Women’s 4×100 Among Marquee Events at World Relays

There’s so much to race for at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 and in the women’s 4x100m, athletes from 30 teams will be battling it out for Olympic places, prize money and bragging rights.

For all five of the events in Nassau, the top 14 teams in each will automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Alrick Swaby tells us more.

Since the last edition of the World Athletics Relays, either the United States or Jamaica have won the three major global titles on offer, and they’ll renew their rivalry, from May 4-5.

Jamaica claimed the Olympic crown ahead of USA in Tokyo, before USA won world gold in Oregon and retained the title in Budapest, both times beating Jamaica.

In Nassau, the US team will feature four of the athletes who helped their nation to top of the podium in Budapest.

Individual 200-metres silver medallist Gabby Thomas and Tamari Davis, who both raced in the final, are joined by heat runners Tamara Clark and Melissa Jefferson.

Mikiah Brisco, who formed part of a US team that ran a world-leading 41.94 seconds in Gainesville earlier this month, and Celera Barnes add further strength to the squad.

While the Jamaican team also boasts much quality, just two of the team members from those three global finals return.

Natasha Morrison and Remona Burchell both ran in the heats in Tokyo, while the consistent Morrison – also a world relay gold medallist in Beijing and Doha – led off for Jamaica in Budapest last year.

However, the squad is not lacking speed and their teammate Alana Reid, the world Under-20 200-metres bronze medallist, set a national Under-20 100-metres record of 10.92 seconds last year.

But in Nassau it will be far from a two-way fight.

Great Britain bagged bronze in Tokyo and Budapest.

The other medallist from those three major finals is Germany, the 2017 World Relays winner.

Italy won at the last edition of the World Relays in Silesia in 2021.

Other teams who will be pushing for the podium as well as Olympic places will be Poland, Ivory Coast, plus their fellow 2023 world finalists Netherlands and Switzerland.

The host nation’s squad features 60-metres hurdles world champion and world record-holder Devynne Charlton and Charisma Taylor, who finished sixth in the 60-metres hurdles and the triple jump on the same day at the World Indoor Championships.