A dramatic first day in China saw shocks, debuts, and fierce battles for relay qualification
The World Relay Championships in Guangzhou kicked off on May 10 as relay teams from around the globe fought for a place at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The top 14 finishers in each of the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, plus the mixed 4x400m, book their tickets to Tokyo. Two additional spots in each event will be awarded later through the World Athletics rankings system, which is based on performance points across the season.
There was a new event created in Guangzhou as the mixed 4x100m relay made its international debut. The event, designed with a fixed running order—two women leading off, followed by two men—set the stage for a thrilling start to the World Relays.
Despite the introduction, the mixed 4x100m won’t feature in Tokyo 2025, meaning no qualification places were on the line. However, the event will be included in the upcoming 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
Drama unfolded early in the opening heat as the USA suffered a baton drop between their second and third athletes, eliminating them from the final. Heat two offered a tight battle between Great Britain and Jamaica. The British quartet of Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, Kissiwaa Mensah, Jeriel Quainoo, and Joe Ferguson executed smooth baton changes, but Jamaica edged ahead in the final stretch thanks to Rasheed Foster who clocked 41.04 whilst Britain clocked 41.05. Both teams advanced to the final.
Great Britain also impressed in the mixed 4x400m relay, building on their bronze medal success from the Paris Olympics. This time, the team featured Josh Faulds, Emily Newnham, Sam Lunt, and Nicole Yeargin with Faulds and Newnham having previously won European Indoor silver earlier this year. Yeargin powered through the anchor leg, overtaking South Africa’s Zeney Van Der Walt to finish in 3:13.28 and secure a spot in the final, along with Tokyo 2025 qualification.
The United States topped the 4x400m heats with a time of 3:11.37, while Ireland clinched second overall in 3:12.56 after a strong final leg from Sharlene Mawdsley.
Meanwhile, the women’s 4x100m heats brought unexpected twists. Jamaica welcomed back stars Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, but it was Spain who stunned the crowd by winning against Jamaica in a national record time of 42.18. Jamaica still advanced as the second-fastest qualifiers with 42.51.
Belgium, the third-fastest qualifiers with 42.80, held off Great Britain in their heat. Despite a strong effort from Desiree Henry on the final leg after receiving the baton in the lead, Belgium’s Delphine Nkansa surged ahead. Still, the British squad of Henry, Bianca Williams, Amy Hunt, and Asha Phillip earned a World Championships spot with a time of 42.92.
In the men’s 4x100m, Great Britain secured a straightforward win in their heat. Even with World and European indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu absent, the team of Romell Glave, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Jona Efoloko, and Eugene Amo-Dadzie delivered a clean performance, finishing in 38.18 to beat Poland.
The second men’s heat saw more relay heartbreak as Jamaica’s star-studded line-up of Rohan Watson, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake, and Kishane Thompson fumbled the baton exchange at the same point where the US had dropped theirs in the mixed race. As a result, Olympic medallist Thompson never got to run, and the team will now try to qualify through the repechage.
South Africa took advantage of Jamaica’s error, storming to victory in 37.84 with Akani Simbine anchoring. Japan matched that time to qualify as the second-fastest, while the US were third overall with 37.86.
In the women’s 4x400m, Great Britain faced disappointment. Despite being Olympic bronze medallists, they finished third in their heat with 3:27.47, behind Spain and Italy, and failed to qualify automatically or as one of the two fastest non-automatic qualifiers. They’ll now have to compete in the repechage to chase a spot at the World Championships.
The United States led the women’s 4x400m qualifiers with 3:26.05, while Spain continued their strong showing with the second-fastest time of 3:26.25.
On the men’s side of the 4x400m, South Africa posted the fastest time overall with a clean 3:00.00. France came next, winning their heat in 3:00.30, ahead of Kenya and the USA as the latter missed automatic qualification and will head to the repechage.
Great Britain, however, secured their place in Tokyo. The quartet of Efekemo Okoro, Toby Harries, Rio Mitcham, and Charlie Dobson clocked 31:01.38 in their heat behind Belgium’s 3:01.35. They both had to fight for it as there was a bit of physical tussling between Qatar’s Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim, with Qatar finishing third in 3:03.97.
The World Relays finals will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer at 12:05 p.m. BST on Sunday, May 11.
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