Mixed relay
Our sport operates at different levels. Mondo has just relocated to Monaco. Larissa Iapichino told the press after winning the long jump gold medal that she was taking a month off. Success Eduan was delighted with her medal in the mixed 4X100 relay as the cash prize will help pay off her student debt. Month’s holiday? She is rushing back to do a night shift in the hospital where she is finishing her degree in midwifery this month, but more of that later.
Mixed relays were trialed at the World Relays in the Bahamas a few years ago. I remember that some countries did not enter teams as they worried about the dangers of running at different speeds and potentially colliding.
The mixed relays are here to stay, and they have become an exciting part of the program. What is more, athletes love them. The result of the mixed 100 relay in Budapest was:
1 USA 39.64
2 Jamaica 39.72
3 Great Britain 40.26
That USA and Jamaica finished in the top two is no surprise. GB invests in relays and was rewarded for that effort. It was an excellent performance for GB with a relatively inexperienced team – lacking Amy Hunt, Dina Asher-Smith, Darryl Neita and Zharnel Hughes.
The challenge in the mixed relay is the man/woman/man/woman change-overs, with the first woman having to take a baton from a man running faster than she can and give it to a man who is in danger of sprinting away from her. Speaking in the mixed zone afterward, both USA and GB team members admitted that they had first practiced such change-overs an hour before the race.
Ronnie Baker on first leg for USA said all the things that World Athletics would want to hear: “It’s really exciting to be the first-ever Ultimate champions. The crowd is amazing, and I really love the event itself, and the trophy is amazing.” Anavia Battle commented on the dynamics of the race: “It just takes a lot of trust to get the baton from a really fast runner that Ronnie is. We did not do a lot of practice but we put it together and we made it work – we definitely have a good chemistry on the track”.
Tina Clayton was pragmatic in her comments about Jamaica’s silver medal: “We just wish we had clear exchanges to give ourselves a better shot, but it is what it is. Our tactics did not go exactly as we planned. We wanted quicker exchanges, but again it is what it is. We wanted to win, we got the baton around on our own, and we finished healthy; that is the most important thing.”
Mixed relay
Our sport operates at different levels. Mondo has just relocated to Monaco. Larissa Iapichino told the press after winning the gold medal in long jump that she was taking a month off. Success Eduan was delighted with her medal in the mixed 4X100 relay as the cash prize will help pay off her student debt. Month’s holiday? She is rushing back to do a night shift in the hospital where she is finishing her degree in midwifery this month but more of that later.
Mixed relays were trialed at the World Relays in Bahamas a few years ago. I remember that some countries did not enter teams as they worried about the dangers running at different speeds potentially colliding caused.
The mixed relays are here to stay and they have become an exciting part of the program. What is more athletes love them. The result of the mixed 100 relay in Budapest was:
1 USA 39.64
2 Jamaica 39.72
3 Great Britain 40.26
That USA and Jamaica finished in the top two is no surprise. GB invests in relays and was rewarded for that effort. It was an excellent performance for GB with a relatively inexperienced team – lacking Amy Hunt, Dina Asher-Smith, Darryl Neita and Zharnel Hughes.
The challenge in the mixed relay is the man/woman/man/woman change-overs, with the first woman having to take a baton from a man running faster than she can and give it to a man who is in danger of sprinting away from her. Speaking in the mixed zone afterward, both USA and GB team members admitted that they had first practiced such change-overs an hour before the race.
Jeremiah Azu spoke for Team GB: “The feeling when we walked out there, and the crowd and the energy at a new event was incredible. Any event athletes do, we want to win but you have got to respect the competition, and two teams ran better than we did but we did”. Imani Lansiquot added the honest assessment: “We’re absolutely learning on the job. I think my first time ever exchanging was probably like an hour ago. But it speaks volumes to the chemistry that we have in this team. We came here to win. We had that kind of level of confidence. We know that individually we can compete with the best in the world, and next time we’ll put that right”. The athletes’ positivity toward the event was clear.
Going back to Success Eduan, the student midwife, she has to deliver 4 more babies to complete her training. She is working three nights next week, hoping the babies cooperate. If not, she will have to do extra shifts. Not something most athletes are worrying about,
This is story 3 of 11 for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships, written by Stuart Weir.
