PHILADELPHIA, Sporting Alert — Olympic sprint double champion Elaine Thompson ran a scorching anchored leg to lead Jamaica women’s 4x100m relay team to victory in the USA vs The World series at the 2017 Penn Relays on Saturday. Complete Results
Thompson, who ran anchor on the Jamaican victorious women’s 4x200m relay team at the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2017, earlier this month, was outstanding again on back-to-back weekends.
The Rio Olympic 100m and 200m champion collected the baton behind Morolake Akinosun, but blew past the American anchor leg runner to win the title for Jamaica in 42.25 seconds.
Christania Williams, Kerron Stewart and Gayon Evans were the others making up the winning quartet.
USA Red finished second in 42.42, with third going to USA Blue at 42.90 and fourth went to the British Virgin Islands in a time of 44.99.
Jamaica also bagged the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay titles.
A team of Martin Manley, Leford Green, Jermain Gayle and Fitzroy Dunkley clocked 3:03.14 to seal the win in the men’s race, with Dunkley finishing with a 45.13 split to overtake USA’s anchor runner Calvin Smith.
Finishing second was USA Red with a time of 3:03.25, the Bahamas got third with 3:06.20 and fourth went to Guyana with a performance of 3:09.00.
USA men’s 4x100m relay after winning at 2017 Penn Relays
Meanwhile, the Jamaica women’s 4x400m relay also got the better of the Americans.
The team anchored by 400m hurdler Janieve Russell, who split 51.02, finished with a time of 3:28.32 to take the title.
Russell and the Jamaicans were challenged by USA and Natasha Hastings on the final leg, but the MVP athlete fended off the trial and then sprinted away in the final metres to secure the victory.
USA took second in 3:29.30 with Hastings running 50.96 on the last leg.
Nigeria, who had their baton knocked out on the second leg, and the Bahamas both failed to finish on Saturday.
Elsewhere, USA Red took first place in the men’s 4x100m relay with a time of 38.87 seconds to beat Jamaica (39.01).
USA won both the Women’s and Men’s Sprint Medley titles.
On the female side, the USA Red team of Morolake Akinosun, English Gardner, Dezerea Bryant and Miki Barber ran 1:35.59 to beat Jamaica (1:36.67).
In the men’s division, USA Red ran 3:11.45 for first place to beat USA Blue, 3:13.12.
