Mile relay gold a possibility for Jamaica

Raymond Graham, Gleaner Writer

Jamaican teams have reaped rich benefits in the women's 4x400m relays at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics over the years, finishing among the medals at the past five instalments.

However, it was in 2001 in Edmonton that the country saw its best performance in the event, with the team of Sandie Richards, Catherine Scott, Debbiann Parris-Thymes and Lorraine Fenton mining a gold medal.

That winning performance has been followed by a third place finish in France in 2003 as well as second place finishes in Helsinki (2005), Osaka (2007) and Berlin (2009). Daegu, South Korea forms the stage this time around and the Jamaicans will once again be hoping to continue their good run of form in the event.

A win for the Jamaicans here will deny the USA team a third consecutive victory in the mile relay, but they aren't the only concerns, as the Russians are also well stocked with talent.

The Jamaicans will however, have to improve on their season best 3:23.82, done at the Penn Relays earlier this year, where they finished third behind two United States teams.

That Jamaican team included Shericka Williams, Novlene Williams-Mills, Christine Day and Kaliese Spencer.

Here the United States 'A' team romped to a world-leading time of 3:22.92, to defeat their 'B' team into second place in 3:23.17.

Their 'A' team had Debbie Dunn , Allyson Felix, Natasha Hasting and Sanya Richards-Ross running the legs.

Their team in Daegu will be without Dunn, but they will be strengthened by Francena McCorory, who at the Penn Relays, had the fastest split among all the athletes while competing on their "B"team.

Number one athlete

The Jamaican team in the meantime will be strengthened in Daegu, as the country's number one athlete in the event this year, Rosemarie Whyte, with a best of 49.84 seconds, should add more fire to the line-up along with Williams, Williams-Mills and the brilliant Spencer.

The Russians who have two athletes who have gone under 50 seconds so far this season in Anastasiya Kapachinskaya and Antonina Krivoshapka, cannot be written off and they could be the spoilers here.

However, the Jamaicans have a glorious opportunity to win the gold as they are expected to take advantage of the tired legs of Felix, who is down to do the 200/400 metres double at the meet.