Less than 24 hours after cursing their luck – and indeed their mistakes – in the 4x100m final, Canada found redemption in Nassau on Sunday night (23), defeating sprint superpowers USA and Jamaica to claim the 4x200m title in superlative fashion.

The US women confidently collected their third straight 4x400m title, dominating the proceedings from gun to tape on a wet and windy evening at Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

In the end, after more than three kilometres of running in the men’s 4x800m final, it all boiled down to a sprint – a head-to-head duel between the athletes who finished third and fifth in the Olympic final last year: Clayton Murphy of the US and Ferguson Rotich of Kenya.

Olympic champions USA took to the track with confidence in the opening round of the 4x100m, and they raced with grace and precision as well as they dominated the round on Thomas A Robinson's soggy track.

Canada exorcised the demons of Saturday night’s dropped baton with a commanding performance in the heats of the men’s 4x200m on Sunday evening (23), but it wasn’t without controversy.

An IAAF/BTC World Relays record in the women's 4x200m and yet another dramatic finish in the men's 4x100m were among the key highlights on the first day of the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2017, with plenty more drama on tap when competition resumes this evening.

If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs, then yours is the World Relays title.

Propelled by a strong opening leg by Jura Levy, Jamaica powered to a convincing victory in the women's 4x200m, clocking a 1:29.04 World Relays record in the process.

The USA made it a perfect three-for-three in the women's 4x800m, convincingly fending off short-lived challenges by Belarus and Australia who finished second in the opening evening’s first final.

Though the Bahamian quartet thrilled the crowd with a last-gasp third-place finish, in the end it was disappointment for the hosts in the heats of the men’s 4x400m in Nassau on Saturday night (22), and they weren’t the only victims of the stringent qualification criteria.

No surprises emerged from a competitive opening round, with defending champions USA, and perennial powers Jamaica and Poland looking the strongest ahead of tomorrow evening's final.

For several years, it was the United States that crumbled under the extreme pressure that comes with the men’s sprint relay, but this time, in the 4x100m heats on Saturday night (22), it was their arch rivals Jamaica.