Report: Women's 4x100m Relay final – Moscow 2013 UPDATED

[Karl]

18 AUG 2013 Report Moscow, Russia

UPDATED after France's disqualification
Jamaica’s women’s 4x100m Relay quartet flew around the Luzhniki Stadium in 41.29, the second-fastest time in history, which was also a national and championship record.

Only the USA team that won at the London 2012 Olympic Games have got the baton round faster, when they set the World record of 40.82 last summer.

With a completely different quartet from the London final, and despite looking good in their heat, a disastrous second change between Alexandria Anderson and English Gardner meant the USA dropped out of contention for the gold medal.

However, it is doubtful that at their best the four women presented by the USA could have have kept pace with the Jamaicans.

Carrie Russell ran a strong first leg, duelling for the lead with the USA opener Jeneba Tarmoh, but the damage was really done down the back straight by Kerron Stewart, who handed over slightly in front to Schillonie Calvert.

Calvert performed well around the bend and that just left a refreshed Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who didn’t run in their heat, to blitz down the blue Mondo track and take the title they last won in Berlin 2009, having also won it in Tokyo 18 years prior to their victory on German soil.

Fast legs are obviously half the reason behind good relay times but also an understanding between the team members and slick baton changing is crucial. With various members having arrived between four and eight days before the start of the championships, the Jamaican women made good use of their free time to put in plenty of practice before the start of events in Moscow.

France originally came through for a slightly unexpected, and very distant, second place and their teenage talent Stella Akakpo, the 2013 European junior 100m and 200m champion, showed off her prodigious skills by taking her team from fourth to second on the last leg before they were disqualified, following a British protest, for exchanging the baton outside the change over zone.

Octavious Freeman also ran a superb last leg for the USA and got them a medal after their earlier crisis, bringing the team through from fifth place at the last handover to being the third team across the line in 42.75, with Freeman overtaking Great Britain’s Hayley Jones in the final 20 metres.

Later in the evening, the USA were awarded the silver medals with Great Britain being promoted to third place, the latter only finding out that they had got the bronze medals after they had actually left the stadium.

Phil Minshull for the IAAF
http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaa...es-relay/final

[Karl]

Report: Men’s 4x100m Relay final – Moscow 2013

18 AUG 2013 Report Moscow, Russia

The stakes in the men’s 4x100m Relay in Moscow were higher than usual.
Before the event, Russia led the medals table with seven gold medals against the United States with six gold medals and Jamaica with five. With a win in the final event, USA would move to the top having plenty more silver medals, but the odds were against them from the start. Jamaica had won the last four global 4x100m titles between 2008 and 2012 and the last US victory was back in 2007 in Osaka.

The race started with a blazing opening leg from USA’s first runner Charles Silmon, the 2013 NCAA 100m champion. The 22-year-old, competing at his first World Championships, went out in the 100m heats with a slow 10.34, but his run today was very different, bringing the baton to first exchange in the lead eclipsing Jamaican Nesta Carter, the 100m bronze medallist at these championships, in the process. Great Britain was also well in the picture for the medals with their 200m star Adam Gemili starting the relay.

Mike Rodgers, sixth in the 100m here and competing in his first major championships relay, continued well for the United States keeping them still a little bit ahead of their Jamaican rivals down the back-straight. Kemar Bailey-Cole, fourth in the 100m, was the second-leg runner for Jamaica.

At this stage there were still other teams in the race too with Great Britain, Canada and Germany in close contact to the medals. As so often happens in championship relays, it all came down to the last exchange and it didn’t go smoothly for all of the teams.

Mookie Salaam did a great job for the USA on the third leg, opening up a lead of about one metre or so before the final exchange, but then it went all wrong before the baton reached anchor-leg runner Justin Gatlin.

Salaam, competing at his first World Championships, looked to reach the takeover zone as the first athlete, but Gatlin seemed to be hurrying a bit, starting too early and clearly moved out of his lane to the outside towards the Jamaicans trying to reach for the baton, but the exchange was finally completed within the rules.

The Jamaicans, with Nickel Ashmeade running in the relay team for the first time at a major championships, completed the exchange much better, if not perfectly, and Usain Bolt started the final leg from a leading position, which he would never surrender, winning in a world-leading 37.36.

This was Jamaica’s fifth successive global championships gold medal in the men’s 4x100m Relay; they have won the past three World Championships and last two Olympics. Five in a row is the best in history, although United States could have done much better, had it not been for the 1980 Olympic boycott. They won seven global championships in a row 1964-87, with that one missing title in 1980 when they didn’t take part. USA also has a more recent four in a row between 1999 and 2003.

Gatlin anchored United States to the second place in 37.66, but Great Britain, who crossed the line in third, were disqualified for their troubles on the second exchange when Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and James Ellington failed to exchange the baton within the zone.

There was further drama in the last exchange for the eventual bronze medallists, Canada. Their third-leg runner Dontae Richards-Kwok seemed to bring the baton to the last leg runner in third place, but the Canadians did not perform a smooth passing and they lost their edge before the final leg.

