A look back at the key moments of 2021 in the relays

2021 review: relays

When an athlete makes history by achieving something that has never been done before, you&rsquo;d think they&rsquo;d struggle for motivation in the aftermath.
But Elaine Thompson-Herah &ndash; who this year became the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the 100m and 200m &ndash; says winning the World Female Athlete of the Year award has simply given her more motivation for next year and beyond.
The 29-year-old Jamaican beat a high-quality list of finalists &ndash; including world record-breakers Yulimar Rojas, Sydney McLaughlin and Sifan Hassan &ndash; to secure her spot as the top woman in the sport for 2021.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very special to win this award, because I was up against some phenomenal women,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;To capture the double, repeat my titles, get the world lead of 10.54, it is just an amazing feeling.
&ldquo;The season was a tough one, but we went out there with our heart and our soul and we put on a show,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honour to win this award and I&rsquo;m humbled to accept it. It will keep me motivated as I continue to work towards my targets.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/612187db4c5a7049da430eb2.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Thompson-Herah accomplished her first Olympic sprint double in 2016 when she sped to 100m and 200m victories in 10.71 and 21.78 respectively in Rio. Coming just a year after her 2015 breakthrough season, in which she took world 200m silver in 21.66, it seemed as though she&rsquo;d be the next big force in sprinting, but injuries prevented her from reaching the podium in any individual event at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.
When the achilles problems recurred in 2020, she feared it would count her out of the Tokyo Olympics. But the postponement of the Games worked in her favour.
&ldquo;I was so happy (about having a year &lsquo;off&rsquo; competing) because I was in boots recovering from an achilles injury in 2020,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Even though the achilles injury was challenging and meant I was unable to sprint or even walk at times, I continued to work. To come back from that and achieve what I did is a surreal feeling and I&rsquo;m happy and proud.
&ldquo;Every champion has struggles that they&rsquo;ve been through. There will always be obstacles and you have to learn to hurdle them &ndash; you&rsquo;re never too old to learn new stuff. I think I&rsquo;ve learned a lot over the past year, and the main thing is that I&rsquo;ve learned to listen to my body. Like any athlete who wants to be a champion, you tend to want to train through your pain, but sometimes it&rsquo;s better to rest and listen to your body, which will help you in the long run. That&rsquo;s one of the mistakes I&rsquo;ve made in the past; I&rsquo;d try to push through the pain.&rdquo;
Having smartly rehabbed her way through her achilles injury, Thompson-Herah got her 2021 season off to a strong start, speeding to a wind-assisted 10.76 and a wind-legal 10.78 in early May. She was surprisingly beaten in both disciplines in high-quality races at the Jamaican Championships, but her third-place finishes in 10.84 and 22.02 were more than sufficient to earn her places on the team for the Olympic Games.
&ldquo;You get a lot of motivation when you achieve your first victory of the season,&rdquo; she says, looking back on her year. &ldquo;You think, &lsquo;okay, I&rsquo;m ready for the next one&rsquo;, then each race comes and you want to be better.&rdquo;
Job done at the national championships, she then headed to Europe to continue her preparation for the Games and showed she was rounding into top form with victory over 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehervar. She stopped the clock at 10.71, a Hungarian all-comers&rsquo; record and just one hundredth shy of her PB &ndash; but, more significantly, finishing comfortably ahead of compatriot and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 
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 Her Olympic campaign began three weeks later with an incredibly easy looking 10.82 100m heat win &ndash; faster than the gold medal-winning times at all but four editions of the Games. And she then went even quicker in the semifinals, winning her race in 10.76.
But even then, her margin of supremacy and winning time in the final still came as a shock. Despite running into a -0.6m/s headwind, she claimed gold in an Olympic record of 10.61 to win by 0.13 &ndash; which, in sprinting terms, is significant.
Following one rest day to reflect on a Jamaican podium sweep in the shorter sprint, Thompson-Herah was back on track for the 200m. She ran a comfortable &ndash; though borderline risky &ndash; 22.86 to advance from her heat, but then looked imperious in the semifinals as she stopped the clock at an equal PB of 21.66, despite slamming on the proverbial brakes before the finish line.
She went on to claim 200m gold in 21.53, breaking the long-standing Jamaican record that had previously been held by sprint icon Merlene Ottey, and moving to second on the world all-time list. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61093e38f92b560c3905c9dd.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 She wasn&rsquo;t done there, though. She capped her Olympic campaign three days later when joining her Jamaican teammates to claim gold in the 4x100m, setting another national record with 41.02 and exceeding what she achieved in Rio.
&ldquo;The 200m was the hardest event because we didn&rsquo;t get much rest,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Normally we&rsquo;d have one round each day, but in Tokyo we had the first two rounds on the same day, which was super difficult. In the nine months before the Games, we geared our training around preparing for that, but it was still a little bit challenging.
&ldquo;Every time I go out there, I want to be a better version of myself,&rdquo; she adds, explaining her general racing approach. &ldquo;I try to compete with myself and to nail every race I get.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610d5041420bba34329a7272.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 That also explains why she has so much respect for Karsten Warholm, winner of the Male Athlete of the Year award.
&ldquo;I was tuned in for his Olympic final,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;45 seconds &ndash; most elite men are running that in the flat 400m! He&rsquo;s really pushing the boundaries.&rdquo;
Thompson-Herah came close to breaking boundaries in the latter stage of the season. Competing against a high-quality 100m field at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene, she sped to a world-leading national record of 10.54, moving to second on the world all-time list. It was also just 0.05 shy of the long-standing world record.
It took Thompson-Herah completely by surprise.
&ldquo;The 10.54 felt kind of slow!&rdquo; she reveals. &ldquo;When I crossed the line, I didn&rsquo;t see the time straight away, but it felt sluggish and kind of awkward. But sometimes a race may not feel perfect, yet you end up running fast. When I finally saw the time, I was overwhelmed, elated, excited, everything.&rdquo; 
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 She hopes to return to Eugene&rsquo;s Hayward Field for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. Although she&rsquo;d like to win multiple gold medals, as she has done at the past two Olympic Games, her main goal will simply be to win her first individual world title.
&ldquo;I am definitely looking forward to the World Championships in Eugene because I don&rsquo;t yet have an individual world title,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The aim is to try to do the double, or even three golds. I felt the track and know what it feels like, so I am looking forward to a good championships. And it&rsquo;s closer to home, of course.&rdquo;
Before then, she may compete at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade22, but those plans are not yet confirmed.
&ldquo;The World Indoors is on my radar but I am just going to see how my body feels,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I enjoy the 60m, even though I am not a quick starter. I do need the speed, of course, and I&rsquo;d love to win my first world indoor title, but it all depends on how I feel nearer to the time. I&rsquo;m just taking things step by step at the moment.&rdquo; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-theme="dark">
"I went very close to the world record so you know, anything is possible," hints newly crowned Female World Athlete of the Year <a href="https://twitter.com/FastElaine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FastElaine</a>. &ldquo;The <a href="https://twitter.com/WCHoregon22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WCHoregon22</a> is most definitely my next big target." Watch this space 👀 <a href="https://t.co/ZRou2Osbh0">pic.twitter.com/ZRou2Osbh0</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1466121743274237952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2021</a></blockquote>
 Along with winning world titles and breaking world records, one of Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s other long-term goals is to continue to inspire young athletes, particularly in Jamaica.
&ldquo;It means a lot to be Jamaican,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;I started running when I was about six years old, and as a young girl growing up, making the Olympics was my dream. We have the Boys and Girls Championships back home in Jamaica, which is like a mini Olympics for Jamaicans. Everybody learns to be competitive there, which we then bring into elite performance.
&ldquo;Once you turn professional, it&rsquo;s all about making a name and your own brand, but for us as Jamaicans we also want to put our little island out there. When I was younger, I&rsquo;d look up to Veronica Campbell-Brown, Merlene Ottey, Usain (Bolt) and Asafa (Powell), so for me to become one of those big stars like them, it&rsquo;s amazing.
&ldquo;My advice for young athletes would be to just believe, keep working and stay focused. The athletics world isn&rsquo;t an easy one. But put in the work, take motivation from your fans, and just have fun. If you put in the work, you&rsquo;ll get the result that you want.
&ldquo;I want to be a great athlete and a great person overall. This sport has taught me a lot, and I have learned a lot over the years. I never dreamed I could travel the world, so I&rsquo;m grateful for everything this sport throws in my hands.
&ldquo;I want to leave a legacy in this sport that will inspire the younger generation to go on and do even greater things than I&rsquo;ve done.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

When an athlete makes history by achieving something that has never been done before, you’d think they’d struggle for motivation in the aftermath.

