On Saturday, August 26 at 21.40, the finals of the men’s sprint relay race will take place: five fight for the most valuable medal. In addition to the Azzurri, Americans and Jamaicans, there are also Japanese and South Africans.
History is back at your fingertips: Italy in the 4x100m relay is a wonderful incubator of dreams that came true two years ago in Tokyo, creating an unforgettable triumph. those that tonight (21.40) will again let millions of Italians tremble in front of the TV in the hope that the quartet of miracles will be able to repeat the Olympic feat.
The semi-finals of the World Championships in Athletics showed that the blue quartet is still the strongest: two cents less than the Americans, 3 less than the Jamaicans, 6 less than the terrible Japanese and 7 less than the South Africans.
In short, the gold rush will be as tough as the medal race. which at these levels is worth a lot, regardless of color. L’Italy however, he is ready to do his part: if there were any doubts about the real ability of the relay to be competitive among so many squadrons, then the answer was loud and clear.
Surprise Regali
The conduct of the race in the second semi-final race was flawless. The decision to include Roberto Rigali in the first half paid dividends.a new man compared to the Tokyo quartet, who prevailed at the end of a long battle with Samuel Ceccarelli.
Technical director Filippo Di Mulo made a big bet on the boy from Esine. (province of Brescia), no longer very young (28 years old), but able to show important results during the season, culminating in a personal best of 10:25 achieved in Modena in early July.
Rigali specialized primarily in “launching”, i.e. as the first relay and as seen also in the semi-finals, the choice was right.
Jacobs, Patta and Tortu rode well.
However, Marcel Jacobs confirmed in the second half that he is always Jacobs. more effective in the relay context than individually.
What if Lorenzo Patta in Curve (Third Fraction) offers the usual guarantees: can’t say it Philip Tortu didn’t want to send a strong signal to himself and the world around him by running a stunning fourth stage after what he did in Tokyo two years ago.
Final 37:65, the best time among 16 races. it is the second best time trial in Italy, second only to the gold-winning 37:50 race at the Olympics. However, even more efforts will have to be made tonight to win the throne of the World Cup, because all the pitfalls will be clearly visible.
Five for three medals
It has already been said about Italy, here are others. Orphaned by the reigning champions of Canada, the men’s final will have at least five contenders. to the final victory of indisputable value.
First of all, USA: for years they lost the championship on the lap of the track, but even though orphans of the new king 100 and 200 Noah Lyles they appear from Chris Coleman, Fred Curly (who, like Jacobs, is seeking ransom), Brandon Carnes and JT Smith all people who raced under 10 minutes 02 inches during the season.
However, on paper, the Jamaicans are even more formidable: Akim Blake and Oblique Seville. in the first two strips – the tip of the quartet in the usual fortissimo, the only one with four elements (Rohan Watson and Riem Forde) are able to dive to a depth of less than 9″91 in a season (no one is like them).
And if Japan surpassed even the wildest expectations in terms of batteryWith Sleigh Brown lined up in the last faction (watch his sprint), South Africa largely lived up to expectations, also the strongest of two athletes (the first factionist Sean Maswangani and the last Akani Simbine), who have already shown this season that they can negotiate with the strongest, running with a time of 9:91.
Unless there are surprises, the competition for medals will be limited to these five national teams. because France and Great Britain make up a more experimental quartet, and for Brazil it is already a success to become one of the top eight relay teams in the world.
USA and Jamaica, they always
Among women, a stunning national record was set by Zainab Dosso, Dalia Kaddari, Anna Bongiorni and Alessia Pavese. (42″ 14), with the last fractionalist able to go under 10 seconds (9″ 98 for Pavese), allowed the blue relay to reach a final that was far from obvious compared to the quartets who were clearly more accustomed to competing at high levels. .
The women’s race will be the last race of the Hungarian competition scheduled for 21:50: Americans in super privileges, even if they are orphans Sha’Karri Richardson but with diamond tips like Tamari Davis and Tamara Clark both dropped below 11 seconds for the season.
As usual, there will be a two-sided struggle for gold with the Jamaicans, who will field Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce in the fourth faction. 100m Bronze (Silver Sherika Jackson didn’t make it to the track in the semi-finals but could do so tonight).
It is a bit surprising that the third time (41:90) qualified the Ivorians, who, like Italy, do not have first-class stars. but who over time perfected their preparation for a particular race like the relay (and in any case, Muriel Ahure-Demps ran 11:09 for the season).
If Dinah Asher-Smith races while out of the race, Great Britain could also improve their chances of a medal challenge. (42:33 semi-final time, fifth overall) while the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland and Germany (recovering their ninth-time record) will try to improve their national records.