Week in Review: Standing out in World Athletics Relays
South African men, Spanish women distinguish themselves in meet in Guangzhou, China
The South African men and the Spanish women were the biggest winners in last weekend’s World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China.
Overall, a combined total of 70 relay teams — 14 in each of five events — qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
In addition, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and the U.S. had squads advance in all five relay races comprised of the men’s and women’s 4 x 100-meters, men’s and women’s 4 x 400, and the mixed 4 x 400.
However, South Africa stood out on the men’s side of the competition by winning the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 titles and Spain won the women’s 4 x 400 after being nipped by Great Britain for the gold medal in the 4 x 100.
The South Africa men were a known commodity entering the meet as its teams had won the silver medal in the men’s 400 relay in the Olympic Games in Paris last summer and placed fifth in an historically deep 1,600 relay. But the Spanish women had never qualified for the Olympics Games in the 400 relay until last year, when they were eliminated in their qualifying heat, and they have only qualified for three World championship meets, with their top finish being a fifth-place effort in 2022.
Although the Spaniards had been marginally more successful in the women’s 1,600 relay through the years, they only qualified for the Olympics in 1992, 2000, and last year, when they were eliminated in their heat. They had competed in the 4 x 400 relay in the World championships eight times since that meet began in 1983, but their only appearance in a final had come in 1991, when they finished seventh in the meet in Tokyo.
“First and foremost, it’s team camaraderie,” South African Akani Simbine said when he was asked before the meet about the key to success in the 400 relay. “If a team actually get along, then they are able to make it work.”
While South Africa and Japan, with times of 37.84 seconds, and the U.S., with a mark of 37.86, were the three teams that ran under 38.00 in different qualifying heats on Saturday, the battle for the gold medal on Sunday came down to the U.S., anchored by 26-year-old Brandon Hicklin, and South Africa, with the 31-year-old Simbine handling the final leg.
Hicklin appeared to have a solid two-meter lead after he received the baton from Kyree King, but Simbine did not panic or press after getting the stick from Bradley Nkoana.
Rather, the man who had placed fourth or fifth in the 100 in the previous four Olympics seemed to size up the situation during the first few strides of his leg and then set out in pursuit of Hicklin, who is in his second full season at the professional level.
Hicklin managed to keep Simbine at bay for a little while, but the South African had begun to make up ground on the American midway down the home straightaway and he overtook him with roughly 20 meters left in the race before crossing the finish line in 36.61 seconds, which was five hundredths of a second in front of the American at 37.66.
Olympic champion Canada finished third in 38.11, followed by Japan in 38.17, and Italy in 38.20.
“Once I got the baton and I saw that USA was in front of us, I just said to myself, ‘I need to catch the guy in front',” Simbine said in a World Athletics post. “I knew I could do it, and I just chased him. I feed from chasing, I feed from being able to chase. So it’s really great to be able to be in that position and get through it and get to the line first.”
King had given Hicklin a lead after he had taken the baton from Kenny Bednarek, who was fresh off a wind-aided time of 9.79 in the 100 in the second Grand Slam Track meet of the year on May 3, and Bednarek had received the stick from Courtney Lindsey.
Bayanda Walaza, who had won the 100 and 200 in last year’s World Athletics U20 Championships, handled the first leg for South Africa and Sinesipho Dambile ran the second.
In the men’s 4 x 400 relay, South Africa had been in fourth place after Gardeo Isaacs was credited with a split of 45.39 seconds on the first leg. But the team had moved into second place behind defending champion Botswana after Udeme Okon ran 44.24 on the second leg and it was in first — ahead of France, Belgium, Botswana, and Kenya in that order — after 17-year-old Leendert Koekemoer clocked 44.23 on his third-leg carry.
Zakithi Nene, who has a 400 best of 44.22, proceeded to extend the team’s lead on his anchor carry when his 43.64 split gave South Africa a winning time of 2:57.50.
Belgium finished second in 2:58.19, thanks to a 43.73 anchor leg by Alexander Doom, with Botswana, running without Olympic 200 champion Letsile Tebogo, placing third in 2:58.27.