Athlete of the Year award motivates Thompson-Herah to work towards career goals

For Gabby Thomas, studying neurobiology was a no-brainer. She had known she wanted to do it since she was a teenager. But it took Thomas&rsquo; brain longer to process the information that she could become a professional athlete, and even one of the fastest women in history.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Harvard graduate anchored the silver medal-winning USA 4x100m team, won bronze in the 200m and was also a champion for science.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The interest in neurobiology and studying the nervous system came from my personal experiences with family and my brothers,&rdquo; said Thomas, who initially wanted to do research on autism, &ldquo;whereas track is something that I fell into gradually and I just kept running. I always loved and enjoyed sports, but professional sports wasn&rsquo;t something that I aspired to.&rdquo;
On World Science Day for Peace and Development (10), the 24-year-old stands at the intersection of athletics and academics &ndash; and is sprinting off in both directions.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s nice to be recognised for my passions outside of track and field,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/618b04aaf948209d902161e6.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> (&copy; Zaid Hamid)
 At this year's US Olympic Trials, Thomas clocked 21.61 in the 200m, a time then eclipsed only by Florence Griffith-Joyner&rsquo;s 21.34 from 1988. Jamaica&rsquo;s Elaine Thompson-Herah then ran 21.53 in Tokyo to win the gold and take over the second spot.
Thomas believes&nbsp;Griffith-Joyner's world record is within reach. &ldquo;If you had asked me over a year ago, I probably would have said no,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I think things have changed. I ended on such a great note last season and I only see myself getting better. And I see the way Elaine&rsquo;s running and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, so I foresee us pushing each other and challenging each other to amazing things.&rdquo;
At the same time, Thomas is also pursuing a masters degree in epidemiology and health care administration at the University of Texas. She should finish this winter. Just as Thomas did before Tokyo, she will take a part-time course-load in the spring in order to prepare for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.&nbsp;
Thomas&rsquo; trajectory is atypical among the USA&rsquo;s top athletes who came through the collegiate ranks. &ldquo;What makes my story unique is the fact that I don&rsquo;t like to be pigeonholed, or just go down one particular path,&rdquo; said Thomas, who was born in Atlanta and moved to Massachusetts when she was 12.
Instead of going straight from high school star to powerhouse university and choosing a fairly simple major to focus on sports, she deliberately selected a challenging major at an Ivy League school. &ldquo;I like to be a representation that you can really have multiple interests,&rdquo; Thomas said.&nbsp; 
<h2>Fast track to Trials</h2>
However, she almost got ahead of herself athletically when she made the 2016 Olympic trials as a Harvard freshman.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a goal of mine going into that season,&rdquo; Thomas said. She was concentrating on an internship at Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital, then wound up qualifying to go to Eugene, Oregon. Suddenly, Thomas found herself in the 200m final and placed sixth. &ldquo;When that happened, that definitely changed my perspective on track and field,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I shifted gears a little bit and started taking it pretty seriously in college.&rdquo;
With the help of Harvard coach Kebba Tolbert, Thomas explored the relationships between science and athletic performance. &ldquo;With track and field, everyone knows so much of it is mental, but a lot of it has to do with your brain chemistry, too,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My coach focused a lot on meditation. It does change your brain chemistry over the long term, so we would do that before hard workouts and before every competition. If you can calm your nervous system down, it affects how well you can train.&rdquo;
Thomas said Tolbert is still sending her &ldquo;tonnes of books once a month&rdquo; on the subject.
Visualisation also plays a major role in Thomas&rsquo; preparation and she added: &ldquo;The neuroplasticity aspect really fascinated me, this idea that if you train your brain to do something, that it starts to become second nature.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s basically muscle memory, and just understanding how your nervous system works, the importance of your endocrine system and how your hormones are affected by certain behaviors. Ultimately, that is what affects your performance in track and field.&rdquo;
Academically, Thomas&rsquo; career goals were evolving, too. She decided to add a minor in global health and health policy her junior year. Although Thomas subsequently signed a shoe contract and turned pro, forgoing her final season of eligibility, she remained at the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school through graduation.
Then Thomas had a major decision to make. &ldquo;I wanted to be excellent at track and field,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I moved to Austin, Texas, to put myself in the best position I could to make the Olympic team.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
<h2>New environment&nbsp;</h2>
She joined the &ldquo;Bailey Bunch&rdquo; led by coach Tonja Buford-Bailey, the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles, and enrolled at Texas.
Thomas knew she would run the 200m at Trials, but was conflicted about choosing the 100m or the 400m as her second event. At the last minute, she went with the 100m and crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Then, in the 200m, Thomas produced an incandescent performance. &ldquo;I expected myself to run very well, but did I expect to run 21.61? No. I&rsquo;m not sure my coach was surprised, but I was definitely shocked.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/618b0394f948209d902161e3.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
Gwen Torrence, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200m from the USA, called Thomas &ldquo;Gabby the Gazelle&rdquo;. &nbsp;
She went into Tokyo as one of the favourites for the podium. With her health administration background, Thomas looked at the Covid-19 mitigation measures adopted by Olympic organisers with an expert eye.
&ldquo;I respected and understood that it was a very difficult position to be in,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We did the best that we could with the situation at hand. I&rsquo;m very grateful that we were able to do it.&rdquo;
However, jet lag was a factor with athletes allowed to arrive only five days before their first event. They were also tested daily.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Navigating the Covid protocols was a little bit tricky,&rdquo; Thomas said.
That&rsquo;s why her bronze medal in the 200m means so much to her.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That race was really a fight,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;It took a lot of mental willpower to relax. I think that&rsquo;s where my experience and training came into play, so that felt like it was a huge win for me. The rounds were really tough for me. There was a lot of negativity.&rdquo;
She pronounced her first round merely &ldquo;OK,&rdquo; and her second &ldquo;poorly run,&rdquo; but online comments were harsh. &ldquo;Everyone was tagging me saying that I needed to get it together, that the US wasn&rsquo;t going to get a medal in the 200m, or &lsquo;Gabby Thomas really sucks today,&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was getting text messages asking if I&rsquo;m OK. If you let it, it can really put you in a negative head space going into the final.&rdquo; 
<h2>Positive outcome</h2>
Thomas needed to switch her mindset and calm down, and the scientist in her knew just how to get ready for the final. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m so proud of it,&rdquo; she said.
With Thompson-Herah out in front, Christine Mboma of Namibia surged into second in 21.81, while Thomas held off Fraser-Pryce, 21.87 to 21.94, to make the podium.
In the 4x100m, Jamaica won the gold with a time of 41.02 while USA ran 41.45 to secure the silver.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The Olympics was an amazing experience,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;It was a lot of fun. It felt like summer camp with a little more stress.&rdquo; 
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 She has embraced the attention from the media as an ambassador for the sciences. While Thomas said there is a healthy amount of interest in the field, she added: &ldquo;What I would love to see is more women and girls going into the sciences. I think a lot of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is pretty intimidating for women, just because there&rsquo;s a lot of gatekeeping in terms of how information is given and how women are made to feel in classroom settings.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of seen as a men&rsquo;s field right now, but if more girls could just see women in STEM who are doing it well and who look confident, it would be really helpful.&rdquo;
Thomas is certainly doing her part.
Though her plate is already full, Thomas recently began an internship at Leidos as a healthcare innovation analyst with the research and development team. Her main focus is helping people in underserved communities and she hopes to some day run a non-profit and eventually a hospital system.
But first, she plans to &ldquo;keep running until the wheels fall off.&rdquo;
Thomas will compete indoors, but still has to choose between the 60m and the 400m.
The longer race, she said, &ldquo;is very tactical, which means you&rsquo;re constantly thinking. And that&rsquo;s painful in a 400.&rdquo;
Outdoors, she&rsquo;ll again specialise in the 200m, with either the 100m or 400m as her secondary race.
And Thomas will continue to keep a foot in both of her worlds.&nbsp;
Her scientific training came into play last spring when an MRI to determine if her lower back was aggravating her hamstring revealed a tumor on her liver.
&ldquo;With my background in healthcare, I understood the statistics behind it and the majority of times things are absolutely fine,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;But the more that doctors and people close to me started to get stressed out, that&rsquo;s when I started to get stressed out and I had talked myself into this very anxious state going into Trials.&rdquo;
Thomas had to &ldquo;pull the Olympic athlete card&rdquo; to get in to see a specialist before leaving for the meet in Eugene. &ldquo;I needed the peace of mind,&rdquo; she said.
The tumor was benign, and Thomas said: &ldquo;I should have just trusted my gut.&rdquo;
But looking back, maybe all of that stress actually helped her run 21.61 instead of hurting her.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s an interesting thought,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;Maybe we should do a study.&rdquo;
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

