EUGENE, Oregon – Jamaica fielded the three medallists from the women’s individual 100 metres in the sprint relay at the World Athletics Championships but that was still not enough to prevent a super-slick US quartet taking gold to raise the biggest cheer of the week at Hayward field.
Jamaica brought in their “big three” – Shericka Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah – with lead runner Kemba Nelson the only survivor from the semi-final team but they struggled on their changeovers.
The United States brought in Abby Steiner to join Melissa Jefferson, Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry, who ran a superb anchor leg to bring them home in 41.14 seconds, with Jamaica second in 41.18.
Britain were in the medal hunt until third leg Dina Asher-Smith pulled up injured, allowing Germany to storm through for a surprise bronze.
Meanwhile, a flubbed final handover cost the United States gold in the men’s 4×100 metres relay as Canada surged down the final straight to take the world title.
The Americans looked set to retain their crown until the last changeover between Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy, who lost time with a slow exchange, Reuters reported.
Canadian anchor Andre De Grasse did not waste the opportunity and passed Bracy on the final leg, crossing the finish in 37.48 seconds.
“We did it with the same guys I have been growing up together with in the sport,” said Brendon Rodney, who helped Canada collect bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo.
Britain took bronze in 37.83.
It was a phenomenal final push from De Grasse, the Olympic 200m champion who suffered an early season foot injury and was off the track during a crucial training period due to COVID-19 ahead of the worlds.
He withdrew from the 200m earlier in the meet and failed to qualify for the 100m final.
“We spoke about last year and what a great shot we had at being on top of the podium,” he said.
“We were able to practice the relay more. We had that team chemistry. It’s special to win here. There are many Canadians cheering us on. It’s not on home soil, but it felt like it.”
De Grasse, Rodney, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake were all smiles as the smattering of fans who stayed behind at Hayward Field for the medal ceremony belted out the first few lines of the Canadian national anthem.
It was the first world gold in the event for Canada since 1997.
The United States (37.55) stuck to the same lineup from the semi-final and got off to a strong start from Doha 100m champion Christian Coleman, who executed a serviceable handover to Noah Lyles.
Bracy attempted to recover the lost time from the final pass of the baton but the United States once again fell short.
“Not being clean cost us the race,” Bracy tweeted. “No excuses. We let y’all down my apologies.”
Despite their depth of sprinting talent American teams have won only three world titles since 2001 and failed to top the podium at the Olympics since Sydney.
Also, Grenada’s Anderson Peters beat Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra to retain his world javelin title, saving his best for last with a throw of 90.54 metres after leading the competition throughout.
Peters was the only athlete to breach the 90m-mark, doing so three times in windy conditions at Hayward Field.
Chopra threw a best of 88.13m to finish second while the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo, took bronze with an effort of 88.09m.
“Most of the throwers prefer the wind from behind but today we had a head wind,” Peters said. “So it was a bit challenging today but I pulled it off. To defend the title is not an easy task. I had to push myself.
“The last attempt, I already knew I was a champion but I was working on my technique in every throw and I finally got it through.”
Chopra’s throw was beyond the 87.58m he produced in Tokyo, where he became the first Indian to win an individual athletics gold.
His silver medal in Eugene was India’s first at a World Championships and just the country’s second overall after Anju Bobby George took bronze in the women’s long jump in Paris in 2003.
Chopra, who was bidding to become the first men’s javelin thrower to follow an Olympic triumph with a world title since Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen in 2009, said he was not feeling his best.
“In the first three throws I did not feel good. My warm-up was not good,” he added. “I felt something in my groin during the throw but I think it is okay. It was a good experience today.
“We also have the World Championships next year, so I will try to do better in Budapest.”
Germany’s Johannes Vetter, who won gold in London in 2017 and has the second-longest throw of all time, did not compete in the World Championships due to a shoulder injury.
