Men’s 4x100m
The form book rarely applies in the men’s 4x100m.
In any given season, the United States usually boasts the best sprint depth of any country in the world, but over the past 15 years they have won just one global title in the men’s 4x100m.
Despite that statistic, it would be foolish to overlook a squad that includes the reigning world champions at 100m (Fred Kerley) and 200m (Noah Lyles), along with the 2022 silver and bronze medallists at 200m (Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton), 2019 world 100m champion (Christian Coleman), the US 100m champion (Cravont Charleston) and NCAA 100m champion (Courtney Lindsey).
Speed will only take a team so far, though. Quite often, the quartets with the best changeovers are the most successful.
That has certainly been the case at the past two global championships, with Canada taking gold in Oregon last year and Italy triumphing at the Tokyo Olympics one year prior.
Filippo Tortu anchors Italy to 4x100m gold in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
The Canadian quartet that won in Oregon reunited at the Florida Relays earlier this year and clocked a world-leading 37.80. That mark was equalled last month by a strong Japanese quartet at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if either of those teams made it on to the podium in Budapest.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland – winners of this title in 2017 – are the fourth fastest nation in the world this year. They and the USA are the only countries to reach the podium at the past three World Championships, and they will most likely be in the medal hunt again.
Italy clocked 38.04 last month; if Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs is in form and available to run the relay, they would be capable of improving on that time and contending for medals.
After the big five, there’s a bit of a jump on the entry lists to the likes of Germany, France, Nigeria and Trinidad & Tobago – all of whom could find themselves in the medal hunt if everything goes right for them in Budapest.
Jamaica – which hasn’t earned a global medal in the men’s 4x100m since Usain Bolt’s retirement – is just the 11th fastest nation of the entered teams, but they have enough foot speed to make their way back on to the podium.
Brazil, winners at the World Relays in 2022, has a best this year of just 38.70, but if they field their four fastest men in Budapest – including national record-holder Erik Cardoso – they could once again cause a surprise.
Women’s 4x100m
For the past 20 years, the women’s world 4x100m title has been shared between USA and Jamaica.
During that time, USA has claimed five gold medals – including last year in Oregon – while Jamaica has won four. Jamaica, meanwhile, are the Olympic champions and own five of the eight fastest times in history. But USA holds the world record at 40.82 – 0.20 quicker than Jamaica’s best effort.
While the two countries’ historical record is fairly evenly matched, the USA heads to Budapest as quite comfortably the fastest team on paper. Their 41.75 clocking from the Texas Relays was achieved without some of their best Budapest-bound sprinters, but is still almost half a second faster than the next-best country.
The likes of US champion Sha’Carri Richardson, Olympic 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown and Twanisha Terry could, in theory, pack quite a punch in a relay.
The fastest time by a Jamaican quartet this year is 42.80, but that didn’t feature the likes of world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce or world 200m champion Shericka Jackson. With that duo making up half of a relay team, they won’t be an easy squad to beat.
Shericka Jackson anchors Jamaica to 4x100m gold at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 (© Getty Images)
Fraser-Pryce already owns the most 4x100m medals of any athlete in World Championship history (seven, including four gold), but the Jamaican superstar could add to that record tally in Budapest.
The Ivory Coast finds itself as the second-fastest team entered for Budapest, having taken more than a second off their national record this year. African record-holder Marie-Josee Ta Lou and 2018 world indoor 60m champion Murielle Ahoure-Demps have flown the Ivorian flag in the sprint world for the best part of a decade, but now Maboundou Kone and Jessika Gbai have improved to a good international standard, bolstering the relay team in the process.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland – world silver medallists in 2017 and 2019, as well as Olympic bronze medallists at the past two Games – should once again challenge for a spot on the podium. They likely would have made it among the medals in Oregon were it not for Dina Asher-Smith’s injury in the final, but they’ll be keen to make amends in Budapest.
Germany – who came through to take bronze in 2022 – should once again be in contention, as should the Netherlands and Poland.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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