For Gabby Thomas, studying neurobiology was a no-brainer.

Thomas exploring the science of speed

Among the stars of the 1928 Amsterdam Games, which marked the debut of women&rsquo;s events at the Olympics, is the inaugural 100m Olympic champion Betty Robinson.
Her story goes beyond the individual achievement of a talented track athlete. She&rsquo;s known to be the Olympic champion who rose from the dead to win a second title with the US 4x100m relay team, eight years after her first gold.&nbsp; 
<h2>Running for a train: the start of a flourishing career</h2>
Robinson grew up as a multi-talented teenager. She knew she was fast but never thought about competing. &ldquo;I had no idea that women even ran then,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;
Her talent was discovered by her science teacher Charles Price, who saw her running to catch the train after school. He was a former athlete and the coach of the school team, and he thought that she was fast, but not fast enough to catch the train.&nbsp;
Once on board, he was surprised to see Robinson on the seat next to him. That&rsquo;s when Price knew that she had a special gift. The next day he decided to test her ability over 50 metres and was even more impressed with her natural talent. She instantly joined the boys&rsquo; team as there was no girls&rsquo; track team at her school back then.&nbsp; 
<h2>The inaugural 100m Olympic champion</h2>
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610e4091e4611c25034cdcea.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Betty Robinson&rsquo;s sprinting debut was a sprint in itself. After only four months of training, she challenged the US record-holder Helen Filkey and got her spot on the US Olympic team at only 16 years of age.
The 1928 Summer Olympic Games held in Amsterdam included the first women's athletics events at the Olympics, and the reintroduction of the Olympic flame into the Olympic programme. Women were only allowed to compete in the 100m, 800m, discus, high jump and 4x100m relay.
Robinson was the only US athlete to qualify for the 100m final. But before the race, she realised that she had brought to the stadium two left shoes instead of a pair. She waited for someone from the team to get her the right shoes. They got back right on time before the start of the final race.
That day, she lined up against other women who also knew that the winner was going to make history. Two athletes were disqualified after false starting. Robinson won the race in a world record of 12.2 to become the inaugural women&rsquo;s 100m Olympic champion. She remains the youngest athlete to win Olympic 100m gold.
She went on to win silver in the women&rsquo;s 4x100m relay, with the US team finishing second to the strong Canadian team.
During these Games, women were finally allowed to compete in gymnastics and athletics, which doubled the number of women competing at the Olympics compared to the previous edition. 
<h2>Plane crash</h2>
Returning from her first successful Olympic Games, Robinson had her sights on a home Olympics scheduled to happen in Los Angeles in 1932.
She joined Northwestern University where she decided to pursue a physical education degree, hoping to become a coach at the 1936 Olympics.
A year ahead of the 1932 Games, Robinson was the hot favourite for gold, having a number of world records to her name. But on 28 June she decided to go on a plane tour with her cousin as a pilot, to distract herself from training.
That&rsquo;s when the unthinkable happened. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610e4315e4611c25034cdcf3.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Right after a safe take off, an engine problem led to a nose fall and a terrible plane crash. Robinson and her cousin were thought dead. Robinson was taken to a morgue when they realised she was still alive.&nbsp;
They both survived but were severely injured. Robinson was told by her doctors that she would never race again. She was in a wheelchair for six months and went through two years of rehabilitation in order to walk normally again.
&ldquo;The doctor said if I hadn&rsquo;t been in such good condition, I wouldn&rsquo;t have come out of it as well as I did," she said.
<h2>Rising from the ashes</h2>
During her rehabilitation phase, Robinson missed the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but she was determined to run again.
She proved the doctors wrong and started running not only to exercise, but to compete. She couldn&rsquo;t kneel due to the fractures and surgeries on her left leg. The only way for her to run at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin was to secure a spot on the relay team, and that&rsquo;s what she did.
&ldquo;It was really a struggle to make the team in 1936. I had to work overtime,&rdquo; she said.
Once there, Robinson teamed up with Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers and Helen Stephens for the 4x100m final. The German team, having set a world record in their heat, were the favourites. But in the final, they dropped the baton during their last changeover.
Robinson, meanwhile, ran a storming third leg and handed over to her US teammate Stephens, who anchored the USA to victory. It was a second Olympic gold medal for Robinson,&nbsp;eight years after her first - and having recovered from the plane crash in between.
 <img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6110e61630269a508e81d1a5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> <img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6110e62930269a508e81d1a8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
<h2>Before the flame extinguishes</h2>
Betty Robinson retired after the 1936 Olympic Games. She was only 24. She stayed connected to the sport by volunteering as a referee but most importantly by advocating for women in sports.
In 1977 she was inducted into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame. In 1996 she carried the Olympic Torch for the Atlanta Games with joy and pride. This was her last moment of Olympic history before her death in 1999 aged 87.
Christel Saneh for World Athletics&nbsp;

Among the stars of the 1928 Amsterdam Games, which marked the debut of women’s events at the Olympics, is the inaugural 100m Olympic champion Betty Robinson.

