Jamaica confirm sprinting dominance with relay record
Friday, 22 Aug 2008 22:38
Usain Bolt (left) ran the third leg of the relay, handing off to Asafa Powell
The Jamaican men's team ran a blistering pace in the 4x100m relay to win the gold medal and shatter the world record by three-tenths of a second.
Led by former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell on the anchor leg, the Jamaicans ran a near-perfect race to romp home in 34.10 secs - destroying the previous mark of the American relay team set at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.
The Olympic champion over 100m and 200m Usain Bolt, who also became the individual world record holder for both distances this week, ran a superb third leg around the bend.
And both Powell and Bolt were backed up by a superb start from team-mates Nesta Carter and Michael Frater as they came home nearly a full second ahead of the rest of the field.
The fellow Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago took the silver medal in 38.06 secs, with Japan - in the absence of the favoured British and American teams who dropped the baton in their semi-finals -claiming an unlikely bronze in 38.15 secs.