France was fourth in 2:58.80, followed by Kenya in 2:59.29. The U.S, had failed to advance to the final when it finished a non-qualifying third in 3:01.23 in its first-round heat on Saturday.
South Africa and Kenya both set national records with their efforts in the final, with the Kenyans bettering a mark of 2:59.63 that had been run in a heat of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
South Africa’s victory in the men’s 4 x 400 had followed Spain’s win in the women’s race when Blanca Hervas had moved past U.S. anchor runner Bailey Lear with roughly 40 meters left in the race.
Spain trailed first-place South Africa after Paula Sevilla ran 52.05 on her opening leg, but the Spaniards had fallen back to third behind the U.S. and South Africa after Eva Santidrian clocked 50.58 on her carry. But Spain had a lead of nearly eight-tenths of a second over the second-place U.S. after Daniela Fra had run 50.91 on her third leg while American Maya Singletary had produced a 52.09 split on her carry.
Lear had looked comfortable when she moved past Hervas with 230 meters to go, but the Spaniard was not far back of Lear coming off the final turn and she began to reel her in with roughly 70 meters to go while on her way to a 50.59-second anchor leg that gave Spain a winning time of 3:24.13.
Lear ran 50.39 on her leg as the U.S. placed second in 3:24.72, followed by South Africa in 3:24.84, Norway in 3:25.35, and Italy in 3:26.40.
Spain, South Africa, and Norway each set national records with their efforts, with the Norwegians getting a 49.71 anchor leg from Henriette Jaeger.
“Myself and all of them never felt like this before,” Hervas said in a sports.yahoo.com post. “We are crazy excited -- gold medal, world relays champion, national record, everything -- my biggest dream, I am so thankful.”
Spain had first caught many people’s attention in the 4 x 100 relay on Saturday when a quartet of Esperanca Cladera, Jael Bestue, Sevilla, and Maria Isabel Perez had set a national record of 42.18 while winning its qualifying heat ahead of a second-place Jamaican team that ran 42.51.
Although the first pass between Cladera and Bestue in the final was not great and the second exchange from Bestue to Sevilla was far from textbook perfect, Sevilla and Perez had a smooth connection that left the Spaniard in front of Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, Success Eduan of Great Britain, and TeeTee Terry of the U.S. as she began her leg.
Jackson, the 2022 and ’23 World champion in the 200, had struggled last year, but many figured that the woman who has a personal best of 10.65 in 100 would overtake Perez, a 32-year-old sprinter with career best of 11.07 from 2022.
But that never happened as Perez, running in lane seven, was able to hold off Jackson in lane eight and Terry in lane six. However, she was unable to repel the charge of Eduan in lane nine, as the Brit was moving noticeably faster than anyone else in the race when she moved into the lead with about 15 meters left in the contest.
The British team of Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams, and Eduan clocked 42.21, followed by Spain in 42.28, Jamaica in 42.33, the U.S. in 42.38, and Canada in a national record of 42.46.
“I don’t even know what happened – I just went past them. That is all I did,” Eduan said in the World Athletics post. “We have worked hard for this. I was just so confident in these girls and what we are here for. I have a winning mentality, and I was always going to go for the gold.”
In the sports.yahoo.com post, she said she was not intimidated by running the anchor leg against seasoned sprinters such as Jackson and Terry.
“I did not think too much of (the) others, I just knew that if I gave all myself in, it would come out all right,” she said. “I have a mentality of a winner, I don't care if Shericka or Shelly-Ann (Fraser-Pryce), respect to them, are running. I am going to give my all and I'm going to pass them and I'm going to win. And we did that!”
Breaking down the lineups: While the U.S. foursomes which competed in the World Athletics Relays over the weekend were not as strong as the ones that won four of the five relays in last year’s meet in Nassau, Bahamas, it should be noted that South Africa did not appear to be at full strength in either the men’s 400 or 1,600 relays this year, and the British team that won the women’s 400 relay was without its two best short sprinters from last year.