Betty Robinson: the sprint star who 'rose from the dead'

Few would have considered Italy to be a medal contender in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m before Tokyo.
They missed out on making the World Championships in Doha two years ago, and hadn&rsquo;t reached an Olympic final since 2000. And no Italian quartet had ever broken 38 seconds.
But then Marcell Jacobs won the 100m at the start of the Olympic athletics programme. Coming hot on the heels of Gianmarco Tamberi&rsquo;s shared gold in the high jump, it kick-started a gold rush that continued with Italy winning both 20km race walks.
And now, on the penultimate day of the Games, the Azzurri has won their fifth gold medal as Lorenza Patta, Jacobs, Eseosa Desalu and Filippo Tortu teamed up to triumph in the men&rsquo;s 4x100m.
They had broken the national record in the first round just to qualify for the final, clocking 37.95 to finish third in their heat and making them the fourth-fastest team to qualify for the final.
Drawn in lane eight in the final, 21-year-old Lorenzo Patta &ndash; competing in his first senior-level championships &ndash; got the team off to a strong start before handing over to Jacobs. But the British quartet had also made a strong start with CJ Ujah and Zharnel Hughes running their first legs, giving them a lead over Jamaica, Canada and China.
Jacobs handed over to Eseosa Desalu, the Italian 200m champion and 20.18 performer, but Britain still had a slight edge as 2014 world indoor champion Richard Kilty took up the running. Canada&rsquo;s Brendon Rodney, China&rsquo;s Su Bingtian and Jamaica&rsquo;s Yohan Blake also ran strong third legs to remain in medal contention.
British anchor Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake received the baton with a slight lead over Italy&rsquo;s Filippo Tortu and for a brief moment it looked as though the European 200m silver medallist would hold on. But once Tortu got into top speed, the world finalist and 9.99 sprinter started to close in on Mitchell-Blake&rsquo;s lead.
Tortu edged ahead just before the finish to cross the line first in 37.50, a huge Italian record and the second-fastest time ever by a European team. Britain took silver in 37.51, the fastest ever time for a silver medal at the Olympic Games, while 200m champion Andre De Grasse anchored Canada to bronze in 37.70.
China equalled their national record of 37.79 to finish fourth and Jamaica placed fifth in 37.84. They are both the two fastest times never to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
&ldquo;I would never have expected this before the Olympics,&rdquo; said Jacobs. &ldquo;Before stepping on the track, we looked at each other and we were determined to win a medal. This is the year of Italy, this is our year. We won the Eurovision, we won the football European championships, we won five gold medals (in athletics).&rdquo;
&ldquo;This squad made me live this dream,&rdquo; added an emotional Tortu. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have any tears left. I need to recharge them for tomorrow because I need them more for the anthem (during the medal ceremony).&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
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<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 4x100m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Italy 🇮🇹</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">37.50 NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Great Britain &amp; NI 🇬🇧</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">37.51 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Canada 🇨🇦</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">37.70 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/4x100-metres-relay/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Few would have considered Italy to be a medal contender in the men’s 4x100m before Tokyo.

Italy grabs fifth athletics gold of the Games with victory in men’s 4x100m

Anything can happen in the relays but the women&rsquo;s 4x100m final went to the form book at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday (6), with Jamaica running the third-fastest ever time to regain a title last won by the nation in Athens in 2004.
In Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, the Jamaican quartet featured all three individual 100m medallists, and two of the world&rsquo;s three fastest ever women, and they teamed up with double world U20 champion Briana Williams to clock a national record of 41.02.
That time puts them behind only defending champions USA on the world all-time list, with US teams having clocked 40.82 and 41.01 to win at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics respectively.
The winning mark resulted in a clear victory for Jamaica, as Jackson on the anchor leg stayed ahead of 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas, who brought the US team home second in 41.45 for the nation&rsquo;s record-extending 16th Olympic medal in the event. A strong final leg by Daryll Neita saw Great Britain, who had run a national record of 41.55 in the heats, come through for bronze in 41.88.
Having already achieved a &lsquo;double double&rsquo; after retaining her Olympic 100m and 200m titles, Jamaica&rsquo;s 4x100m success secured Thompson-Herah a golden treble in Tokyo and her fifth Olympic title overall, while for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic 100m champion Fraser-Pryce it is an eighth Olympic medal and her 12th outdoor global gold.
"I was just excited for the team to come out here and put on a show,&rdquo; said Thompson-Herah, who is now the second-fastest woman in history over both the 100m and 200m following her respective winning times of 10.61 and 21.53 in Tokyo. &ldquo;The feeling is surreal to capture three golds and we got a national record. We are grateful."
Fraser-Pryce added: "The main focus was getting the stick (baton) around. We knew once we got it around, we would do very well. We didn't get a world record tonight, but we got a national record.&rdquo;
The previous Jamaican record had been the 41.07 run by a quartet also including Thompson-Herah and Fraser-Pryce to win the 2015 world title in Beijing.
This time a powerful start by Williams put Jamaica narrowly ahead at the first changeover, with the 19-year-old handing the baton to Thompson-Herah. The USA also had a smooth first handover, with world relay bronze medallist Teahna Daniels taking over from Javianne Oliver. Britain&rsquo;s first leg runner Asha Philip, the 2017 European indoor 60m champion, had to stretch to reach Imani Lansiquot, but with the baton safely received she too powered away before handing over to reigning world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith. For Asher-Smith, this was her one chance for a medal in Tokyo after injury prevented her from performing at her best in the 100m and forced her to withdraw from the 200m.
Out in lane eight, Thompson-Herah handed over to Fraser-Pryce who then ran a smooth bend and was ahead as she reached Jackson. For the USA, Daniels passed the baton to Jenna Prandini who held the team&rsquo;s second place as she approached Thomas for the anchor.
But Jackson couldn&rsquo;t be caught and she strode towards victory, with Thomas in fierce pursuit. After Asher-Smith made up some ground for Great Britain, Neita took off for the final leg and passed Switzerland&rsquo;s Salome Kora and Germany&rsquo;s Gina Luckenkemper down the home straight to secure a medal.
Kora crossed the finish line in 42.08 to see Switzerland finish fourth, with Germany fifth in 42.12.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
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<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; width: 100%;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 4x100m MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Jamaica 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">41.02 NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">United States 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">41.45</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Great Britain 🇬🇧 GBR</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">41.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; width: 100%;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/women/4x100-metres-relay/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

The Jamaican team ran the third-fastest ever time to regain a title last won by the nation in Athens in 2004.

More medals for Jamaica's sprint stars after Olympic women's 4x100m win

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Yoshihide Kiryu (JPN)</h3>
Olympic 4x100m silver medallist, two-time world 4x100m bronze medallist, Asian record-holder
&nbsp;
<hr />
&nbsp;
From my very first relay at elementary school, I&rsquo;ve always loved the fun aspect to relays.
Back then, I was the fastest of my classmates and I became a star, but I always enjoyed competing as a team and working towards the same goal in a relay. To this day, relays are my favourite track and field discipline.
For the most part, I&rsquo;ve competed in the 4x100m relay, but at high school I recall finishing third in the 4x400m in a national competition. Later, while at college, I won the Japanese intercollegiate 4x400m title for Toyo University.
Aged just 17, I competed for Japan in the 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow and the next year won a 4x100m silver at the World U20 Championships in Eugene, which was another fond memory.
But my favourite relay memory came at the 2016 Rio Olympics. There, we ran an Asian record time of 37.68 in the heats and bettered that time by 0.08 in the final to win silver. I ran the third leg in the final and handed the baton on to Asuka Cambridge. At that point I thought we could win the race but the Jamaicans had Usain Bolt on anchor and they won the gold.
I enjoy the fact that competing in relays mean you come together as friends with your individual rivals. You get the opportunity to fight together, but to perform well in a relay requires trust in your teammates.
From my experience, because Japan has focused on relays, this has helped us in our individual events. I built up a lot of confidence by challenging the very best in the world in the relays.
Relays have proven to be very meaningful for my career development and helped me become stronger and faster as an athlete.
Steve Landells for World Athletics

