Jamaica looking to challenge recent US dominance
Four-time relay gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s last race
Great Britain in the hunt after world-leading time in London in July
Can Jamaica send off sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce with one last gold medal before she retires from the sport after her ninth appearance at the World Athletics Championships?
The Caribbean sprint power certainly has a team capable of winning, combining the established excellence and experience of Fraser-Pryce and world 200m champion Shericka Jackson, with the rising strength of the 21-year-old Clayton twins, Tina and Tia, who both rank in the world’s top five over 100m this year.
However, the US 4x100m combination looks even stronger. Led by the fastest woman in the world this year, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (10.65), the US team has five women ranked in the top 12 in 2025, compared with Jamaica’s four in the top 14.
The perennial rivals will go head-to-head for gold as they have for decades.
Most recently, the US has had the upper hand in the sprint relay, winning the last world title in a championship record of 41.03 in Budapest, and following up with victory at the Paris Olympics in 41.78, where the undermanned Jamaicans finished off the podium in the absence of the injured Fraser-Pryce and Jackson.
Both teams look stronger this year. The US has superior depth, with the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson, Kayla White, Twanisha Terry and Jacious Sears to call on, but if Fraser-Pryce and Jackson can summon some of that old magic, then the Jamaicans have an opportunity to regain the title for the first time since 2019.
There’s no doubt that as a team, they will be powerfully motivated to do so for the popular Fraser-Pryce, who has spearheaded four previous world champion relay teams (in 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019) and lays claim to being the greatest 100m runner in history.
They will also have the advantage of fresh legs in the case of Tia Clayton, who was injured in the 100m final at the Jamaican Trials, and did not qualify for the individual event, but recovered to finish second in the Diamond League final in Zurich in 10.84, proving that she has held her form.
These two nations have dominated this event by virtue of the individual brilliance of their sprinters, but relay teams can be greater than the sum of their parts and there are a handful of other teams who could be in the medal mix.
The British quartet, led by Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita, have been reliable medal winners in recent years, claiming the European title and Olympic silver medal last year, and bronze in Budapest the previous year. They underlined their potential with a world-leading time of 41.69 at the Diamond League in London in July.
The German women claimed the bronze in Paris last year and will aim for the podium again, while Spain, France and the Netherlands are frequent finalists.
Only 16 teams have made it through the cut-throat qualifying process, 14 via the World Relays, and the final two, Australia and Ivory Coast (led by Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith), by registering the next best times.
Among those that have not qualified are Nigeria and The Bahamas, both leading sprint nations on their day.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
AloJapan.com