Jamaica won the men’s 4x100m Olympic title on Friday in a new world record time of 37,10 seconds.
The Jamaicans’ victory gave Usain Bolt, who teamed up with Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter and Michael Frater, his third gold medal and third world record of the Games.
The Caribbean Island, winning the title for the first time, took gold ahead of Trinidad and Tobago (38,06sec) while Japan won bronze (38,15sec).
Jamaica’s new world record broke the 15-year-old mark of 37,40sec set by the United States in August 1993.
They never looked in trouble after Frater, who along with Powell and Bolt reached the 100m final, took the baton off Carter and raced ahead of the Trinidadians down the back stretch.
Handing on to Bolt the result was never in doubt as he ran the bend superbly to pass it on to Powell, who raced away to gain rich consolation for his disappointment at finishing fifth in the 100m individual event.
”It’s a great feeling,” said Powell.
”I was really excited to go out there and give Usain his third world record.”
Trinidad put together a great sequence that saw Richard Thompson add to his silver in the individual 100m while Japan held on for a superb and unexpected bronze.
Traditional powerhouses the United States went out in the heats when there was a mix-up in the final handover between Darvis Patton and Tyson Gay on Thursday. — AFP