In addition, Botswana’s men’s 4 x 400 relay squad did not include any of the four members of a team that ran the third-fastest time in history in finishing second to the U.S. in the Olympic Games. And the Netherlands did not enter a team in either the women’s or mixed 1,600 relays, events in which the Dutch had finished second and first, respectively, in the Olympics.
In the men’s 400 relay, the victorious South African team did not include Benjamin Richardson or Shaun Maswanganyi, who have run 9.86 and 9.91, respectively, in the 100. And the country’s 1,600 relay team was without Lithe Pillay, a 44.31 performer in the 400.
In the women’s 400 relay, Great Britain’s team was missing Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Nieta, who ran the first and fourth legs on a team that won the silver medal behind the U.S. in the Olympic Games.
The bottom line is that last weekend’s meet was a qualifying competition for the World championships, and the teams that finished in the top 14 in the men’s and women’s 4 x 100, and in the men’s, women’s, and mixed 4 x 400 relays secured a berth in the global title meet in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
Two remaining spots in each event will be filled via a performance list based on times posted from February 25, 2024, through August 24, 2025.
The Netherlands is expected to advance to the World championships in the women’s and mixed 1,600 relays via these lists as its top times of 3:19.60 in the former event and 3:07.43 in the latter are second only to the U.S., which has run 3:15.27 and 3:07.41, respectively.
Doing it the hard way, again: U.S. teams have won the last five global titles in the men’s 4 x 400-meter relay and been victorious in five of the last six Olympics in the event. But for the second consecutive year, an American squad had to finish among the top two teams in a repechage heat of the World Athletics Relays on Sunday in order to advance to the global championships later in the year.
A U.S. team of Elija Godwin, Justin Robinson, Kennedy Lightner, and Khaleb McRae won the second of three repechage heats in 2:58.68 on Sunday to earn a spot in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21. However, a squad of Jevon O’Bryant, Lance Lange, Lightner, and Godwin had finished a non-qualifying third in 3:01.23 in the fourth of four first-round qualifying heats on Saturday.
A top-two finish would have given the U.S. a spot in the eight-team final on Sunday, that was won by South Africa in 2:57.50, and an automatic berth in the World championships.
In last year’s meet, a U.S. team of Jacory Patterson, Christopher Bailey, Champion Allison, and Bryce Deadmon had won its first-round heat in 3:00.42, but then been disqualified because Allison had broken a rule when he re-positioned himself on the innermost part of the track after an official had place him in the fourth position from the rail as the second-leg runners entered the home straightaway.
Allison did not interfere with any of the incoming runners with his actions, that are allowed at the collegiate level in the U.S., but the international rules in place at the meet prohibited a relay runner from changing their position after an official had put them in a specific spot on the track to receive the baton from their teammate.
Following their disqualification, a team of Patterson, Allison, Bailey, and Deadmon won their repechage round in 2:59.95 in Nassau and a U.S. squad of Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Deadmon, and Rai Benjamin later won the Olympic title in 2:54.43, the second-fastest time in history.
Winning performance: The lone victory by a U.S. team in the World Athletics Relays on Sunday came in the mixed 4 x 400-meter relay when a quartet of Chris Robinson, Courtney Okolo, Johnnie Blockburger, and Lynna Irby-Jackson set a meet record of 3:09.54.
Australia finished second in an Oceania record of 3:12.20, followed by Kenya in 3:13.10, Great Britain in 3:14.74, and South Africa in 3:16.29.
Robinson, who had lowered his personal best to 44.15 in the 400 last month, had given the U.S. the lead with a split of 44.97 on his opening leg. But the team had fallen back to third behind Australia and Kenya after Okolo ran 50.88 on her second leg.
Blockburger then gave the U.S. a comfortable lead when his 44.16 carry on his third leg left the team with a gap of nearly a second over second-place Australia when he handed the baton to Irby-Jackson. She extended that advantage to more than two and half seconds with a 49.53 anchor carry.
What’s in a name: Micha Powell, who ran the first leg for a Canadian team that finished seventh in the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay in the World Athletics Relays on Sunday, is the daughter of Mike Powell, the world record-holder in the men’s long jump at 8.95 meters (29 feet 4½ inches).
