World Athletics Championships: Relay gold for Jamaica, US
October 5, 2019
The Jamaican team led the first of the evening's sprint relays from start to finish to record a time of 41.44 seconds and hold off a challenge from Great Britain, with 200m world champion Dina Asher-Smith anchoring her team to the silver in 41.85sec. The United States team came in third.
Fraser-Pryce, 32, won the 100m last weekend and her ninth gold medal means only American Allyson Felix (12) and Usain Bolt (11) remain ahead of her in the all time individual standings.
Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles also claimed their second golds in Doha as a formidable US men's 4x100 team won equally comfortably, with Great Britain again in second and Japan claiming bronze.
Veteran US sprinter Justin Gatlin won his first relay medal in the process, as the US team clocked the third fastest relay ever recorded.
"We are a brotherhood," said the 2017 100m world champion. "We had a talk this morning and we said we are going to go out there and do this. I wanted it especially hard as I have never won a relay title."
Unique feat, German bronze
Earlier in the day, Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen, part of the Nike-backed Oregon Project whose head coach Alberto Salazar was banned for four years earlier in the week, took bronze in 14min 28.43sec in a 5000 meter race won by Kenya's Hellen Obiri. The 29-year-old came home clear of compatriot Margaret Kipkemboi in a championship record time of 14min 26.72sec.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands completed a unique double when she dominated the 1,500 meters, adding to the 10,000 meters title she won earlier in the competition.
In doing so, she became the first athlete, male or female, to win the two events at a single Olympic Games or world championships.
mp/jh (Reuters, AFP)