They finished behind Britain but were later promoted to the bronze medal in a 37.92 season’s best, the first sub-38 second clocking for Canada since August 1997, 16 years ago, when Donovan Bailey anchored their team in 37.86 for the gold medal at Athens World Championships. This was also their first global championships medal in this event since that 1997 gold, with fifth place from Berlin 2009 being the best achievement between 1999 and 2011.

Germany’s Martin Keller brought their baton over the finish line in fourth place clocking 38.04, their second-fastest ever time and just 0.02 seconds behind their 38.02 national record from 2012. Their fourth-place finish matches Germany’s best ever placing in this event in the history of the World Championships; East Germany was fourth in Helsinki 1983 and West Germany in Rome 1987.

The Netherlands was fifth in 38.37, their best since a bronze medal in 2003, with Japan in sixth (38.39) and Trinidad and Tobago in seventh place (38.57).
It was just the fourth time in history that all three medallists have broken 38 seconds; the other three occasions also happened at previous editions of the World Championships. The fastest bronze medal time is Canada’s 37.83 in Stuttgart 1993, while the best bronze medal time in the history of the Olympics is 38.00 by Cuba in Barcelona 1992.

Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaa...es-relay/final

[Islandman]

The men winning 5 spint relays in a row is quite a feat. This is the kind of thing we could only dream of not too long ago, the US owned the event for so many years.

[Historian]

So True, I'man

The men winning 5 spint relays in a row is quite a feat. This is the kind of thing we could only dream of not too long ago, the US owned the event for so many years.

In addition to what you have said, three of those five wins were in world record time!

As a passing point of interest, the common denominator in ALL THREE world record teams is the presence of Nesta Carter on lead off, Michael Frater on backstretch and Usain Bolt on curve (2008) or on anchor (2011 and 2012).

Another interesting sidebar is Asafa Powell’s anchor leg run at the 2008 Olympic Games. That amazing run is probably the fastest anchor-leg split ever recorded by anyone!

[Mosiah]

Why do we put so much importance in split times?!?

I can give you a hundred reasons why they don't make sense.

I'll give you one now.

Asafa can trust Bolt to hand over the baton at a good pace. This allows Asafa to confidence to move off at full blast because he knows Bolt will not die on approach. So, Asafa can get a running start like no other runner in history.

The day Bolt trusts the third leg man (hmmm, how can I say that another way?!?) to come flying in with the baton is the day you will how anchor legs fi run.

Sorry, but anything Asafa can do on the track, Usain can do better!

[Historian]

I Agree With You, But....

I understand what you are saying, and I certainly do not disagree with you.

However, what I was doing was simply making a passing reference to an historical fact. You will no doubt notice that it was placed at the bottom of my comments and described as “an interesting sidebar” (meaning it is not the central point of my post and thereby suggesting its comparative unimportance).

Your point is certainly valid, but until that which you state happens, the record books will have Asafa’s split as the most exceptional.

[Historian]

A Stupid African’s View of Shelly-Ann

For those not familiar with her, 19-year-old Stella Akakpo is the attractive young lady who anchored the French 4x100-meter relay team to a silver medal before they were disqualified for a lane infraction. I cannot believe that just a day ago I was feeling genuine regret for a team (France) that included this idiot!

Here is what Stella had to say about Shelly-Ann Fraser after the 100-meter final:


Togo: Stella Akakpo - the Franco-Togolese Suspects the Jamaican Fraser of Being Doped!
BY JULIE ESSE, 14 AUGUST 2013

These are statements that will not go unnoticed in the press. Stella Akakpo the Franco-Togolese sprinter present in the Athletics World is more efficient on his Twitter account. Unable to qualify for the semifinals of the 100 m, Akakpo regales his followers with some incendiary tweets.

Two of them did not go at all unnoticed. Overwhelmed by the ease with which the Jamaican Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce splashed the 100m final on Monday , she published on Twitter: "Just one word: LOL this final. I will say nothing more ". But she has not been faithful to what he said by adding a few moments later: "Some complain of a final not too spicy on the 100m. You cannot want the show and a clean line, choose". The message is clear. Stella Akakpo is saying in half-words what she thinks of Fraser who beat her opponents on 100m by 20 centimeters of difference. Both athletes may have the opportunity to clarify in the 4x100m relay.

The compatriot of Usain Bolt will enjoy. Comments that come after many discoveries of doping in the world of international athletics. Especially the confessions of tenors Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.

Source: Africa Top Sports (http://allafrica.com/stories/201308141520.html )

[Karl]

Just underlines that 'badmine han red-yeye his hellava ting'!!!

[Willi]

Ah dem yah dutty people Yub want us jump thru hoop for?

Run di razz clazz fly from wi food!

[Historian]

You Are So Right!

Ah dem yah dutty people Yub want us jump thru hoop for?

Run di razz clazz fly from wi food!

I know now . I can’t believe that I wasted a second feeling sorry for them, and even worse, actually admiring Stella!

I was actually searching for photos and info on her this morning when I stumbled upon this report of her tweets. Several other African publications also grabbed this report (a confusing account which mixes up the pronouns “he” and “she”) and published it.