The 30-year-old Micha ran a 53.97-second opening leg for a Canadian squad that ran 3:27.84 on Sunday.
Her father set the world record in the 1991 World championships in Tokyo when he came from behind to defeat U.S. teammate Carl Lewis in what is regarded as the greatest men’s long jump competition in history.
Lewis, who won an unprecedented four consecutive Olympic titles in the long jump from 1984-96, put together the best series ever in that competition as his five jumps measured 8.68 (28-5¾) or further. In addition, he had four jumps, two of which were wind-aided, of 8.83 (28-11¾) or farther.
Lewis, who had set a world record of 9.86 seconds in winning the 100 meters five days earlier, leaped 8.68 (28-5¾) in the first round before fouling in the second. He then posted wind-aided marks of 8.83 (28-11¾) in the third round and 8.91 (29-2¾) in the fourth.
Powell had jumped 7.85 (25-9¼) in the first round before hitting 8.54 (28-0¼) on his second jump, 8.29 (27-2½) on his third, and fouling on his fourth.
Powell was not happy with that foul ruling as it came on a leap that appeared to be a jump of about 28-9 (8.76), according to a report in the November 1991 issue of Track & Field News.
However, he put everything together in the next round when his 8.95 (29-4½) effort broke the world record of 8.90 (29-2½) that had been set by Bob Beamon of the U.S. in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Although Lewis appeared to be stunned by Powell’s leap, he responded with a career best of 8.87 (29-1¼) on his fifth jump. He then leaped 8.84 (29-0) on his sixth jump after Powell had fouled on his final effort.
Powell’s victory snapped a 65-meet winning streak that Lewis had compiled during the previous 10 years.
“Breaking the world record was traumatic; I wanted to let it sink in,” Powell told Track & Field News. “At the same time, Carl Lewis was trying to break it. I’m so accustomed to him beating me, I thought he was going to jump 9m [29-6 ½].”
Powell said he even told teammate Larry Myricks, who won the bronze medal with a leap of 8.42 (27-7 ½), that “Carl might beat me, so I have to say it right now: I’m the world record-holder.”
Inaugural winner: The mixed 4 x 100-meter relay was held for the first time at the international level in the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou and a Canadian foursome of Sade McCreath, Marie-Elosie Leclair, Duan Asemota, and Eliezer Adjibi won the event with a 40.30 clocking to start the meet on Sunday.
Jamaica finished second in 40.44, followed by Great Britain in 40.88, Australia in 41.22, and Italy in 41.25.
With the order of the event being woman-woman-man-man, the second pass of the race was critically important and a Spanish team was unable to connect on that exchange in its first-round heat on Saturday. In addition, a U.S. team placed fourth in 1:05.77 in its heat after Jada Mowatt dtopped the baton after failing to connect with Kendal Williams.
Williams eventually retrieved the baton and handed it off to Pjai Austin, who completed the race while striding across the line.
The mixed 400 relay is scheduled to be contested in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, next year, and in the 1928 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The event is not scheduled to be held in the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Unique setting: Yaroslava Mahuckikh of Ukraine and Sang-hyeok Woo of Korea won the women’s and men’s high jump titles, respectively, in the What Gravity Challenge in Doha, Qatar, last Friday.
Competing in the Katara Amphitheatre, the 23-year-old Mahuckikh cleared a yearly world-leading height of 2.02 (6-7½) while winning her third outdoor meet of the season without a loss. Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Maria Zodzik of Poland each cleared 1.96 (6-5), but Patterson placed second on a tiebreaker.
The 29-year-old Woo cleared 2.29 (7-6) to win his first competition of the outdoor season after winning his second title in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March.
Ryoichi Akamatsu of Japan and Raymond Richards of Jamaica each cleared 2.26 (7-5), but Akamatsu finished second on a tiebreaker. Olympic silver medalist Shelby McEwen of the U.S. finished sixth at 2.23 (7-3¾), with Olympic champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand placing 10th at 2.20 (7-2½).