I’ve always loved the fun aspect to relays

Yoshihide Kiryu: why I run relays

<h2>Men&rsquo;s 4x100m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=4X1&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/4x100-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/relays/4x100-metres-relay/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/relays/4x100-metres-relay/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/relays/4x100-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
There's one certainty in the men's one-lap relay this year: for the first time in recent memory, the first squad across the Olympic 4x100m finish line won't include Usain Bolt. And, with the rise of a new generation of sprinters in most corners of the globe, there's not even a clear favourite.
On paper, the fastest should undoubtedly be the USA who are seeking a 17th Olympic victory in the event.
Individually, no team comes close to this year's US 4x100m relay pool, one that includes three of the world's five fastest men in 2021 - and four of the quickest eight - led by world leader (9.77) and US Trials winner Trayvon Bromell. He'll be joined by Ronnie Baker (9.85), who, like Bromell, has returned from injury as not only a faster sprinter, but a more consistent and confident one as well. Joining them is Fred Kerley, who just a year ago was one of the finest 400m runners on the planet. This year he&rsquo;s emerged as one of the world's fastest 100m men, improving to 9.86 and finishing third at the notoriously difficult US Trials. Micah Williams, who has clocked 9.91 this year, rounds out the squad.
Fast times are, of course, only half the battle in the sprint relay. The other is getting the baton around one lap of the track and handing off within the confines of the exchange zone. There are plenty of examples that show how US teams in particular have been plagued by botched handoffs in the past, costing not only victories but disqualification as well. That was the case in Rio where they were disqualified for a zone violation but more recently performed exceptionally well to dominate at 2019 World Championships, clocking 37.10 ahead of Great Britain (37.36) and Japan (37.43). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/bfb35dd2-c82a-4639-98b7-e2e9dd924065.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Great Britain remains a perennial medal threat, this year headed by sub-10 men CJ Ujah, Reece Prescod and European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes. They've clocked 38.27 this year but are capable of going considerably faster.
Japan, who were propelled to their second Olympic silver in the event by a 37.60 national record in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, will be under considerable pressure on home soil as they try to capture an elusive Olympic title. The quartet will be led by Ryota Yamagata, a member of the Rio squad, who lowered the national 100m record to 9.95 this year; Yuki Koike, who has a 9.98 best from 2018; and Shuhei Tada, who improved his lifetime best to 10.01 in June.
Japan was third at the World Athletics Relays in May, a competition won by an inspired South African team anchored by African 100m champion Akani Simbine. Just over eight weeks later the 27-year-old broke the African 100m record with a sizzling 9.84 run in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, to further propel his nation's relay medal-winning ambitions.
Others in the medal hunt include Italy, with Lamont Marcell Jacobs (9.95 PB, SB) and Filippo Tortu (9.99 PB) figuring prominently, along with China, whose formidable squad includes Su Bingtian (9.91 PB, 9.98 SB) and Xie Zhenye (9.97 SB, 10.15 SB).
Brazil, the 2019 World Relays winners, clocked a South American record of 37.72 at the 2019 World Championships to finish fourth, and should be a medal favourite as well.
Meanwhile, defending champions Jamaica returns with a relatively low-key squad led by veteran Yohan Blake, a member of the last two Olympic winning relay squads and the only Jamaican to crack 10 seconds in the 100m this year with 9.95. He'll be joined by Nigel Ellis (10.04 PB, SB), Tyquendo Tracey (9.96 PB, 10.00 SB) and Oblique Seville (PB, SB 10.04).
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 4x100m</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=4X1&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/4x100-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/relays/4x100-metres-relay/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/relays/4x100-metres-relay/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> | <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/relays/4x100-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
In Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson, the Jamaican squad has the three fastest women entered for the individual 100m and looks to be the team to beat on paper. But of course, things do not always go to the form book in the relays, which is what makes the competition so exciting.
In Rio five years ago there was a second consecutive title for the USA as Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix, English Gardner and Tori Bowie combined to beat Jamaica, 41.01 to 41.36, with Great Britain third in 41.77. In Doha, at the latest edition of the World Athletics Championships, it was Jamaica on top, as Jackson anchored her team to victory in 41.44 ahead of Great Britain (41.85) and the USA (42.10). All three teams could make the podium again this time, although Germany and Switzerland will also be among those on the medal hunt.
The Jamaican team certainly has the individual speed within its squad to regain a title last won by the nation in Athens in 2004. Fraser-Pryce leads the world 100m list with her 10.63 run in Kingston in June &ndash; a time which puts her second on the world all-time list. She has also clocked 10.71 this summer and has the benefit of incredible experience, with four world 4x100m wins among the many titles to her name as well as two Olympic relay silver medals.
Defending Olympic 100m and 200m champion Thompson-Herah, meanwhile, has run 10.71 this season, and was on Jamaica&rsquo;s silver medal-winning Olympic team alongside Fraser-Pryce in 2016, while Olympic and world 400m medallist Jackson is concentrating on the shorter sprints this year and has run 10.77. Morrison (10.87) and Briana Williams (10.97) add further strength to the team.
Gardner is the sole member of the USA&rsquo;s 2016 team back in action and this time she is joined by Aleia Hobbs, who ran 10.91 in April, plus Javianne Oliver (10.96), Jenna Prandini (11.11) and Teahna Daniels (11.02), who helped the USA to world bronze in Doha. With two sub-11 second sprinters this season and some smooth changeovers, the squad would be looking to challenge for a third consecutive title. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60f57208d7703f8ffc89cf02.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="676" />
 Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita broke the British record with 41.77 to claim bronze in Rio and that is one of the three medals the team has won at consecutive recent global championships. World 200m champion Asher-Smith, Philip and Neita are all in the squad along with Ashleigh Nelson, who was part of the silver medal-winning Doha team, and Imani Lansiquot.
Germany and Switzerland both finished just outside the medals at the past two editions of the World Championships, with Germany also fourth in Rio. In Tatjana Pinto and Alexandra Burghardt, Germany&rsquo;s squad has two of the nation&rsquo;s four fastest sprinters since the reunification of Germany, while European indoor 60m champion Ajla Del Ponte is running quicker than ever this season and is again joined on the Swiss team by national record-holder Mujinga Kambundji.
One of the stories of this year's World Athletics Relays in Silesia was Ecuador's 4x100m women achieving a first ever Olympic relay place for their nation, with Angela Gabriela Tenorio, Gabriela Anahi Suarez, Virginia Elizabeth Villalba and Marizol Landazuri joined by Yuliana Angulo in their Tokyo squad. In Silesia, where teams including the USA and Jamaica decided not to compete, the women&rsquo;s 4x100m win was claimed by Italy, ahead of Poland, the Netherlands and Japan, and they will all again be looking to make an impact.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's 4x100m relays

