Can Jamaica’s 2025 4x100m quartet challenge the world record?

OVER the past 72 hours, there has been a big buzz and quite a lot of excitement among local track and field fans, as well as several analysts on social media, following the massive personal best of 9.82 seconds by young Bryan Levell in winning the men’s 100 metres at a World Continental Tour meet in Austria.

Following the former Edwin Allen High sprinter’s latest exploit – which now sees Jamaica with the three fastest men in the world – the hype has grown. Kishane Thompson leads with 9.75, followed by Levell’s 9.82 and Oblique Seville at 9.83. Many fans are now talking about the potential for a new world record by Jamaica, with Ackeem Blake’s personal best of 9.88 rounding out the top four times by Jamaicans this season.

At the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Jamaican quartet of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt stormed to victory in a world record 36.84. Their individual season’s bests at the time were: Bolt – 9.63, Blake – 9.69, Carter – 9.95, and Frater – 9.94, which when added together was 39.21. When compared, the current crop of Thompson, Levell, Seville, and Blake add up to 39.28 – not too far off.

Many avid local fans still believe that the 2012 team could have gone faster than 36.84, but Asafa Powell – who was third at the National Championships in 9.88 sustained an injury in the 100m final and was replaced by Carter who had finished sixth at the National Championships in 10.01 as he jumped ahead of Kemar Bailey Cole who ended fifth at the National Championships in 10.00.

The closest any team has come to that world record run by the Jamaicans was the United States, who clocked 37.38 in winning at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

While fans believe this new wave of Jamaican sprinting talent can challenge the 2012 world record, it will be interesting to see what unfolds between now and the World Championships, just over seven weeks away, as much can change.

There will certainly be pressure on the coaching staff heading into the World Championships, especially regarding whether Levell will be included in the final four for the relay. The big question is, who should he replace, especially considering he finished at the back of the field in the 100m at the JAAA National Senior and Junior Championships.

The top three of Thompson, Seville, and Blake appear to be locked, while either Ryiem Forde, who was fourth in 9.98, or Rohan Watson, fifth in 10.04, could take the final slot. However, at the recent London Diamond League, both Watson and Kadrian Goldson – who was sixth in 10.07 – were selected over Forde, which upset Forde’s camp.

It was stated that Forde did not have his British visa to compete in London, but with so much at stake now, the question remains – can he be left off the quartet again? Indeed, interesting days lie ahead. Forde was a member of the quartet that ran 37.76 for third at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, where he ran an outstanding leg. Other team members were Watson, Blake, and Seville.

Having four fast personnel on a relay team, however, does not guarantee a world record, as we saw with the Jamaican females in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics. Jamaica’s trio of Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson dominated the women’s 100m, sweeping the medals in fine style.

Fans expected the 4x100m relay team – which also included Briana Williams – to break the United States’ world record of 40.82, set at the 2012 London Olympics. However, they fell just short, winning in 41.02.