America, a sprint powerhouse, broke its winning record in the mixed 4×400 meters. World Athletics Relay Bahamas 24 On Sunday (5th), she also showed an overwhelming performance in the women’s 4×400 meters.
Meanwhile, Botswana won the men’s 4x400m, becoming the first African country to win the men’s sprint event at the World Relays.
Earlier in the evening, 30 more spots for the Paris 2024 Games were secured in the second round of Olympic qualification. And of all those locations, it was the host nation’s success in the first mixed 4×400 meter heat that drew the biggest reaction from the crowd as the Bahamas qualified for the Olympics.
USA breaks mixed 4x400m winning record
A day after breaking the championship record in the heat, the U.S. mixed 4×400 meter team broke the record again in the finals, winning in 3:10.73. This was the fastest time in history outside of the World Championships.
Matthew Boling gave his team an early lead in the first leg before handing it over to Linna Irby-Jackson. She maintained her pole position, but the Netherlands’ Lieke Claver and Rashidat Adeleke both moved up, with the latter posting a sensational split of 48.45 seconds, the fastest in world relay history.
Willington Wright gave the Americans a little more leeway in the third leg and was then replaced by Kendall Ellis, who led his team to victory. Behind her, Femke Boll fought off a strong challenge from Ireland’s Charlene Moseley to take second place in 3 minutes 11.45 seconds, 0.08 behind Ireland.
Nigeria just missed out on the podium, but achieved a new African record with a time of 3 minutes 12.87 seconds.
At the start of the evening’s program, the Bahamas won a heat in the second round of Olympic qualifying, breaking a national record of 3:12.81 in the process. This time would have placed him in fourth place in the final had he qualified.
Shawnae Miller-Uibo anchors the Bahamas at the World Athletics Relay Bahamas 24 (© Sergio Matteo)
The difference in running order greatly influenced their success. This time Stephen Gardiner gave his team an early lead and fellow Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo took the team home with a 49.54 point split.
Germany (3:13.85) and Great Britain & NI (3:12.99) won the other heats, while Jamaica, Switzerland and Ukraine were runners-up across all three heats, securing the remaining Olympic spots.
Thomas doubles down to help USA win in women’s 4×400 meters
World championship and Olympic 200 meter medalist Gabby Thomas proved to be America’s most valuable asset tonight.
Just 20 minutes after running the team’s winning leg of the 4x100m, Thomas was back on course for the 4x400m final. Not content to just coast, Thomas took the baton from Quanella Hayes and ran a 49.58 split, the fastest on the U.S. team, before passing it on to Bailey Lea.
Gabby Thomas of the United States competes in the women’s 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 (© Sergio Matteo)
Alexis Holmes, who led the U.S. to gold in the mixed 4×400 meters at last year’s World Championships, ran a great last leg (49.63 seconds) and finished first in 3:21.70. This is the second fastest relay in world relay history.
In the race for second place after the United States, Natalia Kaczmarek showed a strong performance with a time of 49.46 seconds, pushing Poland into second place with a time of 3 minutes 24.71 seconds. Canada, who finished fourth in the past three world championships, finished third this time with a time of 3 minutes, 25.17 seconds to advance to the top three.
Great Britain and NI took fourth place in 3:25.84, more than a second ahead of Norway, who took the national record in 3:26.88.
Just 90 minutes ago, six more spots for the Paris 2024 Games were secured in the second round of Olympic qualification.
Jamaica, who unexpectedly missed out on advancing to the finals, won the first heat with a time of 3:28.54, and India came in second. Despite being world indoor and outdoor champions, without two of the sport’s strongest sprinters, the Netherlands won the second heat in 3 minutes 27.45 seconds, with Switzerland following suit. In the third and final heat, Belgium won with a time of 3:26.79, while Spain broke the long-standing national record and took second place with a time of 3:27.30.
Botswana comes from behind to win the men’s 4x400m
Almost eight months ago, Botswana was disqualified from the men’s 4x400m at the 23rd World Athletics Championships in Budapest for a substitution outside the zone.
However, here in Nassau, they dominated the final, winning by a margin of 1.64 seconds in a world-leading time of 2:59.11, becoming the first African country to win the men’s sprint relay at the World Relays.
Italy took the lead in the first exchanges thanks to a strong opening leg from Luca Cito. However, Botswana’s Busan Koren Kebinatosipi ran well before being replaced by world 100m silver medalist Lesil Tebogo.
The versatile sprinter posted a split of 43.72 points to put Botswana in the lead, and Leungo Scotch maintained that position in the third leg. Behind him, South Africa were locked in a battle with Japan and world indoor champions Belgium.
Botswana takes first place in men’s 4x400m at World Athletics Relays Bahamas round 24 (© Sergio Matteo)
Bayapo Ndri represented Botswana in the final leg, posting a split of 44.13 and leading Botswana to victory in 2:59.11. Rhys Pillay overtook Belgian Jonathan Sakour to take second place for South Africa with a time of 3:00.75. Belgium finished in third place with a time of 3:01.16, slightly ahead of Japan (3:01.20).
The United States was noticeably absent from the finals. They had been disqualified from Saturday’s race after falling out of their assigned order during one of the changeovers. So I had to be satisfied with my race in the second round of Olympic qualifying, which I won with a time of 2:59.95. India finished second with a time of 3:03.23.
In the second heat, Spain defeated Poland (3:02.91) to win in 3:02.39. Brazil then defeated Trinidad and Tobago (3:02.39) in 3:01.86 in the third and final heat, winning by just 0.05 seconds over world silver medalist France.
It was especially bittersweet for the Olympic host nation to miss one of their key players, Thomas Jordier, who returned from injury during Saturday’s heat. And as France’s only medalist at last year’s World Championships, expectations were high heading into this Olympic season.
Nevertheless, they, and all other countries that did not qualify for the Olympics, still have a chance to qualify for the Olympics. There are two spots left for him in each relay event, which will be awarded to the top nations based on their performance within the qualifying spots.
John Malkin of World Athletics