Tokyo Olympics preview: 4x100m relays

Here&rsquo;s the thing about Olympic year, something Akani Simbine knows will always be true.
&ldquo;Everybody comes out fast,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Everybody runs fast, and we always talk about how everybody is just on form. Everyone is ready.&rdquo;
The outdoor season may only be in its drive phase, but early evidence suggests that whoever is crowned men&rsquo;s 100m champion in Tokyo on 1 August will need to ascend to a level he has never reached.
Thirteen different men have broken 10 seconds for 100m over the past seven weeks, and Simbine is one of them, running 9.99 into a stiff headwind (-3.0m/s) at altitude in Pretoria in late March before clocking a wind-aided 9.82 (+2.8m/s) at the South African Championships in April.
The race to the top of the world over 100m is as open as it&rsquo;s ever been, and Simbine knows the fun is only just beginning. The 27-year-old South African has come oh-so-close to global 100m medals before, finishing fifth at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Championships and fourth at the 2019 World Championships &ndash; 0.03, 0.06 and 0.03 away from the medals.
The margins are fine, the competition cutthroat, but what does Simbine feel it will take to get on the podium in Tokyo?
&ldquo;People are going to have to run their PBs, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll just speak for myself and say I&rsquo;ll be ready, I&rsquo;ll be at my best and making sure I run the best I can when it counts.&rdquo;
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/609e6254c72024c7ff0b4fd0.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="649" /> Akani Simbine at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 (&copy; Getty Images)
 Few events in world sport captivate the public quite like the Olympic 100m final, and in the first edition in 17 years not featuring Usain Bolt, a new name will be catapulted to global fame at the start of August. Simbine knows that back home in South Africa, millions will be tuning in, hoping it can be him.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t take it as pressure, something that weighs me down,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I take it more as motivation and belief. A lot of people believe in me and what I can do for the country, what I can do on the track.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s taken time to re-wire his thoughts like that. Back in 2016 Simbine went to his first Olympics in Rio but the dizzying lights of the five-ringed circus threatened to blind his focus. What did he learn from that experience?
&ldquo;To keep my head,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Keep my head on my shoulders and not to stress too much or put myself in a corner, thinking I&rsquo;m not free. When I&rsquo;m running, I should be running free and relaxed and that&rsquo;s the one thing I didn&rsquo;t do in Rio.&rdquo;
The intervening years have taught him the value of composure: how a loose muscle is a fast muscle, how a calm mind functions with superior clarity.
In his first race in Europe this year, Simbine was coolness personified, anchoring the South African men&rsquo;s 4x100m team to victory at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, clocking 38.71 on a wintry, windy night in Chorzow, Poland.
How was the race for him?
&ldquo;Cold, very cold,&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;But it was a great race, and I&rsquo;m really happy for the team, for the boys, for the country. We came with the goal of winning and I&rsquo;m just happy we got that.&rdquo;
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It had taken Simbine 30 hours, door to door, to make it to his hotel in Poland, and though South Africa was already qualified for the Olympics in the 4x100m he felt it was a trek worth making.
&ldquo;It was very important to come out here, put together a good relay, get the baton across and make sure that we get the confidence knowing we are running at international competitions with high-quality countries,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re so used to running for ourselves and not a team but here, we work together, we plan together and we make sure everything goes well and we can all win together.&rdquo;
At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, South Africa finished fifth in the 4x100m, clocking 37.73, and Simbine believes they can go a few places higher at the Olympics. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping so,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;For us this win is good for confidence; it&rsquo;s so we are feeling good going into Tokyo.&rdquo;
The road to this point has not been smooth.
While every athlete had their training disrupted to some degree over the past year, few felt it as severely as South Africans, who dealt with one of the world&rsquo;s strictest lockdowns through much of 2020.
&ldquo;At the beginning we thought, &lsquo;okay, we&rsquo;re going to get a week of serious lockdown then we can get back to training,&rsquo;&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;A week went to three weeks which went to six weeks, eight weeks, and that&rsquo;s you stuck inside at home, not being able to get to the track or gym.
&ldquo;I was fortunate to get out of South Africa and race in the European season which was great to keep the legs going. It&rsquo;s been tough and right now, it&rsquo;s (still) tough. South Africa has been blocked off by a lot of countries so for us getting into Europe was a struggle, making sure our visas were approved, so it&rsquo;s going to be a long journey to Tokyo and I&rsquo;m hoping we can get over this really soon.&rdquo;
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/609e623dc72024c7ff0b4fcd.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Akani Simbine and Clarence Munyai celebrate South Africa's 4x100m win at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon) 
 Simbine returned to Johannesburg following his Polish expedition and then relocated back to Italy where he will be based until the Olympics. He plans to try some 200m races early in the season to keep the door open for a sprint double in Tokyo. With 11 weeks until the Olympic 100m final, is there anything that still needs improving?
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The start, the middle of my running, the top end, the finish &ndash; the whole race. There&rsquo;s a lot of things we need to fix and work on and that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s exciting me even more, because I&rsquo;m running well now and we&rsquo;re not even at the point where we&rsquo;re supposed to be.&rdquo;
His wind-legal PB is the South African record of 9.89 he ran in Szekesfehervar a month before the 2016 Olympics, but Simbine knows that&rsquo;s not his true limit, and he knows he has what it takes to become an Olympic medallist.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a 100m sprinter and if I don&rsquo;t see myself being on a podium, then I shouldn&rsquo;t be doing it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I just need to make sure I&rsquo;m able to get to Tokyo in the best shape I&rsquo;ve ever been in and we&rsquo;ll see what happens there.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited (with) the way I&rsquo;ve started, but I&rsquo;m keeping my head down and working. I have the confidence, I know what I can do and it&rsquo;s just making sure I do it in Tokyo.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Here’s the thing about Olympic year, something Akani Simbine knows will always be true. “Everybody comes out fast,” he says. Everyone is ready.”

Boosted by World Relays, South Africa's Simbine is focused on the fast road to Tokyo

