A lot will depend on whether it's slip-and-grab versus grab-and-slip.
Not that they aren't fallible and human, but you don't get picked for the Harlem Globetrotters if you aren't sportsmanlike and quite aware of the rules of the competition.
Loved that a bunch of the teams started spontaneously dancing when they went for the mat.
If I recall correctly, the first time the hay bale challenge ran, it was very early in the competition, maybe like the third leg or so? Which meant that Lena/Kristy had a bunch more energy still in their tank. At this point in this race, the teams had had an overnight in the airport, a flight, and a long day of activity before they came up on the bales, plus the intimidating knowledge that the same task had taken out a great team in the past.
They really are making some of these challenges downright fiendish, aren't they?