To no one’s great surprise, the United States presented the fastest qualifying time with a 2:59.30 performance, even while resting its top two runners. The time was more than two seconds faster than Nigeria’s 3:01.60 and the 3:01.74 of Bahamas.
Opening runner Kelly Willie appeared to hold a slight lead over Nigeria’s James Godday at the first handoff, and as the remaining runners moved to the curb in the backstretch of the second leg, Poland (Piotr Klimczak) and Spain (David Canal) suddenly appeared in positions close behind.
Andrew Rock kept the Americans in good position on the third carry, as Nigeria’s top 400 runner of the year, Saul Weigopwa, held second without a challenge until Nathaniel McKinney of the Bahamas bore down on him at the end of the lap to pull almost even.
Darold Williamson finished the job for the US team, as Enefiok Udo Obong was able to hold off the fast finish of Bahamian Chris Brown to preserve second for the Nigerians.
Although the deep US roster boasted six runners with season times under 45 seconds, it is a sextet relatively lacking in international experience. The three runners not involved in last Monday’s 400m final were especially affected.
As Kelly Willie remarked afterwards, “I’ve never competed in front of such a crowd, but I think I handled this very well. The experience of the Olympics is incredible, and running around in front of a crowd like this is magic.”
Andrew Rock concurred. “All of us were getting rather fidgety at the Village, sitting around wondering if the day of the relay heats would ever come. It was a great experience for me personally.”
The first heat was won by the team from Great Britain in a season-best 3:02.40, despite the absence of Daniel Caines from the quartet.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the team of Tim Benjamin, Sean Baldock, Malachi Davis and Matthew Elias as a tenacious Japanese team stayed close over the final two carries for a 3:02.71 clocking.
Germany elected to use reigning European champion Ingo Schultz on the opening carry, and the strategy worked. Thanks to a strong finish by Bastian Swillims, the Germans advanced with a third-place 3:02.77.
Jamaica looked out of sorts throughout the first three stages, but on the final carry, a splendid run by Davian Clarke brought the team to an apparent third, only to have it negated by a later disqualification.
The two teams advancing on time, Australia (3:03.06) and Botswana (3:03.32), came from the first heat.
EG
