CHORZÓW, POLAND, May 01-02 —Devoid of the top 2 medal-winning nations of all time, the U.S. and Jamaica, and also missing notables such as Australia, Bahamas, Canada and Trinidad, the fifth edition of WA’s World Relays might have suffered the loss of some top-end speed in the face of the pandemic, but the medals were real enough.
Host nation Poland won the lion’s share of podium places, with 5 total topping by 2 the next nations, Italy and Kenya. And only Germany and Italy matched Poland’s gold count of 2.
The first of a pair of cold and rainy days featured qualifying heats with only two finals, in non-standard events. Poland won the 2 x 2 x 400 in 3:40.92 before Germany won a 3-nation mixed shuttle hurdles in 56.53.
On Day 2, Italy scored gold with a 3:16.60 in the mixed 4×4 and then took a second gold in the women’s 4×1 (43.79).
Akani Simbine put forth a blazing 9.08 anchor in the 4×1 to clinch a win for South Africa (38.71) over Italy (39.21, with Lamont Marcell Jacobs screaming the backstretch in 8.91) after Brazil had led for most of the race only to be DQed after crossing the line in 38.72.
Poland topped Ireland in the women’s 4×2, 1:34.98–1:35.93, leading from start to finish. The men’s race saw Germany (1:22.43) win by more than 2 seconds, Owen Ansah anchoring in 19.96.
The action ended on a high note with the single-sex 4x4s. Though the Netherlands led at the final exchange of the women’s race, the Cuban women finished best to defeat Poland in a spirited duel, 3:28.41–3:28.81, with Britain 3rd at 3:29.27.
In the closing race, the Dutch men (3:03.45) used a solid 45.47 anchor from Tony Van Diepen to gain an Olympic berth and reel in Japan (3:04.45), with Botswana 3rd (3:04.77).
WORLD RELAYS MEN’S RESULTS
4 x 100
1. South Africa 38.71 (Thando Dlodlo 10.83, Tlotliso Leotlela 9.16, Clarence Munyai 9.64, Akani Simbine 9.08);
2. Italy 39.21 (Eseosa Desalu 10.80, Lamont Marcell Jacobs 8.91, Davide Manenti 10.08, Filippo Tortu 9.42);
3. Japan 39.42 (Ryuichiro Sakai 10.75, Ryota Suzuki 9.40, Daisuke Miyamoto 9.84, Hiroki Yanagita 9.43);
4. Denmark 39.56;… dnf—Germany & Netherlands;… dq—Brazil [38.72] & Ghana [39.11].
Heats: I–1. Netherlands 38.79; 2. Ghana 38.79; 3. Ukraine 39.06; 4. Spain 39.30; 5. Turkey 39.59;… dnf—Czech Republic.
II–1. Brazil 38.45; 2. Germany 38.70; 3. Japan 38.98; 4. Denmark 39.06 NR; 5. Poland 39.34; 6. Zimbabwe 40.54.
III–1. Italy 38.45; 2. South Africa 38.49); 3. France 39.08; 4. Botswana 39.55; 5. Belarus 40.01;… dq—Portugal.
4 x 200
1. Germany 1:22.43 (Steven Müller 21.47, Felix Straub 20.79, Lucas Ansah-Peprah 20.21, Owen Ansah 19.96);
2. Kenya 1:24.26 (Mark Odhiambo 21.28, Mike Nyang’au 20.54, Elijah Mathew 21.13, Hesborn Ochieng 21.31);
3. Portugal 1:24.53 NR (Frederico Curvelo 21.67, Delvis Santos 20.81, Diogo Antunes 21.07, André Prazeres 20.98);
4. Ecuador 1:24.89 NR;… dnf—Denmark;… dq—Poland.
4 x 400
1. Netherlands 3:03.45 (Jochem Dobber 45.95, Liemarvin Bonevacia 45.85, Ramsey Angela 46.18, Tony Van Diepen 45.47);
2. Japan 3:04.45 (Rikuya Ito 46.85, Kaito Kawabata 45.44, Kentaro Sato 45.72, Aoto Suzuki 46.64);
3. Botswana 3:04.77 (Isaac Makwala 46.43, Boitumelo Masilo 45.72, Ditiro Nzamani 46.19, Leungo Scotch 46.43);
4. Italy 3:05.11 (Vladimir Aceti 45.38); 5. South Africa 3:05.76 (Oscar Mavundla 47.29); 6. Colombia 3:05.91 (Anthony Zambrano 45.49); 7. France 3:06.16 (Muhammad Kounta 45.96); 8. Belgium 3:10.74 (Kevin Borlée 49.57).
Heats (qualiify 2+2): I–1. Japan 3:03.31; 2. Colombia 3:04.64; 3. France 3:04.78; 4. Czech Republic 3:05.11; 5. Kenya 3:10.81.
II–1. Netherlands 3:03.03 (Van Diepen 44.94); 2. South Africa 3:03.79; 3. Belgium 3:04.01 (K. Borlée 44.79); 4. Turkey 3:06.05; 5. Spain 3:06.09.
III–1. Botswana 3:04.03; 2. Italy 3:04.81; 3. Poland 3:05.04; 4. Germany 3:05.83; 5. Great Britain 3:10.63.
