Athletics

USA reign in relays to cap off domination at Doha Worlds

Doha, Qatar: When a world record holder and the next superstar, if she is not already one, run in the same team, who can beat them? The answer is, Nobody.

The American women's 4x400m relay team, comprising Dalilah Muhammad, who broke her own world record in 400m hurdles on Friday, Sydney McLaughlin, who gave her a mighty fight before settling for silver, Phyllis Francis and Wadeline Jonathas were in a class of their own as they won gold at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Sunday.

Their time of  3:18.92  was, not surprisingly, a world-leading mark.

Justyna Swiety-Ersetic finished powerfully to hand Poland the silver ahead of Jamaica for whom Shericka Jackson tried her best, but paid the price for trying too hard too early. Jamaica were disqualified at first for not lining up in the right order at the second exchange but were reinstated.

Poland finished in 3:21.89 while Jamaica clocked 3:22.37.

A few minutes later American men did the same and recorded a commanding win in the 4x400m relay to take their gold tally to 14. The quartet of Fred Kerley, Michael Cherry, Wilbert London and Rai Benjamin were never really challenged and finished in a world-leading  2:56.69.

Jamaica tried their best but had to settle for silver after clocking a season's best of 2:57.90. Belgium bagged bronze in 2:58.78 also a season's best. The final event of the 10-day competition also saw Great Britain fell out of contention after failing to exchange baton after their first two runners Cameron Chalmers and Toby Harries totally flopped while exchanging the baton.

Earlier in men's javelin throw, Anderson Peters was clearly a cut above the rest as he fetched Grenada their first gold in the championship.

Peters, who opened with an 86.69m effort, threw the javelin to a distance of 86.89 in his fourth attempt, which was his best.

Estonian Magnus Kirt took silver in 86.21  while Johannes Vetter of Germany bagged bronze (85.37).

Besides 14 gold, USA also won 11 silver and four bronze for a total of 29 medals to underline their domination.

Long and middle distance runners did the job for Kenya who finished second with five gold, two silver and four bronze. 

Jamaica were third with three gold, five silver and four bronze medals.

Mutaz Essa Batrshim made sure of Qatar's golden glory with a stunning performance in high jump while Abderrahman Samba used his last ounce of energy to bag bronze in 400m hurdles.

At the closing ceremony, His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the Chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of the IAAF World Athletics Championship Doha, handed over the baton to Kate Brown, the governor of Eugene in the United States, which will host the 18th edition of the championships in 2021.

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