A major upset was recorded on the final day of competition at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas, with Germany emerging the surprise winner in the women’s 4x100m final at the Thomas Robinson Stadium on Sunday, adding a GOLD medal to their Silver winning effort in the 4x200m from a day earlier.
Sprinting nation USA were favoured for the win owing to an A-list side comprising of Tianna Bartoletta, Jenna Prandini, English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun. It would be recalled that the quartet had easily won their heat a day earlier, clocking the overall fastest time of 42.96s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLw1mobIwl8
Incidentally, Germany clocked the second overall fastest time of 43.04s after beating Jamaica to win Heat 2. However, many pundits would have considered their feat a fluke, but in retrospect, it is now clear that the Europeans knew what they were doing.
Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as expected for the American team as first-leg runner Tianna Bartoletta, who had an explosive start, slipped on the wet tracks and came down hard, bringing the race to a premature end for the US.
Perhaps the Jamaicans thought they already had this one in their kitty, but the ‘German Machine’ quartet of Alexandra Burghardt, Lisa Mayer, Tatjana Pinto and Rebekka Haase proved too fast for them, executing a perfect race to sail past the rest of the field to stop the clock in a Season’s Best (SB) of 42.84s to secure Germany’s first ever World Relays title.
Speaking afterwards, Burghardt said: “We just came out and did our best. We were just hoping to get a medal, but we got GOLD. We made history.”
The Jamaican squad comprising of Simone Facey, Natasha Morrison, Gayon Evans and Sashalee Forbes brought the baton home in 2nd place (42.95, SB), while China also sprung a surprise by making it to the podium in an SB of 43.11s, finishing ahead of the Netherlands (43.17s), France (43.90s) and the Bahamas (44.01s).
The B Final was won by Ecuador, while Canada was disqualified. The British Virgin Islands Did Not Finish (DNF), while Nigeria Did Not Start (DNS).
As such, the seven countries that have gained automatic slots for the forthcoming ‘London World Championships are Germany, Jamaica, China, Netherlands, France, Bahamas and Ecuador.
