Australia third overall at IAAF World Relays

Team Australia has finished an outstanding third overall at the IAAF World Relays, with top-five finishes by the women’s 4x400m relay, the men’s 4x800m relay and mixed 4x400m relay closing out an amazing two-day campaign for the green and gold in Nassau (BAH).

Competing in the round-of-eight after automatically progressing through the rounds yesterday, the women’s 4x400m relay were once again led out by the national champion Morgan Mitchell (Vic, split: 51.71), who handed the baton to Anneliese Rubie (NSW, split: 52.26).

Rubie was clipped on the bend but kept her feet to hand to Caitlin Sargent-Jones (Qld, split: 52.60), with the Rio 2016 Olympic finalist replacing 200m specialist Ella Nelson (NSW) in the final.

As America streaked away to a commanding lead, Olivia Tauro (NSW, split: 52.23) stepped up to battle and was impressive, closing the gap to those in the mix for medals before crossing 5th in a season best 3:28.80.

Team Australia missed the bronze medal by a mere 0.31 seconds, with second and 5th split by just 0.52 seconds.

The men’s 4x800m relay was led out by Joshua Ralph (NSW), with the national championship medallist clocking 1:48.31 for his two laps before Jordan Williamsz (Vic, split: 1:50.13) and James Gurr (NSW, split: 1:51.14) delivered.

Australian champion Luke Mathews (Vic) ran the last leg, holding off a gallant Mexico on the straight to cross the line in 7:20.10. The gold medal was won by America, with Kenya and Poland completing the top-three.

Rounding out the Australians in action were Mason Cohen (NSW), Alicia Keir (NSW), Ella Nelson (NSW) and Ralph in the mixed 4x400m relay, with the quartet clocking 3:23.14 to place fifth.

Team Australia finished third overall, on 24 points, as America won the Golden Baton with 60 points. Jamaica held on to the second spot with 39 points.

Competition in Nassau (BAH) follows a fantastic night for Australia at the 2017 London Marathon, with Lisa Weightman (Vic) leading the way by placing fifth in the elite women’s race in a personal best time of 2:25:15.

Jessica Trengove (SA) also delivered her quickest ever performance, clocking 2:27:01 for tenth, with Melanie Panayiotou (Qld, 2:35:25) and Casey Wood (SA, 2:39:27) rounding out the Australians in action.

In the men’s race, Commonwealth champion Michael Shelley (Qld) ran 2:11:38, just outside his personal best, while Kurt Fearnley (NSW) was third in the wheelchair marathon behind victor and home town favourite David Weir (GBR).

Trengove’s results fulfils her pre-race desire to better her personal best after a long period of notable training that followed what was a challenging 2016.

“London sure knows how to put on a good show, 40,000 participants in the marathon today and the city was buzzing,” Trengove said on social media.

“I’m really happy to come away with a PB, and am so stoked for my fellow Australians Lisa Weightman, Kurt Fearnley, Casey Wood and Michael Shelley.

“Thanks so much for the support out on the streets and from home, every cheer and message genuinely meant a lot. A special thank you to my coach Adam Didyk and my teammates for their incredible support here this week.”

Day one recap from the Bahamas

The IAAF World Championships are calling for the Australian men’s 4x100m and women’s 4x400m relay teams after they ensured their automatic entry by advancing to the medals round at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau (BAH).

Not to be outdone in the women’s 4x800m relay were Lora Storey (NSW), Abbey de la Motte (Tas), Zoe Buckman (Vic) and Heidi See (NSW), with the middle-distance quartet combining for BRONZE in a time of 8:21.08.

Lining up in heat one of the men’s sprint relay, the green and gold team of Trae Williams (Qld), Tom Gamble(Qld), Alex Hartmann (Qld) and Nick Andrews (NSW) took to the blocks in lane six.

Smooth changes saw them move past Jamaica and Antigua & Barbuda, who did not finish, before surging up the home straight to cross third behind the Netherlands (38.71) and China (38.97) in a time of 39.09.

An anxious wait followed, before official results after heat three confirmed Australia’s progression as the fastest non-automatic qualifier. The order remained unchanged for the final, with Andrews roaring home to cross fourth and narrowly miss a medal in a time of 39.79, with America (first, 38.43), Barbados (second, 39.18) and China (third, 39.22) sharing the dais.

In the women’s 4x400m relay heats that followed, Australia’s starting line-up of Morgan Mitchell (Vic), Anneliese Rubie (NSW), Ella Nelson (NSW) and Olivia Tauro (NSW) were dominant alongside America to cross second and automatically progress to the round-of-eight.

The national 400m champion, Mitchell was strong on the first leg, passing the baton to Rubie with a narrow lead before the latter slipped to second but built a large gap to the rest of the field. Nelson and Tauro maintained the clearance from third to see the team finish in a season best time of 3:30.31.

Equally impressive were the women’s 4x800m relay, who won bronze in the women’s 4x800m relay in a time of 8:21.08.

Led out by the national champion, Storey, the team sat second at the changeover to de la Motte who was strong down the back straight on her second lap to hand the baton to Buckman in the lead.

It was then that eventual gold medallists, America (8:16.36), made their move to the front, before See delivered a strong final leg to hold on to the third spot, with Belarus (8:20.07) winning silver.

For more information on the IAAF World Relays, including complete results, please click here to visit iaaf.org.