Online Reporter
Jamaica blazed into the record books at the World Athletics Relays on Saturday, becoming the first quartet to crack the 40-second barrier in the mixed 4×100 metres relay.
The team of Ackeem Blake, Tina Clayton, Kadrian Goldson and Tia Clayton scorched around the track in 39.99 seconds, breaking the world record in Gaborone, Botswana, the first time the event has been held in Africa.Their lightning-fast run came just after Canada had set a new benchmark of 40.07 seconds in the first heat, only to see their record last mere minutes before Jamaica’s history-making run.
Using the event’s new man-woman-man-woman running order, Blake started for Jamaica before handing the baton to Tina Clayton.
Goldson took the third leg, setting up Tia Clayton for a blistering anchor run that carried the team under the 40-second mark.Meanwhile, Five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who missed out on the Paris Games due to an Achilles tendon tear, said she is using her first season back after a 20-month rehabilitation process as a stepping stone as she looks to return to her best.The 33-year-old Jamaican, who became the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic sprint doubles when she retained her 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo in 2021, returned to competition earlier this year.
“It’s been a rough one, mentally, but I’ve overcome that,” Thompson-Herah told reporters on Friday ahead of competing at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana as part of the Jamaican women’s 4x100m team, which she helped to take gold at the Tokyo Olympics.“It’s nice to be back on the track. I ran two 60s, a 100-metre, just to feel where I’m at. No pain… I don’t think I’m where I want to be yet. I’m being patient with myself.”
Thompson-Herah said she was looking forward to defending her titles at the Commonwealth Games in July, having taken gold in 100m and 200m in the previous two editions, as she continues building up to her third Olympic appearance. —Reuters.
