Sport
Yohan Blake leads Jamaica to 4×100 relay title
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake. PHOTO/File
Olympic silver medalist Yohan Blake made it a perfect trip to the inaugural IAAF World Relays as he anchored Jamaica to a triumphant run in the 4×100 meters relay on Sunday.
A night after leading a Jamaican team to a world record in the 4×200 relay, Blake brought his countrymen home in 37.77 seconds to top Trinidad & Tobago in the final race of the 2-day program.
“After our world and Olympic gold in the 4×100, we wanted to confirm our number one position today,” said Blake, who missed the world championships and much of last season with a hamstring injury.
“It feels great getting into championship mode – I am back on track.”
The Jamaicans were missing world record holder Usain Bolt, who has yet to run this year, and key relay member Michael Frater, but veterans Nesta Carter and Nickel Ashmeade and young Julian Forte had Blake in position for another winning romp.
“We have to work on some of the exchanges, but overall it went well,” said Carter, who helped Jamaica win the world title last year.
Trinidad & Tobago were a well-beaten second in 38.04 with Britain third in 38.19.
Kenya’s men delivered the day’s only world record, shattering the global mark in the infrequently run 4×1500 relay.
With double world champion Asbel Kiprop on anchor, the men clocked 14:22.22 to erase a previous Kenyan team’s 2009 record of 14:36.23.
Collins Cheboi, Silas Kiplagat and James Magut gave Kenya a comfortable lead and Kiprop anchored the final 1,500 meters to earn the east Africans US$100,000, including US$50,000 for the win and another US$50,000 for the record.
The Kenyan women were just as convincing on Saturday in taking down the women’s world record in the event.
Jamaica could only finish third in the 4×200 even with Olympic and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on anchor.
Source: Reuters