Aly and Steve.

Once Aly and Steve got there, they realized it was time to complete their Speed Bump task, which forced them to make a toy airplane using recycled soda cans.

Laura wanted to take on the Roadblock task and was soon joined by Ashley, Hayley, Mike, Jelani, and Steve.

Both Mike and Steve took their eyes off the airdropped-package at one point, so they had a tough time finding it in the open desert.

Matt and Ashley finished the Roadblock in first place. They were then followed by Laura and Tyler, Hayley and Blair, Jelani and Jenny, Mike and Rochelle, and Aly and Steve.

The teams' next set of clues instructed them to drive themselves to Snake Bend Pan and search for their next clue.

Matt and Ashley got there in first place. On their heels were Laura and Tyler, Hayley and Blair, Jelani and Jenny, Mike and Rochelle, and finally Aly and Steve.

It then became time for the teams to complete one of the two following Detour tasks: "Work" or "Play."

"Work" required the teams to drag five enormous tires behind their trucks in order to smooth out five miles of a bumpy road.

"Play" required the teams to slap on skis, follow a marked path up and around a sand dune, and then sled down a series of sand dunes to get their next clue.

Laura and Tyler, Hayley and Blair, and Mike and Rochelle all wanted to get to work. Matt and Ashley and Aly and Steve chose to play.

Assuming they were going to be U-Turned in the near future, Jenny and Jelani decided to use their Express Pass to skip over the "Play" Detour task.

Matt and Ashley finished the Detour in first place. They were then followed by Laura and Tyler, Jenny and Jelani -- because they were afforded the chance to skip ahead -- Hayley and Blair, Mike and Rochelle, and Aly and Steve.

The teams then arrived at the Double U-Turn board nearby one at a time. Matt and Ashley got there first and chose to U-Turn Jenny and Jelani just as they had anticipated. Laura and Tyler got to the board in second place and opted to U-Turn Aly and Steve. Hayley and Blair got there next, followed by Jenny and Jelani, Mike and Rochelle, and finally Aly and Steve.

Jenny and Jelani had to complete the "Work" Detour task, while Aly and Steve discovered they were going to be put to work as well. By the time Jenny and Jelani finished the Detour, they were in fifth place. Aly and Steve completed their final task in last place.

The teams were then instructed to drive themselves to Goanikontes Oasis, where they must pick up an exotic animal and bring it to the Pit Stop nearby. The animals included a donkey, camel and zebra.

Although it was another close call, Laura and Tyler stepped on the Pit Stop mat in first place and won a trip to Queenstown, New Zealand. Matt and Ashley came in second place, and Hayley and Blair finished in third place.

Behind Hayley and Blair were Jenny and Jelani in fourth place and Mike and Rochelle in fifth place. Aly and Steve finally met Phil in sixth -- and last -- place. They expected to be eliminated upon their arrival and that news was soon confirmed for them.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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