It was a rollercoaster outing for Team Jamaica at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, as a string of misfortunes and missed opportunities saw the Caribbean sprint powerhouse fall short of expectations on the final day of competition.
Of the four relay teams vying for qualification on Sunday, only the men’s 4x400m relay squad managed to book their ticket to the 2025 World Athletics Championships, leaving the remaining teams with a tough road ahead.
Mixed Fortunes in Medal Haul
Despite the overall struggles, Team Jamaica still walked away from the meet with two medals. The mixed 4x100m relay team, featuring Serena Cole, Krystal Sloley, Javari Thomas and Bryan Levell, clinched a silver medal after clocking an impressive 40.44 seconds. Canada edged them to gold with 40.30, while Great Britain claimed bronze in 40.88. However, the mixed 4x100m is not an event scheduled for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, limiting the significance of that result.
The women’s 4x100m relay team, anchored by Shericka Jackson and including veterans Natasha Morrison, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and rising star Tina Clayton, secured a bronze medal after finishing third in 42.33 seconds. They had already booked their qualification spot on Saturday.
Relays Derail on Final Day
The remaining four Jamaican teams entered the final day with one goal, to secure automatic qualification for Tokyo. However, it turned out to be a day of frustration and heartbreak.
The men’s 4x400m team delivered the lone success story, claiming the final qualifying spot in their heat with a time of 3:02.00. The quartet of Rusheen McDonald, Demar Francis, Zandrion Barnes, and Tarees Rhoden crossed the line behind Brazil (3:01.14) and the Netherlands (3:01.32), earning some redemption after missing out on Olympic qualification last year.
The women’s 4x400m team, however, endured a disastrous campaign. After clocking a sluggish 3:40.54 in their heat, finishing last, the team did not start in their final qualifying opportunity, recording a DNS (Did Not Start) and effectively ending their campaign.
There was further anguish in the men’s 4x100m relay. A dropped baton during Saturday’s heat had already forced them into the second round of qualification, but disaster struck again when Julian Forte pulled up injured on the second leg. It marked successive DNFs (Did Not Finish) for the squad, extinguishing their automatic qualification hopes.
In the mixed 4x400m relay, Jamaica narrowly missed out, finishing fourth in their heat with a time of 3:14.42, just a second shy of the qualifying mark. Spain took the win in a national record of 3:12.55, followed by Germany (3:13.35) and China (3:13.39), leaving Jamaica on the outside looking in.
Race Against Time for Qualification
For the three teams that missed out, the men’s 4x100m, women’s 4x400m, and mixed 4x400m relays, the path to Tokyo 2025 now depends on world rankings. Each team must secure a position among the top two next-best ranked nations globally by the end of the World Athletics qualifying period on August 24, 2025.
