Italy had a team listed to run the heats of the men’s 4x100m in Budapest, but a last minute change was made and Olympic Champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs was drafted in to run the second leg, making all the difference as team blasted to a World Lead (WL) of 37.65s to win their heat in Budapest.
Successfully, they held off the charge of South African anchor Akani Simbine with the team coming through in 37.71s, while Great Britain placed 3rd in 38.01s.
The Italian team infact revised the WL set by USA in the preceding heat where Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Brandon Carnes and JT Smith combined nicely in 37.67s!
Jamaica was 2nd in 37.68s, while Japan also came through in 37.71s for 3rd.
USA qualified fastest for the women’s event, charging home in 41.59s with the team of Tamari Davis, TeeTee Terry, Tamara Clark and Melissa Jefferson. They did this ahead of the Ivorian team that broke the African Record with a time of 41.90s, becoming the first team from Africa to dip under 42 seconds in the event.
Jamaica in the first heat, had run a Season’s Best (SB) of 41.70s ahead of Great Britain in 42.33s.
