Spotlight on sprint relays
American Sydney McLaughlin clocks brilliant 50.68 seconds world record in 400m hurdles
Published:Saturday | July 23, 2022 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
EUGENE, Oregon:
Jamaica’s men’s and women’s 4x100 metres teams did their jobs to ensure that they have chances for medals as the eighth day of the World Athletics Championships had a Caribbean sweep in the women’s 400m and the first world record at these championships.
The women’s 4x100m team comprising Tokyo Olympic relay gold medallist Briana Williams, Natalliah Whyte, Remona Burchell and Kemba Nelson guaranteed their spot in tonight’s final after they finished second in their first-round heat clocking 42.37 seconds. Williams said that they were satisfied with the exchanges to secure their final spot.
“I felt like the passes went well. Not everything was perfect but I’m proud of the team,” said Williams. The top women, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson Herah, are expected to run in tonight’s final and Jamaica could get close to the 40.82 seconds world record in the event set by the United States in 2012.
The Jamaican men’s team – Ackeem Blake, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Conroy Jones and Jelani Walker – finished fourth in 38.33 to advance to the final as non-automatic qualifiers. While admitting that technique was not the cleanest, Walker said that securing a final spot was all that mattered.
“Just to be in the final puts us in a position to hopefully get a medal. For the third leg, we needed a bit more tidying up. Nothing to worry about. We are in the final and we will get it right. We just needed to get the baton safely around and ensure that we solidify her spot.
It was the Caribbean’s turn to sweep the medals as two-time Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of Bahamas added the World title to her collection after winning the women’s 400m final.
WORLD-LEADING TIME
Miller-Uibo finished in a world-leading time of 49.11 seconds, while Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic finished second in 49.30. Sada Williams of Barbados, who trains with MVP track club finished third in a national record 49.75. Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson finished fifth in 50.36 and national champion Candice McLeod was seventh in 50.78.
McPherson said that she miscalculated her approach to the race
“I judged the race wrongly because I was in lane two and I didn’t want to go out too hard and I let them get away too far,” McPherson said.
Rushell Clayton finished sixth in the women’s 400m hurdles final in 54.36 seconds, a race that was dominated by Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin who added the world title to her resume with an almost unbelievable world record time of 50.68. The first woman to go below 51 seconds in the event. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was second in 52.27 and former World champion Dalilah Muhammad was third in 53.13.
In his first World Championship final, quarter-miler Christopher Taylor finished seventh in 45.30. American Michael Norman won the title in 44.29 while the former World and Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada was second in 44.48 and Matthew Hudson of Great Britain came third in 44.66.
National 800m record holder Natoya Goule booked her spot in the final, finishing second in her semi-final in 1:58.73 minutes edging out American Raevyn Rodgers on the line for the automatic qualifying spot. However, there was no luck for her national teammate Adelle Tracey who placed third in her semi-final in 2:00.21, not enough to secure a qualifying spot.
National champion Britany Anderson, former world champion Danielle Williams and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Megan Tapper will get their championship campaign underway in the women’s 100m hurdles starting at 1:20 p.m