2015 World Athletics Championships: Bolt, Jamaica triumph in 4x100m final

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Jamaica triumph in mens 4x100m relay final

Victory marks fourth straight occasion Jamaica has won 4x100m relay at World Championships

CNN  — 

Usain Bolt surged to a third gold medal in under a week at the 2015 World Athletics Championships Saturday, anchoring Jamaica to victory in the men’s 4x100 meter relay final.

The winning Jamaican time of 37.36 seconds was the best of any nation this year and another exposition of the country’s supremacy in short distance events.

A United States team featuring the in-form Justin Gatlin looked to have finished second in 37.77 but was later disqualified after a disastrous final changeover between Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers.

TV replays showed the baton was not exchanged in time between the pair.

China was confirmed to have taken silver as a result of the USA slip-up in a time of 38.01 seconds, to the delight of the Beijing crowd, while bronze was awarded to Canada which finished in 38.13.

As usual, however, all the post-race attention was on the “Lightening Bolt” who was quick to celebrate with teammates Nesta Carter Nickel Ashmeade and Asafa Powell.

The win marks the fourth straight occasion Jamaica has taken 4x100m gold at the World Championships.

And as for Bolt himself? He has now won a record 11 gold medals at athletics’ premier event – including two last Sunday and Thursday in the dramatic 100m and 200m final’s respectively.

American mishap

Yet Saturday could very easily have ended differently for the Caribbean nation which has come to dominate sprinting over the last decade.

A solid start from lead-off man Carter was negated somewhat by the sheer speed and faultless technique of Gatlin who surged clear of Powell on the back straight.

Bolt looked like he would be chasing Rodgers home after taking over from Ashmeade who was trailing Gay for the best part of the third leg.

But the confusion between Rodgers and Gay was such that the Americans came to a virtual standstill as they passed the baton for the final time.

Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers (nearest) of the USA attempt to pass the baton in the 4x100m relay final at the 2015 World Athletic Championships.

Such basic errors can be problematic at the best of times but when the fastest man in history is close by it will inevitably prove fatal.

Bolt raced clear of the field with little ceremony, ducking at the line in an attempt to beat the Jamaican’s world record of 36.84.

Alas, he was to be thwarted in that endeavor.

After another stunning World Championship performance that has harvested three gold medals, concerns of records will be allowed to rest for now.

It’s easy to forget that just over a week ago Bolt was being tipped to lose out to Gatlin in the the 100m final.

The hyperbole surrounding that race as “the battle for the soul of athletics” given Gatlin’s two previous drug bans was most likely unjust and over the top.

Defining Bolt as the greatest sprinter in history, however, seems an understatement in light of another clean sweep of medals.

The Jamaican relay team (L-R) Nickel Ashmeade, Asafa Powell,Usain Bolt and Nesta Carter.

Jamaican domination

There was more joy for Jamaica earlier in the day as double Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison and Elaine Thompson claimed a second successive gold in the women’s 4x100m relay final.

Fraser-Pryce, who won the 100m individual title in Beijing, anchored the unstoppable Jamaicans to a championship record time of 41.07 seconds.

The United States claimed silver in a distant second position, clocked at 41.68, while Trinidad and Tobago claimed Bronze 0.35 seconds further back.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica celebrate after winning gold in the Women's 4x100m final at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

Farah’s triple double

Earlier on Saturday, Britain’s Mo-Farah became the first man in history to a long distance “triple double” – gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m events at back to back World Championships and the Olympics.

Farah, who moved to the UK from Somalia at the age of eight, burst clear of the field on the final lap of Saturday’s 5000m final to record his third straight World Championship win in the event.

Caleb Ndiku of Kenya, the reigning commonwealth champion could only claim silver after failing to respond to Farah’s late burst while Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet took bronze.

Read: Bolt beats Gatlin in dramatic 100m final

Read: The secrets of Jamaica’s sprinting success