Saturday night in Chorzow, heat three of the women&rsquo;s 4x100m, and four Ecuadorian sprinters are huddled together in the mixed zone, looking out at the blue track.
Angela Gabriela Tenorio, Gabriela Anahi Suarez, Virginia Elizabeth Villalba and Marizol Landazuri are nervous. They had come to the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21 with a specific mission: finish in the top eight and qualify for the Olympics, something no Ecuadorian relay team, male or female, had ever done.
By this point the four had done everything they could. Their fate was out of their hands. That made the nerves even worse.
Minutes earlier, they had rocketed around the track and brought the baton home in 43.86, a national record. But, crucially, they finished third, just outside the automatic qualification spots. Their whole summer, and their entire Olympic dream, hinged on what happened next down on the track.
In the final heat, France crossed the line first in 43.51, with Switzerland second in 43.71. The Ecuadorians waited, looking up at the big screen, hoping, praying, that the third and fourth-place finishers wouldn&rsquo;t be quicker than 43.86.
When Denmark&rsquo;s time &ndash; 44.25 &ndash; flashed up, they erupted in unison, their delighted screams carrying to every corner of the stadium. Finally, they had done it. They were going to the Olympics.
&ldquo;We are one big heart, we are one country,&rdquo; says Tenorio. &ldquo;We are representing millions of Ecuadorian people. Every time we step in a lane, we think about them, about our family, about our team.&rdquo;
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/608ff0148f093c17c98f87e7.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Ecuador's Gabriela Anahi Suarez and Angela Gabriela Tenorio&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon) 
 For teammate Yuliana Angulo, who was drafted in for the final on Sunday (2), the desire within their ranks made a big difference in the breakthrough.
&ldquo;I believe the reason why we have achieved such an amazing result is because we truly wanted it,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s very emotional to be part of the team.&rdquo;
Angulo &ndash; who is better known as a long jumper, having set the Ecuadorian record of 6.60m in 2019 &ndash; ran the third leg in Sunday evening&rsquo;s final and handed off to Landazuri, who brought the team home fifth in 44.43. Just 13 minutes later, Tenorio, Villalba, Landazuri and Suarez were back on the track for the 4x200m, where they finished third behind Poland and Ireland in 1:36.86.
For Manuel Bravo Calderon, president of the Ecuadorian athletics federation and team leader in Silesia, the weekend was a landmark one for his nation&rsquo;s sporting future.
&ldquo;We have (had) a million messages about this moment,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an amazing result for South America and for my country.&rdquo;
The core group of the 4x100m squad &ndash; Tenorio, Villalba, Suarez and Landazuri &ndash; typically train together in Ecuador under the guidance of renowned coach Nelson Gutierrez, but for the last two months they have been based in Portugal.
&ldquo;That was so they could concentrate before this event,&rdquo; says Calderon. &ldquo;We have these problems with Covid, and travel from Ecuador (takes) a very, very long time.&rdquo;
Calderon believes the trailblazing performances of Tenorio in recent years have had a major impact not only on her teammates, but across the entire spectrum of Ecuadorian athletics.
&ldquo;Angela is a leader, and it&rsquo;s very important because in this moment Angela is inspiring others with her performances,&rdquo; he says.
Tenorio, 25, won 100m bronze and 200m silver at the 2013 World Athletics U18 Championships in Donetsk, with 100m silver and 200m bronze following at the 2014 World U20 Championships in Eugene. In 2015 she set a stunning South American U20 record of 10.99 to win silver at the Pan American Games in Toronto. She went on to compete over 100m and 200m at the Rio Olympics and at many other major championships in the years since, but making it back to an Olympics as part of a team is a dream that long inspired her.
&ldquo;This is the fourth World Relays for us,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;We have a couple of new girls but the main difference this time around is that we will step on the podium in the 4x200m and we have clinched an Olympic qualifier, and have also qualified for Oregon in the 4x100m.&rdquo;
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/608ff0508f093c17c98f87ea.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" /> Marije van Hunenstijn of the Netherlands and Ecuador's Marizol Landazuri&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon) 
 The average age of the quartet that set the national record on Saturday is 24, suggesting there should be scope for improvement in the years ahead as they look to become a regular fixture at major championships.
&ldquo;We are very proud of the team work we have done to achieve this target, despite the fact that we hardly ever train together for relay exchanges,&rdquo; says Tenorio. &ldquo;We are a new team.&rdquo;
Angulo believes their success in Silesia will be just the beginning.
&ldquo;We are now going to train harder and focus more on relays in order to be competitive in Tokyo,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I live in Spain, my teammates live in Ecuador and some of us have recently been in the United States so we haven&rsquo;t had many opportunities to practise. It will be my very first Games. On a personal level, my family is really proud and on a team level, it&rsquo;s another step towards bigger achievements.&rdquo;
For Calderon, the storm of publicity that accompanied the team&rsquo;s achievement &ndash; which included congratulations from the president &ndash; is an opportunity to inspire a new generation of talent in Ecuadorian athletics.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very important moment for the sport in my country,&rdquo; he says.
For Tenorio, the path to Tokyo is very much alive and well as an individual, but to know she will be there with the teammates she had that rollercoaster journey with in Silesia makes it all the sweeter.
&ldquo;We will do our very best at the Games,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;There may be four of us, but we compete as one.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Saturday night in Chorzow, heat three of the women’s 4x100m, and four Ecuadorian sprinters are huddled together in the mixed zone, looking out at the blue track.

'We are one big heart' - how Ecuador's 4x100m women made Olympic history in Silesia

With the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-relays/silesia21/news/report/poland-germany-day-one-winners-world-athletics-relays-silesia-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first day of action complete at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21</a>, 23 teams have effectively secured their places in the relay events at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The finals will take place in Silesia tomorrow, but the completion of the first round today means places at the Olympics have been decided as all eight finalists in the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s 4x100m and women&rsquo;s, men&rsquo;s and mixed 4x400m will qualify for Tokyo.
In addition, the top 10 teams in the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x100m and 4x400m, and the top 12 teams in the mixed 4x400m, have qualified for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Tonight&rsquo;s heats threw up some surprises, as well as some particularly inspired performances. The Dominican Republic, for example, only arrived in Silesia at 4am on Saturday morning, having flown into Warsaw instead of Krakow. They then had to complete Covid tests, and isolate while waiting for their results, before heading to the stadium. Despite that, their mixed 4x400m team set a national record of 3:16.67 in their heat, producing the third-fastest time of the day.
Ecuador, meanwhile, will compete in an Olympic relay event for the first time after their women&rsquo;s 4x100m quartet advanced to the final in Silesia, setting a national record of 43.86.
To complete their Olympic qualification, all teams must compete with bona fide effort in tomorrow&rsquo;s finals. If a team does not start in the final due to a medical reason, they must present a medical certificate from the World Athletics medical delegate in order to guarantee their qualification for the Olympic Games.
The first eight places in each relay for Tokyo were awarded to the top eight teams at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019.
In cases where those teams have also qualified in the top eight in Silesia, the remaining quota places for Tokyo (16 per event) will be allocated according to the World Athletics top performance lists as at 29 June 2021.
The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/stats-zone/road-to/7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Road to Olympic Games tool on the World Athletics website</a> gives an idea of which athletes and teams are in a qualifying position for Tokyo. 
<h2>QUALIFIED TEAMS</h2>
<h3> Women&rsquo;s 4x100m</h3>
For Tokyo: Netherlands, France, Poland, Ecuador, Japan, Denmark (joining Jamaica, Great Britain &amp; NI, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Trinidad &amp; Tobago, Italy, China) Two places remain available.
For Oregon: Netherlands, France, Poland, Switzerland, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, Denmark, Spain, Ireland 
<h3>Men&rsquo;s 4x100m</h3>
For Tokyo: Italy, Germany, Ghana, Denmark (joining USA, Great Britain &amp; NI, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, China, France, Netherlands) Four places remain available.
For Oregon: Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Netherlands, Ghana, Japan, Denmark, Ukraine, France 
<h3>Women&rsquo;s 4x400m</h3>
For Tokyo: Cuba, Germany, Italy, France (joining USA, Poland, Jamaica, Great Britain &amp; NI, Belgium, Ukraine, Netherlands, Canada) Four places remain available.
For Oregon: Cuba, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain &amp; NI, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain 
<h3>Men&rsquo;s 4x400m</h3>
For Tokyo: Netherlands, Japan, South Africa, Botswana (joining USA, Jamaica, Belgium, Colombia, Trinidad &amp; Tobago, Italy, France, Great Britain &amp; NI) Four places remain available.
For Oregon: Netherlands, Japan, South Africa, Belgium, Botswana, Colombia, France, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic 
<h3>Mixed 4x400m</h3>
For Tokyo: Italy, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain (joining USA, Jamaica, Bahrain, Great Britain &amp; NI, Poland, Belgium, India, Brazil) Three places remain available.
For Oregon: Italy, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Belgium, Great Britain &amp; NI, Colombia, Poland, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, South Africa

World Athletics Relays

With the first day of action complete at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, 23 teams have effectively secured their places in the relay events at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Olympic relay fields take shape at World Athletics Relays Silesia 21