Woo cleared 2.15 (7-0½), 2.20 (7-2½), 2.23 (7-3¾), and 2.26 (7-5) on his first attempts before making 2.29 (7-6) on his third try.
Winning return to the track: Fred Kerley of the U.S. won the men’s 100 meters in 9.98 seconds in the Franson Last Chance meet at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California, on Saturday.
The bronze medalist in last year’s Olympic Games, Kerley finished three tenths of a second ahead of compatriot Asani Hampton, who placed second in 10.28.
The 30-year-old Kerley preceded his 9.98 clocking in the final by running wind-aided times of 9.95 in a first-round heat and 9.87 in a semifinal last Friday.
Kerley was competing for the first time since he had been arrested in Miami on May 1, a day before he was scheduled to compete in the second Grand Slam Track meet of the season in nearby Miramar.
According to a post on cbsnews.com, Kerley was arrested and charged with battery after he allegedly punched his ex-girlfriend, and fellow Olympian, Alaysha Johnson, in the face during an interaction at a Dania Beach hotel.
CBS News Miami reported that the post was based on information in arrest documents it had obtained.
The post also noted that Kerley had previously been arrested in January in Miami Beach “for battery on an officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.”
The post added further that “during the incident, police bodycam video showed Kerley trying to get to his car while a police investigation was happening, which led to a physical altercation and ended with him being taken down by police.”
Promising start: Kenneth Rooks of the U.S., the silver medalist in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in the Olympic Games, opened his outdoor season on Saturday when he ran a personal best of 3:37.66 to place third in the 1,500 in the Portland Invitational in Oregon.
Brandon Kidder of the U.S. placed first in 3:35.63, followed by Matt Strangio of the University of Portland in 3:36.95 in the race in which Rooks ran his final 400 meters in 56.46 seconds.
The 25-year-old Rooks had upset a lot of form charts when he ran a personal best of 8:06.41 to place second to Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco in the Olympic steeplechase, but he had sustained a separated shoulder in his next race after falling over a barrier in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland.
In his last race prior to Saturday, he had run 7:56.68 in place 14th in the 3,000 in the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in February.
Four for four: DeAnna Price of the U.S., the 2019 World champion in the women’s hammer throw, won her fourth meet of the season without a loss when she posted a best of 77.02 (252-8) in the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana, last Friday.
Her winning mark came on her third throw of the competition after she had thrown 73.24 (240-3) in the first round and 75.64 (248-2) in the second.
She fouled on her fourth attempt before hitting 75.65 (248-2) on her fifth and 74.06 (242-11) on her sixth.
Her 77.02 (252-8) mark currently puts her fourth on the yearly world performer list behind Rachel Richeson (nee Tanczos) of the U.S. at 78.80 (258-6), defending Olympic and World champion Camryn Rogers of Canada at 78.14 (256-4), and Silja Kosonen of Finland at 77.07 (253-2).
Looking forward: Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, and Faith Cherotich of Kenya, the gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in the Olympic Games, are scheduled to headline an extremely strong field in that event when the third Diamond League meet of the season is held in Doha, Qatar, tomorrow (Friday).
The race is also expected to include Sembo Almayew and Lomi Muleta of Ethiopia and 2022 World champion Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan, who placed fifth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, in the Olympics.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand are two other Olympic champions from last year who are expected to compete in the meet.
Tebogo will run in the men’s 200 and Kerr will compete in the men’s high jump.
The women’s pole vault will include Katie Moon of the U.S. and Alysha Newman of Canada, the silver and bronze medalists in the Olympic Games, as well as 2024 World indoor champion Molly Caudery of Great Britain.
The top entries in the men’s javelin are Neeraj Chopra of India, Anderson Peters of Grenada, and Jakub Vadlejich of Czechia, who placed second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the Olympic Games.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, winner of an unprecedented five World titles in the women’s 100, is scheduled to compete in that event after injuries limited her to three meets in 2024, and led to her withdrawal from an Olympic semifinal.
The meet will be streamed on flotrack.org, with coverage starting at 10:45 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.