WORLD RELAYS WOMEN’S RESULTS
4 x 100
1. Italy 43.79 (Irene Siragusa 12.00, Gloria Hooper 10.57, Anna Bongiorni 10.75, Vittoria Fontana 10.47);
2. Poland 44.10 (Magdalena Stefanowicz, Klaudia Adamek, Katarzyna Sokólska, Pia Skrzyszowska 10.45);
3. Netherlands 44.10 (Jamile Samuel 11.79, Dafne Schippers 10.19, Nadine Visser 10.81, Naomi Sedney 11.31);
4. Japan 44.40; 5. Ecuador 44.43; 6. Denmark 45.34;… dnf—France;… dq—Switzerland.
Heats (qualify 2+2): I–1. Italy 44.02; 2. Japan 44.17; 3. Ghana 44.85; 4. Czech Republic 45.48;… dq—Brazil.
II–1. Netherlands 43.28; 2. Poland 43.64; 3. Ecuador 43.86 NR; 4. Ireland 44.53; 5. Zambia 44.81.
III–1. France 43.51; 2. Switzerland 43.71; 3. Denmark 44.25; 4. Spain 44.38.
4 x 200
1. Poland 1:34.98 NR (Paulina Guzowska 24.10, Kamila Ciba 24.07, Klaudia Adamek 23.34, Marlena Gola 23.47);
2. Ireland 1:35.93 NR (Aoife Lynch 24.48, Kate Doherty 24.05, Sarah Quinn 23.58, Sophie Becker 23.82);
3. Ecuador 1:36.86 NR (Ángela Tenorio 24.74, Virginia Villalba 24.47, Marizol Landázuri 23.64, Gabriela Suarez 24.01);
4. Denmark 1:37.80 NR; 5. Kenya4 1:38.26 NR.
4 x 400
1. Cuba 3:28.41 (Zurian Hechavarría 53.45, Rose Mary Almanza 52.59, Lisneidy Veitía 51.41, Roxana Gómez 50.96);
2. Poland 3:28.81 (Kornelia Lesiewicz 52.86, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik 52.92, Karolina Łozowska 52.44, Natalia Kaczmarek 50.59);
3. Great Britain 3:29.27 (Laviai Nielsen 52.83, Ama Pipi 52.59, Emily Diamond 52.28, Jessie Knight 51.57);
4. Netherlands 3:30.12 (Bol 50.58 [3]); 5. Italy 3:32.69; 6. Germany 3:33.00; 7. Belgium 3;37.66; 8. France 3:40.58.
Heats (qualify 2+2): I–1. Poland 3:28.11; 2. Belgium 3:28.27; 3. Italy 3:30.04; 4. Switzerland 3:34.85; 5. Spain 3:34.92.
II–1. Cuba 3:27.90; 2. Netherlands 3:28.40; 3. France 3:30.46; 4. Kenya 3:39.34.
III–1. Great Britain 3:28.83; 2. Germany 3:29.73; 3. Botswana 3:34.99; 4. Japan 3:35.26; 5. Chile 3:41.28.
MIXED-SEX RESULTS
4 x 400
1. Italy 3:16.60 (Edoardo Scotti 46.29, Giancarla Trevisan 52.17, Alice Mangione 51.76, Davide Re 46.38);
2. Brazil 3:17.54 (Anderson Henriques 46.40, Tiffani Marinho 52.61, Geisa Coutinho 53.91, Alison Dos Santos 44.62);
3. Dominican Republic 3:17.58 (Lidio Andres Feliz 47.69, Anabel Ventura 52.76, Marileidy Paulino 51.80, Alexander Ogando 45.33);
4. Belgium 3:17.92; 5. Great Britain 3:18.87; 6. Spain 3:19.65; 7. Ireland 3:20.26; 8. Netherlands 3:21.02.
Heats (qualify 2+2): I–1. Netherlands 3:18.04; 2. Spain 3:18.98; 3. France 3:20.95; 4. Turkey 3:20.98; 5. Czech Republic 3:21.05; 6. Portugal 3:21.51;… dq—Kenya.
II–1. Italy 3:16.52; 2. Belgium 3:17.23; 3. Colombia 3:17.61; 4. Poland 3:17.92; 5. Japan 3:18.76; 6. South Africa 3:19.18; 7. Slovakia 3:19.66.
III–1. Brazil 3:16.53; 2. Dominican Republic 3:16.67; 3. Ireland 3:16.84; 4. Great Britain 3:17.27; 5. Germany 3:19.19; 6. Belarus 3:19.73; 7. Botswana 3:20.97.
Shuttle Hurdles
(only 3 entrants)
1. Germany 56.53 (Monika Zapalska, Erik Balnuweit, Anne Weigold, Gregor Traber);
2. Poland 56.68 (Zuzanna Hulisz, Krzysztof Kiljan, Klaudia Wojtunik, Damian Czykier);
3. Kenya 59.89 (Priscilla Tabunda, Michael Nzuku, Nusra Rukia, Wiseman Mukhobe).
2 x 2 x 400
1. Poland 3:40.92 (Joanna Jóźwik 59.74, Patryk Dobek 52.85, Jóźwik 57.98, Dobek 50.35);
2. Kenya 3:41.79 (Naomi Korir 59.76, Ferguson Cheruiyot 52.61, Korir 59.73, Cheruiyot 49.69);
3. Slovenia 3:41.95 (Anita Horvat 60.49, Žan Rudolf 52.97, Horvat 57.97, Rudolf 50.52);
4. Belarus 3:48.0; 5. Portugal 3:51.69; 6. Slovakia 3:54.01.