There was success for the host nation Poland on an action-packed first evening of competition at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, with Joanna Jozwik and Patryk Dobek teaming up to win the 2x2x400m.
It was the first of two finals at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow on Saturday (1), with Germany winning the shuttle hurdles relay &shy;and a whole host of competitive 4x100m and 4x400m heats taking place.
<h3>Tactical victory on home soil</h3>
With two athletes taking it in turns to run their two 400m legs, the 2x2x400m is an event which favours the middle-distance athletes rather than sprinters but in Dobek the host nation had a bit of both. Previously better known as a 400m hurdler, the 27-year-old has stepped up to the 800m this year in superb style, winning the European indoor title in just his fourth competition at the distance.
In Silesia he was joined by his European Indoors teammate Jozwik, who claimed 800m silver in Torun, and together they powered to victory on home soil, clocking 3:40.92.
After a conservative start, Kenya were narrowly ahead after the first lap, with Naomi Korir handing the baton to Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich and Jozwik passing on to Dobek, who had helped Poland to a fourth-place finish in this event&nbsp;at the last edition of the World Athletics Relays in Yokohama in 2019.
Slovenia is only fielding one team in Silesia and they made their presence felt in this event, with Anita Horvat and Zan Rudolf challenging Kenya on the third and final legs. Kenya had the stronger finish, however, and it saw them secure second place in 3:41.79 as Slovenia were third in 3:41.95.
"I didn't want to get too fired up on my first lap," said&nbsp;Dobek. "I knew the Kenyan was a top-class runner, so I just held his pace.&nbsp;
"I competed in this event in Yokohama and because of this experience, I was better prepared. Since then I gained more endurance, thanks to coach Krol (Zbigniew&nbsp;Krol), who prepared me well."
<h3>Germany holds off strong Polish challenge in shuttle hurdles</h3>
All-round stronger starts and composure under pressure helped Germany to victory in the mixed shuttle hurdles relay, the final event of the night.
Monika Zapalska began well to give Germany a slight lead on the first leg. Poland&rsquo;s Zuzanna Hulisz made up a bit of ground on Zapalska towards the end of her leg, but Germany&rsquo;s Erik Balnuweit got off to a swift start on the second leg, opening up another metre on Poland.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/608dcb66f1430279f03d561f.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" /> Anne Weigold competes in the shuttle hurdles relay&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon)
 Krzysztof Kiljan maintained Poland&rsquo;s second-place position on the second leg as the top two teams continued to pull away from Kenya in third. The positions stayed the same on the third leg with Anne Weigold holding on to the lead for Germany as Poland&rsquo;s Klaudia Wojtunik tried to give chase.
Poland saved their strongest runner, Damian Czykier, for the final leg. At first it seemed as though Gregor Traber&rsquo;s lead was unassailable, but Czykier closed well in the final stages. He clattered the final barrier, though, and so was unable to catch the German before the finish.
Germany won in 56.53 with Poland taking second in 56.68. Kenya took third in 59.89.
"I think we did a good job over the hurdles," said&nbsp;Balnuweit. "For us it was the first time. We trained for the relay a lot during our one week training camp. We stayed cool and focused and could thus beat Poland."
<h3>All to race for in qualifying events</h3>
Competition was fierce in the heats for the championship events, with <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-relays/silesia21/news/press-releases/global-championships-tokyo-olympics-oregon-relays-silesia-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships Oregon22 up for grabs</a>.
The women&rsquo;s 4x400m heats were up first and hosts Poland secured a strong start as they won the event&rsquo;s opening race, clocking 3:28.11.
Cuba&rsquo;s quartet of Zurian Hechavarria, Rose Mary Almanza, Lisneidy Veitia and Roxana Gomez went quickest overall, leading from gun to tape to win the second heat in 3:27.90 ahead of the Netherlands with 3:28.40. It was a busy night for European indoor 400m champion Femke Bol as before lining up for the mixed 4x400m, she opened her campaign with a 49.81 anchor split for the Dutch women&rsquo;s team &ndash; the fastest overall in the first round.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/608dca85f1430279f03d561c.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Femke Bol in the women's 4x400m heats&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon)
 Like the Netherlands and Poland, who won this event in Yokohama in 2019, Belgium and Great Britain had already qualified for Tokyo as 2019 World Athletics Championships finalists. They all also made the final in Silesia where they will be joined by Germany, Italy and France on Sunday.
Belgium qualified third quickest for the final with 3:28.27, ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s 3:28.83.
There was joy for the Dutch men&rsquo;s 4x400m team too as Jochem Dobber, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Ramsey Angela and Tony van Diepen combined to clock 3:03.03 and win the second heat, leading the list of qualifiers. But Poland didn&rsquo;t share in the success of their female teammates as they missed out on the final by just one place. Their run did, however, gain them a spot at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
In that third heat, which was won by Botswana in 3:04.03, Italy&rsquo;s Vladimir Aceti surged past Karol Zalewski &ndash; who was part of Poland's world indoor record-breaking team at the 2018 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham &ndash;&nbsp;with a split of 45.36 to finish second in 3:04.81 and pip the hosts for that place in the final.
The Japanese team ensured that they will also be heading for a home Olympics as Rikuya Ito, Kentaro Sato, Kazuma Higuchi and Kaito Kawabata clocked 3:03.31 to win the first heat.
Colombia&rsquo;s Anthony Zambrano, the world 400m silver medallist, eased over the finish line in 3:04.64 to comfortably anchor his team to second place and a spot in the final along with South Africa, Belgium and France.
As expected, the mixed 4x400m heats provided some thrilling action, with Italy&rsquo;s Edoardo Scotti, Giancarla Trevisan, Alice Mangione and Davide Re storming to a second heat win of 3:16.52 to lead the first round ahead of heat three winners Brazil with 3:16.53 and the Dominican Republic with 3:16.67.
Ireland, Belgium, Great Britain, Netherlands and Spain will be joining them in the final but Colombia and Poland will miss out after placing third and fourth in that high-quality second heat.
Colombia&rsquo;s 3:17.61 was faster than the Netherlands&rsquo; winning time of 3:18.04 in the first heat, but they were run out of an all-important top two qualifying spot.
In that Netherlands team, Bol ran 50.72 after her earlier 49.81 in the women&rsquo;s event.
<h3>Narrow margins in 4x100m</h3>
Things were tight at the top and bottom of the list of teams to qualify for the men&rsquo;s 4x100m final, with just 0.001 separating Italy from Brazil to lead the first round and the exact same small margin between Denmark and Ukraine at the bottom, to see Ukraine just miss out.
European indoor 60m champion Marcell Jacobs and Italian record-holder Filippo Tortu both ran storming legs along with Eseosa Fostine Desalu and Davide Manenti to clock 38.45 in winning heat three ahead of South Africa, anchored by African champion Akani Simbine, while 2019 winners Brazil, anchored again by Paulo Andr&eacute; Camilo de Oliveira, won heat two in a time just a thousandth slower.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/608dcd7e525fafe3b121fe25.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="626" /> Akani Simbine in the men's 4x100m heats&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images)
 Denmark ran a national record of 39.06 in that race to finish fourth behind Germany and Japan to secure their spot in the final, while the first heat was won by the Netherlands in 38.79 ahead of Ghana.
A strong team of&nbsp;Jamile Samuel, Dafne Schippers, Nadine Visser and Marije&nbsp;Van Hunenstijn led the qualifiers in the women's event to book their place in the final, as well as the major championships in Tokyo and Oregon. Together they clocked&nbsp;43.28&nbsp; to win the second heat ahead of Poland.
Just as the Danish team had the race of their lives in the men's event, so too did Ecuador in the women's and the quartet ran a national record of&nbsp;43.86 in third&nbsp; to advance on time.&nbsp;Brazil was disqualified for a lane violation after originally winning the first heat ahead of Italy with&nbsp;44.02, while heat three was won by France in&nbsp;43.51.
They will be joined in the final by Switzerland and Japan.
Competition resumes on Sunday at 19:20 local time with the mixed 4x400m final.
Jon Mulkeen and Jess Whittington for World Athletics

There was success for the host nation Poland on an action-packed first evening of competition at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, with Joanna Jozwik and Patryk Dobek teaming up to win the 2x2x400m.