Team USA, Team Jamaica Ready to Clash

Published by the IAAF on May 21, 2014

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica’s much-decorated “Pocket Rocket”, loves relays. After all, in addition to being the world and Olympic champion at 100m, the diminutive sprinter was the anchor of Jamaica’s championship-record-setting 4x100m relay team in Moscow, the second-fastest of all time at 41.29. She also led off Jamaica’s silver medal team in London, bested there only by USA’s 40.82 world record run.

Fraser-Pryce will be carrying the baton twice for Jamaica in Nassau, entered in both the 4x100m and 4x200m pools. With 24 countries entering teams – from Jamaica’s Rocket-powered 4x100m to Bahrain’s 4x1500m team featuring Maryam Yusuf Jamal – every women’s race list includes global champions.

And for every team with a world or Olympic champion, there is another quartet hoping to gain just enough ground on the other three legs to overcome that advantage.

4x100m

The USA holds the world record of 40.82 in this event, set in London at the 2012 Olympics, but the clear favourites in Nassau will be world champions Jamaica.

While the USA only have one member of their world-record-setting team from London, Jamaica has all four of the world championship-winning team from Moscow entered, the second-fastest team of all time: Carrie Russell, Kerron Stewart, Schillonie Calvert and Fraser-Pryce, plus Natasha Morrison and Samantha Henry-Robinson to fill the pool.

The USA will put up Alexandria Anderson, Tianna Bartoletta, LaKeisha Lawson, Babara Pierre, Stacey-Ann Smith, and Jeneba Tarmoh.

France and Ukraine had the next fastest marks in 2013, and Great Britain and Trinidad and Tobago are second and fourth for the best national-team marks in 2014 (Jamaica and the USA are first and third respectively). Ukraine, unfortunately, is not entered, but the other three are and will be looking for an open door.